The Diplomat
The Permanent Secretary of the Council of Ibero-American Businessmen-CEIB and CEOE International’s General Director, Narciso Casado, has held an intense agenda of meetings in Ecuador over the last few days, a country whose capital, Quito, will host the next Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and the 15th Ibero-American Business Meeting in November 2024.
Casado, who was accompanied by the president pro tempore of CEIB and president of the National Federation of Chambers of Industry of Ecuador, María Paz Jervis, met with authorities of the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry and the Pro Tempore Secretariat of Ecuador for the XXIX Ibero-American Summit, as well as with the highest representatives of the business organisations CIG and CIP in Quito; and the presidents of the main guilds associated with the National Federation of Chambers of Industry of Ecuador in the city of Cuenca.
Specifically, they met at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with Edwin Vázquez, Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade; Rafael Paredes, Undersecretary of Multilateral Affairs; María Gabriela Troya, Undersecretary of Sovereignty and Neighbourhood Relations and head of Ecuador’s Pro Tempore Secretariat for the Ibero-American Summit; Francisco Jarrín and Luis Alberto Salvador, President and Executive Vice-President of the Chamber of Industries of Guayaquil-CIG, respectively.
During the meeting, preparations for the Ibero-American Business Meeting, which attracts heads of state, trade unions and companies from all over the region, were discussed. Jervis indicated that this event is expected to encourage public-private dialogue to find solutions to the changing needs of Ibero-American societies.
The topic of the Business Meeting and the Ibero-American Summit was also discussed at the monthly FNCIE session held at the premises of the Chamber of Industries, Production and Employment (CIPEM) in Cuenca, one of the three main cities of Ecuador. There, Casado explained that both events are the best tool for regional integration that exists, and constitute an enriching space for debate to analyse topics of maximum interest, such as competitiveness, investment, energy, inclusion or sustainability. He added that “we must work together with the entire industrial and business network to generate economy and development”.
In the session, Francisco Jarrín assured that “we have to unite and take advantage of the opportunity for Ecuador to be the engine and a more attractive destination for investment”.
The day concluded with a visit to the industrial plant of Graiman, a company from Cuenca that stands out in the ceramics sector. During the tour, the trade union leaders learned about some of the production processes such as powder preparation, pressing system and digital decoration.
Subsequently, Narciso Casado travelled to Medellín to hold meetings with the heads of ProColombia and representatives of the city’s Chamber of Commerce, in order to continue preparations for the VI Ibero-American Forum of MSMEs, which will be held there on 11 and 12 December this year.
