The Diplomat
The Board of Trustees of the Spain-Australia Council Foundation (FCEA) met on December 22 to close this year’s activity and announce the incorporation of the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Ángeles Moreno, and the Madrid City Council.
The board meeting, convened by the president of the Council Foundation and general director of Institutional Relations of Acciona, Joaquín Mollinedo, served to announce the action plan for 2022 and to learn about the state of bilateral relations between the two countries and the interests of the companies, administrations and institutions in attendance.
During the meeting, the two new members of the Council Foundation were welcomed: Ángeles Moreno and the Madrid City Council, represented by Santiago Saura, Councilor for Internationalization and Cooperation, and Cecilio Cerdán, Director General for Cooperation and Global Citizenship. The general director for North America, Eastern Europe, Asia and the Pacific of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Javier Salido, and the director of Institutional Relations of Indra, Alfonso Tena, have also joined the Board of Trustees.
During her speech, the State Secretary praised the FCEA’s capacity to maintain its activity during the almost two years of the pandemic and recalled that many of the companies that form part of the Board of Trustees are world leaders and business references in Australia, especially in the defense, infrastructure and renewable energy sectors. For his part, Cecilio Cerdán said that membership of the Foundation will enable the Madrid City Council and Madrid companies to extend their reach to more destinations around the world.
All the speakers agreed that the opening of Australia’s borders is a key element for the Foundation’s activity in 2022. Australia has been one of the strictest countries in the world with its border closures and thanks to this, and despite the mutations of the virus, the country is gradually returning to normality. The Government has recently announced the opening for some visa holders, provided they have the full COVID-19 vaccination schedule. These include international students, skilled workers and work & holiday visa holders. “This announcement has undoubtedly been a revulsive for the Foundation’s activity, since one of its main engines are high-level face-to-face meetings, which facilitate contacts and improve mutual knowledge,” assured the FCEA in a press release.
In this scenario, the action plan envisaged includes very important activities for the Foundation Council, such as the Australian Leaders Program, which invites professionals and personalities in priority sectors for both countries to Spain. In any case, in 2022 the online activity will be maintained, “which has been so successful in maintaining the Foundation’s activity and fulfills the objective of disseminating certain aspects of the ties that unite us”.
During their speeches, the trustees confirmed that Australia continues to be a very interesting country for investment and growth. In this regard, Ana Esmeralda Martínez, Director General of Economic Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, affirmed that Australia guarantees an environment of political stability, legal security and economic discipline that offers certainty to the economic activity of companies.
