The Vice-President of the CEOE and the Director General of CEOE International take part in an intensive schedule of events in Bogota.

The Vice-President of the CEOE and President of the Institute of Economic Studies-IEE, Íñigo Fernández de Mesa, and the Director General of CEOE International and Permanent Secretary of CEIB, Narciso Casado, have travelled to Bogota, where they will hold an intensive schedule of business events, including two business meetings, the first in the context of establishing the Spain-Colombia Business Council, and the second at the international presentation of the Global Latam 2021 Report, which was launched in Madrid on 19 April. Leading businesspeople from both countries will participate in the two days.

During the conference, trade and investment opportunities in both countries will be explored and an agreement will be signed to create the Spain-Colombia Business Council, of which Íñigo Fernández de Mesa and Sylvia Escovar will be Co-Presidents.

Spain-Colombia Business Council

Today, Monday the 25th, Íñigo Fernández de Mesa and Narciso Casado will speak at a business meeting organised by the CEOE and ANDI, with the support of the Spanish Economic and Commercial Office in Colombia, as part of the creation of the Spain-Colombia Business Council. The president of the National Business Association of Colombia-ANDI, Bruce Mac Master; the President of the Board of Directors of Sanitas and President of the Colombian Chapter of the Council, Sylvia Escovar; the Ambassador of Spain to Colombia, Joaquín de Arístegui; the President of ProColombia, Flavia Santoro; and the Executive Vice-President of ANDI, Paola Buendía. During the conference, trade and investment opportunities in both countries will be assessed and an agreement will be signed to create the Spain-Colombia Business Council, of which Íñigo Fernández de Mesa and Sylvia Escovar will be Co-Chairs.

Presentation of the Global Latam Report 2021

Tomorrow, the 26th, the programme will continue with another business meeting, organised by ICEX-Invest in Spain, CEOE-CEIB, SEGIB and ANDI, in the context of the presentation of the Global Latam Report 2021, which was launched in Madrid last Tuesday. A new feature this year is that the fourth edition of the report includes the results of the first Global LATAM Barometer, which was conducted in collaboration with the Consejo de Empresarios Iberoamericanos (Ibero-American Business Council - CEIB). In this respect, the business organisations that are members of this Council have been heavily involved in this initiative, which has seen the very active participation of their entire network of Latin American companies. 

The Barometer surveys the current perception of the Latin American economy by companies in the region, 79.2% of which have a neutral or negative evaluation. Among other things, they were also asked about their international investment forecasts, and 34% of the companies stated that they plan to commence operations in 2022, while 28.8% expect to expand them. The main destinations for investment would be Latin America itself (46.6%), the United States (26.9%) and Spain (9.8%). 

Latin American companies have identified five main obstacles to their internationalisation: regulations in the target market, taxation in the country where the company is based, access to knowledge about international business opportunities, the image of the company’s home country and finding a suitable partner in the investment destination. 

Besides the aforementioned aspects, the companies surveyed indicated that, to increase their foreign investment, Latin American governments should work to eliminate administrative obstacles and increase economic and commercial integration within the region.

Internationalisation of companies in the post-Covid era

During the conference, leading authorities and experts from the region will tackle the great significance of the internationalisation of Latin American companies in the post-Covid era. The event will be opened by the Spanish Economic and Trade Advisor in Colombia, Alicia Montalvo, and the Director of Economy and Business of SEGIB, Pablo Adrián Hardy; and the report will be presented by the Head of the Latam Desk of ICEX-Invest in Spain and the Director of Macroeconomics at FEDESARROLLO, Martha Elena Delgado.

Afterwards, the Editor of La República, Fernando Quijan; the founder and CEO of MELONIN, Andrés Gómez; and the Commercial Manager of ARUS, Mario Loaiza, will participate in a discussion under the slogan “Building global companies from innovation.” 

The event will conclude with the panel: “How to have more global Latin companies? The cases of Colombia, Spain and the Dominican Republic,” moderated by the Permanent Secretary of CEIB, Narciso Casado, with the participation of the president of ANDI, Bruce Mac Master; the Vice-President of the CEOE, Íñigo Fernández de Mesa; and the President of CEIB and of the Confederación Patronal de la República Dominicana-COPARDOM, William Matías Ramírez.