The Diplomat
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, inaugurated the second edition of Madrid Platform yesterday at the Palacio de Cibeles, in which thousands of European and Latin American companies are taking part.
With the opening of Madrid Platform, the Spanish capital will become the business centre of Latin America and Europe until Wednesday 25th, and the place where more than 700 face-to-face companies and thousands of companies from more than 70 countries will be able to exchange knowledge and proposals through more than 1,500 business meetings.
At the opening of the event, Reyes Maroto pointed out that spaces such as the one created by Madrid Platform reinforce the internationalisation of our companies “to consolidate,” she said, “the economic recovery and job creation that we need to continue building together”.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism reiterated that Latin America is a priority market in the Government’s foreign and trade policy, and reviewed the investments being made in Spain with the Next Generation funds, as well as the projects being promoted in various sectors by the Executive.
For her part, the Deputy Mayor of Madrid City Council, Begoña Villacís, underlined the size of the business meeting, which will be attended by more than 15,000 people. “We are in the century of cities, we have to understand that we are international and that we are a meeting point. One out of every five citizens has ties with Latin America and, for this reason, Madrid is the perfect place to bring Europe and Latin America together”, he said.
The president and founder of Madrid Platform, Carlos Morales, said that “the initiatives that are being carried out with all the institutions and companies are on the right track”. He also highlighted the “innovative and disruptive format of this business initiative that highlights something unique: Madrid” and announced some of the announcements that will be made over the three days, such as the cluster of audiovisual companies led by RTVE, which will be the first meeting of Latin American logistics operators, an investor’s club, and multiple initiatives that thousands of companies that will attend in person and, others, remotely, will be able to get to know.
In addition to the Madrid City Council, this initiative is supported by the Community of Madrid, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism through its business promotion agencies (Cesce, Cofides and Enisa), as well as other government ministries. Practically all the European and Latin American Chambers of Commerce have also joined this ecosystem, as well as the Organisation of Ibero-American States (OEI), the Ibero-American General Secretariat (Segib), the Ibero-American Business Council (CEIB), and the Foundation of Young Ibero-American Entrepreneurs (FIJE), among others.
