• The Plan will promote the departure abroad of Social Economy enterprises to improve their competitiveness.
• These companies represent 10 percent of the Spanish GDP and 12.5 percent of employment.
Murcia, April 7, 2016 .- The Minister of Employment and Social Security, Fátima Báñez has defined the Spanish social economy as "the soul of our economy", highlighting his character model of success in the European framework. At the close of the first Forum of Internationalization of Social Economy, held at the Chamber of Commerce of Murcia, the minister stressed the role of the social economy in recovery "at the national level, you are experiencing employment, which has achieved the creation of 1,200,000 jobs of the more than 3 million lost during the crisis".
Báñez has intervened in this forum under the Plan of Internationalization of Social Economy launched by the Ministry of Employment and Social Security, the Chamber of Commerce of Spain and the Spanish Business Confederation of Social Economy (CEPES), with the support of the Spanish Confederation of Worker Cooperatives (COCETA) and the Business Confederation of Labor Societies of Spain (CONFESAL).
Forum held in Murcia have participated, among others, the president of the Autonomous Community, Pedro Antonio Sanchez; President of the Chamber of Commerce of Murcia, Pedro García-Balibrea; CEPES president, Juan Antonio Pedreño, and director of the International Chamber of Commerce of Spain, Alfredo Bonet.
President of CEPES, Juan Antonio Pedreño, said that "although many companies in the social economy and have a clear presence in international markets and even leading sectors at European or international level, this agreement is important because it will target companies are in early stages of starting a process of internationalization".
Meanwhile, the International Director of the Chamber of Commerce of Spain, Alfredo Bonet, stressed that the institution will serve companies in the Social Economy their experience in the field of internationalization by "individualized reports and customized plans with technicians Chambers will help them identify success factors, market analysis of opportunity, a situation of potential competitors or recommendations for improvement".
With this first forum is launched Internationalization Plan of Social Economy to promote the opening of the entities of the Social to foreign markets in order to improve the competitiveness of enterprises Economy. The plan is articulated through three types of actions:
• Forums directed mainly Cooperatives and labor companies to explain the benefits of internationalization of Social Economy.
• Individualized reports with recommendations for improvement, identifying success factors and market analysis of opportunity (150 reports).
• Internationalization Plans customized with direct expert advice to companies that request (40 plans).
Social Economy in Europe
The Social Economy has become one of the main stakes of the European Union to strengthen the growth and prosperity of the Member States within the EU Strategy 2020. The European Institution recognize that it is based on democratic values, business model, which places the person in the foreground and contributes to sustainable development and social, environmental and technological innovation.
United Nations and European institutions have approved more than 200 documents that give value to the social economy in areas such as the creation of stable and quality employment, entrepreneurship, rural development and local innovation, social cohesion and inclusion groups at risk of exclusion.
Social Economy in Spain
Spain has since May 2011 a specific law that defines the Social Economy as "the set of economic and business activities in the private sector, make those entities pursuing the general social and / or economic".
The growing importance of the Social Economy is given not only by the nature of its institutions and principles that underpin it, but also for its ability to cope environments and resist crisis. There are more than enough for the Spanish Social Economy companies analyze their ability to export and internationalize and many of them need a boost high added value to help them grow with greater assurance of success reasons.
According CEPES, the top organization representing associations and companies of this nature, at the end of 2015 there were in Spain 42,929 Social Economy organizations. Most of them are Cooperatives (20,258) and labor companies (10,828). There are also a number of mutual societies and associations Disability Sector. The activity of all generates 10 percent of Spanish GDP.
Social Economy entities employing more than 2.2 million people, 12.5 percent of the population in Spain. It is also stable employment is with 80 percent of permanent contracts, nonexclusive, with 128,000 employees with disabilities or at risk of exclusion; and more resilient to the crisis, with job losses 6 points lower than the other business formulas.
The complete dossier of Social Economy can be downloaded here
