The idea arose ten years ago with one intention: for the region's great businessmen to get to know each other.
There was a need to orient each other and focus not only on the inside of the companies, but
on what is happening in the communities in which they operate
.
In this way, the CEAPI (Business Council Alliance for Ibero-America) gained strength, partly due to the impulse of the former president of the IDB, the Uruguayan Enrique Iglesias, who
brought together 14 large Spanish companies
in 2014 to establish a bridge between Spain and Latin America with a geo vision. strategic: for Spain to grow in this region and at the same time be
a gateway to Europe.
CEAPI will hold its annual Congress on June 17 and 18 in Cartegena, Colombia.
In what is a forum hermetic to the press and the curious, they add the children of these leaders to overcome
one of the most complicated challenges in family fortunes: succession in the command position
.
Enrique Iglesias, former president of the IDB
Precisely in Cartagena, Manuel Bermejo, CEO of The Family Advisory Board, and Íñigo Mariscal Servitje, general director of the Mexican company Marhnos, dedicated to infrastructure works, will give a family business workshop.
How much do we have to grow to generate employment?
By the way, CEAPI is made up of
250 presidents of the largest Ibero-American companies
.
And it works as a think tank.
Nuria Vilanova, owner of Atrevia, a communication consultancy with feet in 15 countries, is its owner.
The debate will revolve this time around the
challenge of growth
.
The Mexican Carlos Slim, one of his honorary partners, anticipated that
with less than 4% growth in Latin American countries, it is not possible to lift people out of poverty
because job creation is not relevant.
Much more is needed.
The bad news is that according to the World Bank the region will grow 1.6% this year and
Argentina is expected to fall 2.8%.
Carlos Slim
“Our obsession is that there is more investment in the countries from the entrepreneurs themselves, and trust is key in that, hence our relationship with governments to awaken that trust,” Vilanova tells
Clarín
.
The Congress is attended by institutional leaders and the number one companies, business families and investors with a capacity limited to 350 seats.
Santiago Soldati and Alejandro and Bettina Bulgheroni are
unmissable.
A dissertation by Jose María Aznar and several mayors from different Colombian cities is planned.
Alfonso González Pardo, from Telefónica, the former vice president of Costa Rica, Rebeca Grynspan, and the Ibero-American Secretary General, Andrés Allamand, will also present.
Ana Botin, CEO of Banco Santander
It is curious, but a good number of those who attend are unknown due to their very low profile.
This is not the case of
Ana Botín,
the head of Santander, the members of the powerful
Luksic family from Chile,
Mireya de Cisneros and her MC Global Venture fund, the
owner of the Copa de Panama airline,
Stanley Mota, or those who They guide the destinies of the publishing groups Prisa and Planeta.
Mixed with them are Antonio Huertas, from Mapfre;
Valentín Díaz Morodo, from the Mexican Grupo Modelo;
Ricardo Roa of Ecopetrol of Colombia, the former Vodafone, Patricia Santoni;
Jaime Gilinski Bacal, the banker who owns one of the largest business conglomerates in Colombia.
Additionally, Omar González Pardo from the Trinity Group and director of Coquecol and Acerías Paz del Río, from Colombia.
Alejandro Bulgheroni
Who made their employees partners?
One of the cases that will be discussed is that of the Chilean industrialist José Luis del Río, who
made the workers of Friosur partners
, the firm he founded 35 years ago with his family in Puerto Chacabuco, in the commune of Aysén.
And new players such as India and even the Philippines, globalization with short supply chains, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity will be analyzed.
When defining the situation in Argentina, Vilanova points out: “Here there is a realism that is far from what happens in other countries, the President speaks of a tremendous adjustment and does not hide it as usually happens.
I perceive optimism from the business world regarding the country.
What we ask ourselves is what can happen on a social level, whether people are going to endure it or not
.”