“We must boost the growth of SMEs in Spain so that they can become large corporations”, stated Miguel Sebastián, professor of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and former Minister of Industry Tourism and Commerce, at the Universidad de Navarra.

This expert took part, together with José Vicente Rodríguez Mora, professor of the University of Edinburgh, in the discussion panel "Industrial Policy and Protectionism", within the 32th Edition of the Conferences on Industrial Economics, organised by the School of Economics.

Miguel Sebastián condemned the legislative punishment large companies are suffering and the current fostering of SMEs so that they remain SMEs. In order to reach the proper internationalization and industrial development, the economist pointed out the need to increase the size of companies and the technology intensity of the country.

Likewise, the former minister highlighted the role of the industrial sector within the European Union, upon which 75% of exports depend. He also reminded us of the crisis within this sector and stated that its origins can be traced back to the decade 1998-2008: “What ruined Industry was not the crisis but the fictitious prosperity”.

Regarding the current situation, he mentioned the Industry’s good infrastructures and highlighted the need to work on the energy challenge. “We're still a country which depends highly on energy imports and that lack of independence is the reason behind our external deficit”. In relation to this deficiency, the current professor of Macroeconomics of Universidad Complutense de Madrid encouraged the public support to renewable energies and highlighted the strategy of other European countries which have directed the spotlight of the development of photovoltaic energy to the Industry sector; a strategy which, in Spain, may have contributed to the boosting of the sector.

International commerce, a "poisoned prisoner"

José Vicente Rodríguez Mora, professor of the University of Edinburgh, discussed the advantages of international commerce and economic integration according to the results of his research based on the Head-Ries index, an estimation of the trading costs between two given countries.“Portugal is the country with the least trade frictions with Spain”, he stated, even though it is not the nation with the highest volume of operations. Besides, the professor pointed out that there are fewer trade frictions between two countries which do not belong to the European Union than between two countries within the Eurozone countries, regardless of characteristics such as size or the distance between them.

Rodríguez Mora wanted to explain that international commerce is not about cooperation but about "poisoned prisoners", since from a private perspective  “ideally you apply tariffs on foreign products”. Likewise, he highlighted the advantages of economic integration to reduce borders and compensate relations.