Speech by President of the Government at award of 4th edition of CEPYME Prizes

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid

A very good afternoon to you.

At a time at which some people prefer not to exercise their memories, or even confuse them, the Spanish Confederation of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises has placed at the centre of its tribute today those business owners that suffered, under the toughest of circumstances, what we have just heard mentioned: harassment, threats, extortion - that's right, extortion - and some of them even lost their own lives. Many of them also had to suffer these humiliations alone, without even telling their own families. I am aware of the anguish they suffered and I have always admired the fact that their hearts were filled with courage and determination to defend their companies and the liberty of one and all.

I welcome the words we have heard said today here by [Antonio] Garamendi, President of CEPYME and by the President of the Basque business owners, and I wish to add my own name to this tribute. They will be forever in my memories. We have been given an outline of those times here, the reaction of Basque business owners and how they have contributed to maintain a functioning society that ran the risk of becoming paralysed.

I repeat, thank you for everything that has been said here today and prior to formally starting my speech I would also like to express my thanks at being invited here to this event at which the CEPYME Prizes have been awarded for the fourth time round; prizes that once again show the extraordinary role of small- and medium-sized enterprises in building an entrepreneurial and capable Spain whilst also creating growth and jobs.

Having said that, Madam Speaker of the Lower House of Parliament; Madam Minister for Employment and Social Security; Mr President of the Spanish Confederation of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises; Mr President of the Spanish Confederation of Business Associations; Mr President of the Spanish Confederation of Self-Employed Workers; Mr President of the Board of Trustees of the Reina Sofia National Museum and Art Centre; public officials, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

Whenever awards are handed out we are always cheerful; firstly, the award-winners whose achievements have been recognised through their nomination as the Entrepreneur of the Year, and as the Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprise of the Year. Furthermore, other achievements have been recognised in different categories: the Job Inclusion of People with Disabilities, International Development, Technological Innovation, Digital Transformation, Business Projects, Equality between Men and Women…, what we have already seen here. And also through job creation.

I want to congratulate all of those award-winners because, in the different sectors and regions of Spain, they enshrine the values of innovation, perseverance, overcoming obstacles and commitment that define SMEs and independent contractors in our country so well. Today, we all wish to acknowledge you through your example.

An example which, furthermore, is not by chance for the award-winners. Their example is through their day-to-day work and this award is forever. In a year in which you are celebrating the 40th anniversary of your confederation, we should highlight the continuity of your work and dedication that is making the recovery of our economy and of our country possible. Hence, in the necessary congratulations to the small- and medium-sized enterprises that are award-winners, we should include all those who open the doors to their businesses every morning with the aim of offering better products and services to their customers, generating wealth and creating jobs.

We are talking, as we were reminded just a moment ago here this morning, of more than 99% of all Spanish companies, which have found a way to become the leading exponents of a modern economy, open to the world, competitive and with an ability to adapt to an environment in constant flux.

SMEs generate - we were also reminded of this earlier - more than 63% of all jobs in Spain. And we must never forget this. In this sector - sometimes cold and impersonal - of the economy, we would do well to recall that, every time we talk about figures, there is a man or a woman behind this carrying out their life's work, whilst forming part of the structural backbone of economic development in Spain.

In any activity carried on in Spain we can find a small business leader or an independent contractor. They are present in all economic sectors, in each village, in each town and city, in each territory, creating a network woven through hard work, life and hope. Without this network of work and expectancy nothing would have been possible and nothing would be possible in the future.

Over the 40 years that your confederation has been in existence, all of you have helped to collectively build this success story. Some of these examples have been recognised here today, while others were in the three previous editions of these awards. But, I repeat these they are merely representative examples of the more than 2.5 million people who each day, each month, each year, build a sound base with solid foundations for the future of our country.

They are these business owners and independent contractors that bore the brunt of the crisis, and which are now starting to see how the situation has changed significantly in recent times. And your business associations are an example of a structured civil society, of an organised economic fabric, capable of negotiating and channelling different goals and interests, sometimes opposing, but which head in the same direction that seeks progress and general well-being.

I will never cease to positively value your interest in reaching agreements through negotiation and dialogue - and we have also spoken about this here this morning - which allowed, during the lowest ebb of the economic crisis, conflict to be avoided and to save not only a significant part of our productive fabric, but also a great number of jobs.

Dear friends,

The facts and the upward trend of economic and social indicators in recent years show that business owners and workers have worked well, and we would do well to remember this, particularly now that some people want to question this great collective project that is called Spain. SMEs and independent contractors have played a great part in this process that we have headed up.

• Spain's recent economic history is a success story we should not forget. We are - I saw this in a video this morning - the fourth largest economy in the Eurozone and one of the 15 most prosperous and developed economies in the world. When your organisation was founded in the 1970s - we should not forget this either - we were still "a developing country".
• We have experienced an extraordinary process of opening up to the world, thanks to which our exports now represent more than one third of our national wealth. The only other European country that can say that is Germany.
• Just think that when your confederation was set up in 1977, there were 12 million people in work in Spain while now we only need 1 million more to hit the target of 20 million people in work; a figure that we may even reach by the end of the year 2019, because it is jobs and economic growth that best explain how our per capita income has doubled over these last 40 years and how it is jobs and economic growth that have led to an unprecedented improvement in our Welfare State.
• Remember that in Spain, thanks to the support provided by employment, 14.2 million people receive some form of pension or social benefit each month which translates into a 20-point increase in social spending over these years.
• Thanks to that, among other things, we have built one of the finest healthcare systems in the world, as acknowledged by the European Commission just a few days ago, and we are the second most generous European country in terms of public pensions.

And all of that would have, quite simply, been impossible without the commitment from Spanish SMEs and independent contractors to their country and to their people.

Dear friends,

To put it simply, today's Spain cannot be understood without the role that small- and medium-sized enterprises have played, and the recovery we are now enjoying is not by chance. For example,

• This morning we have seen the unemployment and National Insurance figures for the month of November, which make 2017 the best year on record in comparable terms and lead us to believe that we will almost certainly create 600,000 jobs by the end of 2017.
• Over the last 12 months, unemployment has fallen by 315,542 people, an 8.3% drop year-on-year, according to the figures from the Public Employment Service.
• But, most importantly, the number of National Insurance contributors has risen over the last 12 months by 637,232, on top of the rise of 550,000 in 2016, more than 525,000 in 2015 and more than 400,000 in 2014, which gives an overall increase of 2,124,213 National Insurance contributors in just four years.

It is not necessary to repeat to you the importance of these figures, for example, for maintaining our public pension system, nor is it necessary to stress the figures from Eurostat: Spain has spent the last four years heading up the reduction in unemployment in Europe and Spain has reduced its unemployment rate over the last four years - it is true that we were coming from a much worse situation, but this is a truly noteworthy fact - three times more than Germany, nine times more than France and 16 times more than Italy.

Dear friends,

Spain is going to compete on talent, talent that is cultivated in companies. We need our companies to be committed to this target we now have ahead in order to reach the year 2020 with more and better jobs, of reaching the start of 2020 with 20 million people in work; a target that our SMEs must play a leading role in achieving. To this end, your companies must ensure that jobs are more stable. We still have a lot to do in this area, but I should say that you are making progress in the right direction.

I would ask you to remain committed to talent and to do everything possible to retain this talent, that you try to boost quality human resources based in permanent employment contracts adapted to your business needs with instruments of flexibility that are now available to you.

We must create more full-time jobs. This is an indicator that goes hand-in-hand with talent. A great many full-time jobs have been created in the last four years.

We must be capable of seriously addressing all those aspects that lead to quality jobs. If you want to be competitive in a global environment, you must commit to your workers, take risks, invest in them, train them over the course of their careers and make them part of your business projects.

In order to go down this path we must trust in those positive aspects that have helped us get this far. The recovery of our country has been based, as we said earlier, on the most important productive network that exists - which is you, the SMEs and independent contractors.

So, since the start of the recovery, 150,000 SMEs have been set up in Spain, which means a rise of 13%. You have recovered almost 1.5 million jobs - two thirds of all new jobs are down to you - and, most importantly, you are playing a key role in the professionalization of the management systems and in the internationalisation of our economy. Our companies are increasingly "less small" and "more medium-sized, they are growing in size and clearly becoming more international. This all serves to certify that SMEs and independent contractors constitute the main backbone of our economy.

But Spain still needs you, once again to be the spearhead to successfully tackle the challenges we are yet to face. We need more and larger SMEs, with a more international outlook, and better prepared for the global marketplace which, as you know better than me, is increasingly competitive. You are the main asset with which Spain will compete in the future.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I intend to comply, as everyone has, with the time allotted for my speech, and hence, I must draw to a close; but I did want to say one thing to you: on economic matters, Spain has totally turned the situation around in the last four years. An economy that lost almost 10% of its GDP, in which 3.8 million net jobs were lost and which hit the figure of 6 million people out of work, which was strongly in debt and with economic imbalances of all kinds (public deficit, foreign trade deficit, inflation, loss of competitiveness…); that same economy is now enjoying a period of sustained and stable economic growth, based on exports and competitiveness.

This year we will once again grow by more than 3% of GDP, well above such countries as Germany, France, Italy and Great Britain. This, which was totally unimaginable just four years ago, is taking place, among other things, because each one of you is playing his or her part.

I am also aware of what my part is; I am aware, as the public administration, that these administrations must not interfere in areas that do not correspond to them, and that they must ensure that the framework in which economic activity is carried out is as favourable as possible for those who must generate wealth and employment. A country cannot call itself "developed and modern" if it does not practise a social policy worthy of this name but it cannot make strides in this area, social policy - something which, it would seem, some people have not realised - if its economic foundations are not sufficiently sound.

I believe that we agree on these goals but, in order to achieve them, we need everyone to collaborate, and we need to maintain and develop coherent public policies and that companies as a whole make this possible through their conduct.

The only thing I would ask from you, which is no small matter, is that, henceforth, you insist on taking successful paths such as those you have headed down since your foundation and, in particular, those you have headed down in recent years.

Your efforts have been mighty, and you can now look back and see that Spain is on the verge of closing off its fourth straight year of economic growth, above the Eurozone average and that this has been achieved because there are many Spaniards that have helped this to happen. If we persevere, it will be difficult for anyone to prevent favourable winds blowing in our direction.

Dear friends,

The well-being and future of our nation depend on us all, and of what we are capable of doing together.

We saw a video earlier, a video which was spot-on from my point of view, which explained what Spain is to us. Sometimes, only bad news makes the headlines, but in Spain, as in Europe, there is also good news.

Perhaps it is possible that for some years we got used to this but, as I said before, this is a country with significant economic growth; this is a country which, under a Constitution that some people disagree with, has been capable, as I said before, of doubling its per capita income; this is a country which is among the 15 most important countries in the world; this is a country with a model of well-being, comprising public pensions, healthcare, education and social services that few other countries can boast of; this is a country with a railway and highway infrastructure that few other countries in the world can boast of; this is a country with companies that have invested close on half our country's GDP abroad, and that is implementing major works around the world, as we saw on the video: the high-speed line form Mecca to Medina, the Panama Canal and other major infrastructures around the world; this is a country, and we were also reminded of this in the video, that receives the third highest number of tourists - and not for nothing either - this is a country which receives Erasmus students from all over Europe and we are the leading country in Europe in the number of students that come here, and none of them are forced to do so, I am absolutely convinced, and this is not without reason.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Although there are some people who sometimes only want to highlight the mistakes and defects, which clearly exist, be aware that this is a tremendous country, with great business leaders, and great small- and medium-sized enterprises and exemplary independent contractors that are going to guarantee our future as they have for the last four years.

Thank you very much.

Non official translation