The Diplomat
The CEO of Grupo Santander, Ana Patricia Botín, received yesterday at the Zarzuela Palace, from the hands of the King, the VII Enrique V. Iglesias Award for the Development of the Ibero-American Business Space.
Botín, the first woman to receive this award, was unanimously chosen by the jury of the Prize. Her candidacy had been proposed by Ángel Gurría, former Secretary General of the OECD, who presented her to the jury as “an excellent representative of the values of entrepreneurship, but also of cooperation in the Ibero-American sphere and commitment to the social and economic progress of the countries of the region”.
The Enrique V. Iglesias Award – promoted by the Business Council Alliance for Ibero-America (CEAPI) in collaboration with important institutional, economic and business personalities in the region – has since 2014 recognized business figures from the Ibero-American community who stand out for their relevant and extraordinary contribution to the development of Ibero-American countries and the promotion of ties between the countries of the community through economic activity, investment and the promotion of trade, as well as the forging of a more inclusive and sustainable region.
The award also recognizes the figure of Enrique V. Iglesias, honorary president of CEAPI and with a long career as president of the IDB and later as the first Ibero-American secretary general. The first recipient was Mexican businessman Valentín Diez Morodo, followed by banker, builder and philanthropist, Luis Carlos Sarmiento; the late founder of the VIPS group, Plácido Arango; the president of Pan-America Energy Group, Alejandro Bulgheroni and the former president of CAF, Enrique García; and the president of Copa Holdings, Stanley Motta.
The Enrique V. Iglesias Award ceremony took place at the Palacio de La Zarzuela and was attended by high-level institutional and business representatives, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares; the Ibero-American Secretary General, Rebeca Grynspan; the Secretary of State for Trade, Xiana Méndez; the Honorary President and President of CEAPI, Enrique V. Iglesias and Núria Vilanova, among others. Iglesias and Núria Vilanova, respectively; the president of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, Josep Lluís Bonet i Ferrer; and the president of CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, among others.
“Ana Botín exemplifies the values of this award and of CEAPI,” said Vilanova, who praised “her spirit of transformation, leading Banco Santander and her team towards digitalization and innovation, sustainability and commitment to the environment, young people and society to contribute to a better world.”
For the honorary president of CEAPI, Enrique V. Iglesias, “this award is a well-deserved recognition to a person who has stood out for his brilliant career in the economic and financial fields, leading one of the leading banks in Spain and the world and assuming a commendable commitment to the economic and social development of Ibero-America”.
In her speech of gratitude for the award, Ana Botín highlighted that “Santander is the leading financial franchise” in Ibero-America “with more than 80,000 employees and 76 million customers”. “Latin America (the world) needs a new social contract aimed at mitigating inequalities and this can be helped by greater trade integration in the region and by Europe becoming more committed to Latin America,” she added.
