Nuestra NEBRIJA 30 - julio 2019

43 diate goods and services (tho- se that address the production of other goods and services) in the competitiveness of compa- nies was underlined. It was also stressed that, far from being a burden from which countries should be freed, they are an instrument for improving pro- duct quality and reducing prices, as well as a tool to increase the productivity of exporting compa- nies. In fact, it was shown that the most productive and most exporting Spanish companies are also large importers, being better integrated into the global value chains than the rest. The importance of technological sophistication and the quality of products in the analysis of bu- siness internationalization was also highlighted. Different studies show that Spain has lost tech- nological complexity in its productions and this is something that can take its toll on its competitive capacity in the future. Other presentations clarified and underlined the important role of intangible assets (know-how, di- gitization and human capital) on the internationa- lization of companies, detecting that in Spanish companies, tangible assets exceed the impor- tance of intangible ones. Empirical evidence was also provided on the favorable consequences for Spanish companies in technological cooperation with multinationals established in Spain. Finally, the role of the crisis in the positive perfor- mance of Spanish exports was discussed, showing that the lethargy of the internal market prompted many companies in the recent past, especially those that already exported, to seek new markets abroad. The conference was closed by the general director of Eco- nomy and Statistics of the Bank of Spain, Óscar Arce, who made a broad overview of the evolution of the Spanish foreign sector, focusing on the brilliant performance of exports and the surplus of the balance of goods and services achieved and sustained even in the four years of high growth since 2015. However, he also showed his concern, shared by all, regarding the meager growth of Spanish exports during 2018 and the first quarter of 2019. International trade does not grow a lot, but Spain shows a par- ticular difficulty in this regard. With this initiative, the Nebrija-Santander Global Chair in Internationalization of Companies aims to become an example among Spanish researchers in internationalization and to facilitate and promo- te the realization of studies in this field. To this end, in addition to organizing these conferences annually and establishing permanent communi- cation mechanisms among the members of this group, the Chair plans to celebrate two additional initiatives each year. On the one hand, a foreign trade meeting to carry out a follow-up of Spain's foreign trade and trade policy, in collaboration with the General Subdirectorate for Studies and Evaluation of Trade Policy of the State Secretariat of Commerce. And, on the other hand, a mee- ting with the Bank of Spain to analyze issues most related to this organization's work in the field of internationalization. T he crisis has played an important role in the positive performance of S panish exports