In parallel, there has also been an increase in the variety of goods and services exported, with intermediate goods and services accounting for a growing proportion. Since 2007 the number of Spanish goods-exporting companies has increased by more than 40%. And this despite the difficulties the international environment has undergone and the competition from the emerging economies. Moreover, the contribution of SMEs to this process is beginning to be significant. A further reflection of the internationalisation of the Spanish economy in the past two decades has been its growing share in international direct investment flows, not only through foreign capital inflows, but also through investment by Spanish firms abroad. Spain has become a net issuer of direct investment, running counter to the historical pattern. Large Spanish companies initially directed their foreign investment towards Latin America, diversifying subsequently towards the European Union. Currently, these two areas account for 50% and 30%, respectively, of total Spanish foreign direct investment in the rest of the world. Direct investment flows into Spain, after having been interrupted at the height of the euro area financial market tensions in 2012, are regaining their pre-crisis levels. The gains in competitiveness and the reforms undertaken have no doubt increased the attractiveness of our economy to investors. The headway made in the internationalisation of the economy against a particularly difficult background underscores the competitive capacity of part of the Spanish productive system.

Unlike covered bonds, the latter are backed by packages or specific groups of foreign trade financing operations. These new bonds may contribute to reducing exporting firms’ financial costs and to increasing the total volume of financing. Along with providing financing, banks also extend coverage for export risks, relating for instance to the recipient country’s economic or political situation, so-called “country risk”; the risk that products may be damaged in transit or withheld at borders; collection difficulties in the event of non-payment, associated with different jurisdictional frameworks; and greater uncertainty in the relationship between the supplier and acquiring company. Banks have used various instruments to extend guarantees on international trade flows. The classic instrument is, of course, the documentary credit. The importer’s bank guarantees the exporter’s bank that payment will be made once it has been confirmed, through presentation of the pertinent documentation, that the transaction has been correctly completed. In this way, exporters notably reduce their risks. Naturally, the demand for coverage of credit risk is higher for trade flows with countries with which there are fewer historical ties and with those trade partners for which greater risk is perceived. Accordingly, this may prove important in the opening-up of new markets and in flows to emerging economies. As regards the medium and long term, the nature and functioning of transactions differ from those for short-term transactions. The financial services provided by banks for longer-dated terms are, essentially, financing and the extension of guarantees and bonds needed to participate in international tender procedures.