Pedro Sánchez calls for transition to digital economy without technology gap

The President of the Government, by attending, thus recovers "the need to be present and be part of the solution to the new challenges for global governance". Pedro Sánchez, who was one of the few leaders to receive an invitation to take part in the plenary session of the World Economic Forum, focused his speech on the opportunities and challenges posed by the digitalisation of the economy and the need to "understand this phenomenon and incorporate it in the design of public policies", he said, with the aim of ensuring that "all citizens on the planet form part of the modernising revolution" in an inclusive manner and thus avoid a "new technology gap".

The fight against inequality is "an obligation we defend by making a full commitment", claimed Pedro Sánchez, since this is a source of "economic tension and instability" that leads to the "breakdown of societies", and the path "of a return to disaster", in clear allusion to the outbreak of reactionary nationalist reactionaries, "the main challenge facing our liberal democracies", he said.

In this regard, the President of the Government advocated a model of economic growth that generates well-being for people within the planet's limits, based on gender equality, the ecological transition and in which technological change is a source of inclusive progress. "I would invite you all to raise your eyes to the macro-economic graphs and look people in the eye", said Pedro Sánchez to the attendees, recalling the United Nations 2030 Agenda as a benchmark model of the path to be taken.

He also advocated a new "social pact" for a "new era" that feeds off developments and progress made in the past, such as peace, social well-being, universal healthcare, public education, the public pension system and the vote for women, in a plea in favour of the achievements of social democracy. "As happened in the past, the foundations of this pact will be embraced by sensible people of all ideologies", he stressed.

Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la BellacasaThe President of the Government presented the forum with his economic plans and stressed that the priority of the Government of Spain is to fortify social cohesion to ensure a more stable and balanced economy. And, along these lines, he explained, the Budget for 2019 is "the start of a success story", designed to fight inequality, protect the Welfare State, change the economic model by recovering the value of science and innovation and control the public deficit.

Pedro Sánchez took the opportunity of his speech to assert the sound and robust nature of the Spanish economy, which continues to head up growth among the main European economies, ahead of France, Italy and Germany, with forecast job creation of some 330,000 jobs in 2019. In this regard, he placed great emphasis on the confidence of foreign investors in Spain for four reasons offered by our country: social peace, legal certainty, strong institutions and a markedly pro-European vocation.

Spain wants to be a leader in the digital transition of the economy

During his time at the Davos Forum, the President of the Government will hold several meetings with top executives of leading technology companies, in order to convey the interest of the Government of Spain in working together with the private sector, by placing Spain at the forefront of the digital revolution and establishing the policies necessary to attract and foster talent and create job opportunities. Pedro Sánchez will meet with the CEOs of Microsoft, Booking.com, Facebook, IBM and Amazon Web Services.

Non official translation