The Confederación Abulense de Empresarios (CONFAE) has awarded the Premio Empresa Abulense del Año, sponsored by Bankia, and CECALE de Oro by Ávila 2019 to the company Ornua Ingredientes for the "effort" made by the cheese company to maintain its production and staff of workers in Ávila after the fire that destroyed its facilities in November 2017. "It is an example of a responsible company," stressed the president of CONFAE, Juan Saborido.

At the press conference presenting the award, Juan Saborido pointed out that Ornua stands with the CECALE de Oro for Ávila for its "involvement in the economic fabric and with the society of Avila, demonstrated by the enormous investment effort that has been carried out to build its new facilities, maintaining the activity in Ávila ", in which it is committed to" growth, innovation and technology ".

Likewise, it has valued its "commitment to maintain employment levels", its impact on provincial and regional GDP and its interest in cooperating in the business and institutional areas of both Ávila and Castilla y León, reasons why the The Executive Committee of CONFAE decided in May, unanimously, to award the Abuja Company of the Year Award to Ornua Ingredientes, which is also a partner of CONFAE.

For his part, the managing director of Ornua Ingredients Europe, Joan Bombardó, thanked the awarding of the Company of the Year Award and CECALE Gold Award for Avila, saying that it is "a recognition for all the workers who have collaborated in the reconstruction and in the maintenance of the activity ".

Bombardó has also announced that the new factory, built on the same plot where the installations destroyed by the fire were located, is "practically finished", with 90% of the machinery installed and all the workers have been gradually incorporated, with what they hope to resume the activity normally this June. At the end of the year, it has calculated, the factory will manage to equate its production to the levels prior to the fire and will begin to increase in 2020.

CECALE gold

The vice president of CEOE and president of CEIM, Juan Pablo Lázaro; the president of the China International Contractors Association (CHINCA), Fang Qiuchen; and the deputy commissioner for the Strip and Route of the Department of Economic and Commercial Development of the government of the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong, Cora Ho, inaugurated a business meeting between Spain and China and Hong Kong at the Hesperia Hotel, analyze bilateral business opportunities and possibilities for cooperation in joint projects in third markets. The act was closed by the CEO of ICEX Spain Exportación e Inversiones, María Peña.

During the day, the Deputy Director of Projects of ICEX, Eduardo Vivo (infrastructures); the president of Tecniberia, Luis Villarroya (engineering consultancy); the person in charge of External Promotion and Services in MAFEX, Fernando Prieto (railroad); the institutional representative of the Spanish Association of Banking, Joaquín de la Herrán (banking); and representatives of the delegation of mainland China and Hong Kong.

Background

The vice president of CEOE and president of CEIM, Juan Pablo Lázaro, highlighted the close relationship that the Business Organization maintains with China. Proof of this, he said, is the visit to Spain of Chinese President Xi Jinping last November, during which the Spanish-Chinese Business Advisory Council was formed. "CEOE has a special role, since it is the business organization responsible for coordinating the Council together with the Secretary of State for Trade and the Chamber of Spain," he said.

Also, Lázaro explained that, in the framework of this visit, CEOE hosted a business meeting, inaugurated by the Ministers of Commerce of Spain and China, in which more than 300 entrepreneurs from both countries participated. He also emphasized that from CEOE we are supporting the business and investment opportunities that China offers to Spanish companies and, a good example of this, is the assistance of the CEOE International President, Marta Blanco, to the business events held in Shanghai last week, on the occasion of the visit of the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, to the Asian country.

Bilateral relations

From CEOE, Juan Pablo Lázaro insisted, the effort that Mainland China and Hong Kong are making to boost business relations with Spain is highly valued, through the intensification of institutional visits to our country. "For all these reasons, we trust that the Meeting, as well as the individual meetings and the subsequent lunch, will be of help to know in depth the business and investment opportunities offered by sectors such as infrastructures, engineering consultancy, railways or banking, "he said. He also took the opportunity to thank and congratulate the Chinese Embassy in Spain and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council for the organization and preparation of the day.

Projects in third markets

The President of the China International Contractors Association (CHINCA), Fang Qiuchen, and the Deputy Commissioner for the Strip and Route of the Economic and Commercial Development Department of the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Cora Ho, highlighted the possibilities of cooperating in joint projects in third markets in infrastructures, financing or renewable energies, among other sectors. They also agreed that Spain represents an excellent platform for access to the countries of the European Union, Africa or Latin America, which is a great opportunity for Chinese companies that want to access these markets.

Institutional lunch

After several bilateral meetings between the companies attending and the business delegation of mainland China and Hong Kong, an institutional lunch was held in which authorities from both countries took part. The Secretary of State for Commerce, Xiana Méndez; the general director of the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China for Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao, Sun Tong; the deputy commissioner for the Strip and Route of the Economic and Commercial Development Department of the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Cora Ho; and China's ambassador to Spain, Lyu Fan. After the welcome, a panel discussion took place with the representatives of the business delegation of mainland China and Hong Kong.

ANEBP is the only National Association of Spanish companies dedicated to Professional Diving, which It brings together the majority of the main companies in the sector of our country and represents them as employers against all public administrations, contributing to the development of regulations, safety conditions at work, development of professional qualifications and in general to participation, advice and contribution in all those actions aimed at standardization and improvement of our activity.

ANEBP pursues:

– Promote the highest possible standards in health and safety, technology, quality and efficiency, protection and care of the environment.

– Achieve and maintain self-regulation of the sector.

– Facilitate the free movement of personnel and equipment throughout the national territory.

– Reach fair recruitment regimes.

– Provide a common framework for the training and coaching, certification, competence and hiring of personnel that support and sustain the industry in our sector.

– Respond to the issues of the sector and promote cooperation at all levels.

The members of ANEBP are companies from different sectors, such as construction and civil engineering, specialists in underwater work in dams, work in offshore, naval sector, and also companies dedicated to training and specialists in professional diving equipment. ANEBP has two fundamental areas in which its members participate:

– General Members: Companies dedicated to the realization of professional diving work.

– Associate Members: companies intimately linked to the sector such as professional diving training schools and companies selling and distributing professional diving equipment.

In the image, Javier Calderón, Director of Businesses and Organizations of CEOE with Javier Ferran Arderiu, President, Arturo Villazón Granda, Vice President and Miguel Angel Somma Sain, Manager, respectively of ANEBP during the meeting where issues have been addressed in order to improve the profitability ratios of companies, expand operational capacity, gain in size and go to other markets reaffirming and strengthening the commitment of the companies that conform with the compliance with the safety standards for underwater activities reached in the Second Convention of Professional Diving and Hyperbaric Media.

Held at the CEOE headquarters under the title: "No more (time to) waste !:" public-private collaboration as a guarantor of sustainable production and consumption ", this day served to exchange the best practices of both countries and the potential of collaboration between administrations and the private sector. At the opening ceremony, the vice president of CEOE and president of Unespa, Pilar González de Frutos and the ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Spain, Matthijs Bonzel, spoke.

For the vice-president of CEOE, it is very clear the commitment and the conviction in the business world that it is the companies that are going to lead the work and objectives to achieve a sustainable world. Because companies are a key actor in the 2030 Agenda and in the achievement of the SDGs.

He also indicated that it is necessary to work in a coordinated and joint way with the Administration and the whole society and that, for Spanish companies, the Netherlands is an inspiration since the commitment of the authorities and the Dutch companies with sustainability comes from far.

In this sense, the Dutch ambassador spoke of the great coordination between Public Administration, private sector and University that exists in his country and described it as "Golden Triangle".

At the same time, he valued the capacity for imagination, innovation and effort of the Dutch and Spanish farmers, especially in Almería, since they are the main exporters of tomatoes. Which is a great merit because the tomato needs water and sun. Holland has no sun and Almeria lacks water. The combination of knowledge, inventiveness, innovation and motivation have compensated for that lack of one of the elements.

The event brought together experts on corporate and social responsibility from the PwC consultancy firm or companies such as Corte Inglés, Tandem, Pascual, C & A, Grupo Santander and Cajamar. In addition, the Dutch union (FNV), banking associations of both countries (AEB and NVB), senior Dutch and Spanish government officials, Moda España and the federations of Spanish and Dutch food and beverage industries (FIAB and FNLI), among others. The sustainability and responsibility of the textile and agri-food sector, as well as the dynamic and sustainable role of financing to achieve SDG 12, are fundamental.

High Commissioner for the 2030 Agenda

During the day, the High Commissioner for the 2030 Agenda, Cristina Gallach, together with Roald Lapperre, maximum representative of sustainability policies of the Dutch administration, stressed the importance of promoting public-private partnerships. It is necessary that investments and business loans see the profitability of these business examples and prioritize their decisions taking into account these variables of sustainability and social responsibility.

Likewise, both the Dutch and the Spanish view have shared the need to give more responsibility to consumers. This can be achieved through greater transparency and information on the origin of resources and the way companies produce. Pragmatic legislation should be developed, fiscal and financial instruments and incentives should be offered, innovation and design should be promoted and, finally, education and knowledge should be improved. To achieve all this, international cooperation is needed.

Among the conclusions, it has been agreed to promote bilateral collaboration and raise proposals at European level, together with other countries. The objective of all this is to accelerate the attainment of the objective of development for more sustainable and transparent productive chains, and that the consumer has at his disposal all the information about what he consumes.

At the closing, the Director of Communication, Institutional Relations and Sustainability of CEOE, Carmen Alsina, explained some of the initiatives of the Confederation in this matter. A) Yes, promote the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee and the Environment Committee, within the scope of the 2030 Agenda; collaborate in seminars in the field of the SDGs in Ibero-America with Segib and CEIB, institutions with which CEOE has recently held meetings on this issue.

He also referred to the collaboration and participation of employers in the State Council for Corporate Social Responsibility, CERSE, as well as in the Council for Sustainable Development. Always with the vocation of working and promoting all aspects of the 2030 Agenda.