Spain’s King Felipe: Madrid is natural ally of Argentine businessmen

Spain’s King Felipe VI on Tuesday emphasized the importance of new technologies for the progress of societies and addressed Argentine businessmen to say that Spain is their “natural ally” in building bridges with the international innovative community.

The Spanish monarch delivered this message in a speech before the “Buenos Aires, Buenas Ideas” (Buenos Aires, Good Ideas) forum organized by the Cotec Foundation, of which he is the honorary president, during his and Queen Letizia’s official visit to Argentina to highlight the cooperation among the firms of the two countries on specific programs.

Felipe emphasized that Cotec is working with the idea of innovation as any change based on knowledge that contributes value, and he said that the foundation has launched corporate programs within the realm of education for entrepreneurship.

The king said that the experiences that were discussed at the forum, promoted by firms like Telefonica Argentina, the La Caixa Foundation, BBVA France, Everis and Indra, are examples of business policies to support entrepreneurship and an example of Spanish-Argentine cooperation in the technologies of the future.

In addition to discussing sectors and technologies, Felipe said that the greatest guarantee of the shared future between Spain and Argentina is the talent and passion of businessmen, which - he said - are called upon to play a key role in the progress of the South American country and in the relations with the international innovative community.

“Regarding this, which will lead you to weave networks and build bridges with other ecosystems of entrepreneurship, I invite you to think about Spain, about its firms and institutions, and about your own business community, as natural allies,” the king told the participants at the event.

Felipe warned that success does not always come right away and often requires years of preparation and patience, but he said that Argentina has a very well-education population.

The monarch also referred to Spain’s investment presence in Argentina and noted that it ranks No. 2 in that regard, behind only the United States.

He said that Madrid’s investment presence in the South American nation has been stable at all times and is diversified into sectors such as telephone communications, energy, finance, insurance and fishing.

He also emphasized that Spanish firms are internationally recognized for their quality and commitment to projects related to public-private participation in the renewable energy sector and that many of them are leaders in terms of corporate social responsibility.