The Diplomat
King Philip VI yesterday closed the IV Congress of the Business Council Alliance for Ibero-America (CEAPI) with an appeal to developed countries to devote part of the “huge financial resources” earmarked for their reconstruction to “the financial needs of middle-income Latin American countries”.
Philip VI presided yesterday the closing of the congress, held at the headquarters of Caixa Forum in Madrid under the slogan Transformation and social impact: the best companies for the planet and which brought together leading entrepreneurs and experts from the Ibero-American region to discuss the social role of business after the health crisis of COVID-19.
During his speech, the King warned that “the pandemic against which we are still fighting has highlighted the fragilities and weaknesses of the world we live in, but also the solidarity of the people, the determination and will of millions of people to face together this lethal threat to life and health, which threatens economic prosperity, the social architecture of our peoples, and citizens’ trust in their institutions and organizations”.
In this context, he continued, “our economic system has an obligation to pay attention to the social, environmental and other requirements established by the United Nations 2030 Agenda, and corporate social responsibility (CSR), which is already an intrinsic part of the activity and identity of many companies, is closely linked to technological innovation and educational processes”.
For this reason, “the enormous financial resources that the governments of developed countries have set in motion for reconstruction must also take into account the demands of emerging and developing countries, as well as the financial needs of middle-income countries in Latin America”, he warned. “The elimination of the different types of inequalities they suffer, some of which are truly serious, requires urgent action and solidarity”, he added.
Before his speech, the King held a brief meeting with representatives of CEAPI, during which the Honorary President of the Council, Enrique V. Iglesias, presented him with a plaque in recognition of his Ibero-American vocation and support for regional integration.
The Congress, held in a hybrid format, began on Monday with opening remarks by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and with a first panel made up of the Ibero-American Secretary General, Rebeca Grynspan; the President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Mauricio Claver-Carone; the Honorary President of CEAPI, Enrique V. Iglesias; and the Secretary General of the OECD, Ángel Gurría.
Yesterday’s intense second day featured speeches by, among others, the fourth vice-president and minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera; the leader of the PP, Pablo Casado (who, along with current issues such as the assault on the Ceuta border or possible pardons in Catalonia, denounced that “Spain has led the destruction of GDP and employment, and the public deficit”); former Prime Minister José María Aznar (who urged “strengthening business ties between Spain and Latin America with a strategic sense and cultivating the fabric of business investment”); and the Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez Almeida.
The Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Zurab Pololikashvili urged governments to “decisively” support businesses and the private sector, “key to this reconstruction”; the president of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, José Luis Bonet declared that “the Government has done well because it has taken on board the guidelines of the NextGeneration funds and has transferred them to the National Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan” and the president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi addressed “the reforms necessary for the country’s recovery”). In addition, the president of CEAPI, Núria Vilanova, intervened in the opening and closing of the meeting.
