CEOE steers Spanish business in China
The second Sino-Spanish Business Summit begins today in Beijing, in the august presence of King Juan Carlos I of Spain. A group of 250 representatives from Spain's business community will be participating in the event.
As one of the summit's organizers, the Spanish Confederation of Employers' Organizations (CEOE) has made great efforts to boost economic ties between entrepreneurs from the two countries.
With a voluntary membership of one million public and private companies in a wide range of industries, from agriculture and industry to services, the Spanish organization is seen as a major representative of Spain's economic sector.
By merit of its dynamic economy and global influence, "China is one of the priority countries for CEOE," said Gerardo Daz Ferrn, president of the confederation.
In cooperation with the Spanish Ministry of Industry and Trade, CEOE launched a four-year plan in 2004 to promote trade, investment and industrial and technological projects with Chinese companies.
"We have organized some Spanish business delegations to visit China, covering such sectors as metals, services, and information and communication technologies," he added.
The institution also provides related information and training to help its members gain a foothold in China, one of the world's most booming markets.
Meanwhile, close relations with the Chinese Embassy in Madrid, the Spanish Embassy in Beijing, and such Chinese institutions as the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade have also facilitated CEOE's commitment to promoting Spanish business in China.
In particular, it has established a specific committee, composed of representatives of Spain's main business sectors, to support all promotional activities targeted at the Chinese market, Daz noted
Untapped potential
In spite of the recent increase in bilateral trade, China and Spain still have much untapped potential in terms of economic cooperation, said Daz.
"The market share for China and for Spain is smaller than their respective shares at the global level," he said, adding: "That is a clear reason for further boosting bilateral trade growth."
He singled out the automobile, environmental protection, construction, logistics and distribution sectors for potential trade and investment growth.
However, he also recognized that market access, non-discriminatory treatment, intellectual property rights protection and adjustment of China's currency to the market forces to be crucial issues facing the Chinese market.
Regarding China's performance since joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), Daz said: "A member of the organization should take advantage of the benefits and carry out its obligations."
"We support the offer from the European Union for technical cooperation to help China meet its commitments," he asserted.
"We also support the need for China to fulfill the Public Procurement Agreement in the WTO framework," he added.
Roadmap for the future
Along with growth in trade, trade conflicts too are on the rise between the two countries, in industries like textiles and shoes in particular.
Daz has a pragmatic attitude to this issue. "It is good to find specific solutions for those sectors. But, at the same time, we should make a big effort to improve our global competitiveness and to make more efforts in fields such as research and development, training, and design."
Over the last few years, Spanish companies have made substantial progress in internationalization, he said.
"Now, we are one of the largest foreign investors in the world and the second investor in Latin America, and have very competitive companies in a certain number of sectors like telecommunication, banking, infrastructure, energy and tourism, some of which have already established operations in China."
A deepening of understanding and further exchanges between the two peoples will lead to more fruitful cooperation in the business sector, believes Daz.
Thus, CEOE is also active in promoting the development of science and culture, evidenced by its establishment of a foundation dedicated to culture, art, education and research in 1984.
(China Daily 06/27/2007 page26)
