• The event is part of the official activities prior to the XXVII Ibero-American Business Summit to be held in Andorra in 2021.
• Issues of vital interest for the future of the Region in the post-Covid stage were analyzed, such as improving productivity, new business models in the new digital environment and their insertion into global value chains, among other topics.

Government authorities of Ibero-American countries, senior institutional officials and the heads of Ibero-American business organizations and companies spoke on the first day of the virtual forum: "Digital transformation, a new scenario for the future in Ibero-America." At the meeting, organized by the Council of Ibero-American Entrepreneurs (CEIB), the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB) and the Ibero-American Federation of Young Entrepreneurs (FIJE), issues of vital interest for the future of the Region were analyzed in the post- Covid, such as improving productivity, new business models in the new digital environment and its insertion in global value chains, among other issues.

The session was opened by the Ibero-American Secretary General, Rebeca Grynspan; the Secretary of State for Commerce, Xiana Méndez; the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Infrastructure of Andorra, César Marquina; the president of CEOE, Antonio Garamendi; and the president of CEIB and of the Andorran Business Confederation, Gerard Cadena.

The day was divided into three panels, in which the Government's strategies for the digital transformation of production, industry 4.0 and the manufacturing of the future, and digital multilatinas were discussed. During the sessions, experts on the subject participated, among which authorities from the government of the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico or Chile stood out. Likewise, representatives of financial institutions, business organizations and companies from Latin America participated.

Opening

The president of CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, highlighted in his speech that one of the most important lessons that we can draw from this crisis is that digitization is not an option but a necessity. He recalled that it is an obligatory tool to be able to overcome this type of situation; and explained that the best strategic reserves in a country, and that are never exhausted by their use, are its technologies and capacities for innovation and learning. Garamendi assured that it is necessary to properly channel the resources available for reconstruction, prioritizing the digitization of companies, especially those of smaller size, taking advantage of the availability of resources from the European Union. "We must bet on the generalization of training in technological skills, digital skills and the recycling and updating of knowledge of all professionals who work," he said.

The CEOE president also insisted that it is urgent to define the mobility model that we want in our country, in which travel through technology with a digital base will have great weight; This process must reach the rural world effectively; and business digitization must be accompanied by the digitization of public administration, to streamline all kinds of procedures and promote internationalization through digital channels. To do this, he insisted, it is essential to support our companies without generating more taxes, without increasing the tax burden, without higher costs or bureaucratic burdens and creating an attractive legal framework, which includes legal certainty. “Together we have come far, but if we stay united we can go even further and overcome this crisis to emerge stronger,” he declared.

The president of CEIB and CEA, Gerard Cadena, highlighted that digital transformation knows no age and, taking into account the exponential acceleration of this process during the pandemic, we are facing an opportunity that we cannot miss. He also spoke of the importance of turning weaknesses into strengths and, in the case of Andorra, the country is excessively dependent on the service sector, especially tourism, which is why it has chosen to diversify the economy and, for this, services have skyrocketed digital. In this sense, he mentioned the alliance of financial institutions with Fintech to improve their working method and customer service. "The digital transformation involves society as a whole and not only must business models be digitized, but they must be diversified and created new ones," he stressed. Cadena also insisted on the relevance of the fourth industrial revolution and described Latin America as a leading region in social innovation. In fact, he added, the large number of SMEs is not a drawback, since nowadays investment in talent prevails and not so much in capital.

The Ibero-American Secretary General, Rebeca Grynspan, stressed that the crisis caused by the Covid has revealed both the potential of the Region and its gaps and, therefore, this space for debate is crucial for reflection and dialogue, as well as for make a call to action. In these months, technology has demonstrated more than ever its ability to open doors and build bridges, but it has also revealed the need to make a qualitative leap, without which Latin America will not be able to move forward. “We have companies transforming and others that want to transform; and we have some who have something to learn and others who have something to contribute ”, he stressed; And, for this reason, a collective effort is needed from all the actors of society at the national and regional level, especially to provide support to the most vulnerable sectors and to protect the productive fabric.

Grynspan also recalled the importance of revaluing the public, which is not limited to the state, but to the added value of the regional and multilateral. In his opinion, the economic recovery will be very uneven in the Region and many people could be left behind. "In Ibero-America there are several pandemics for which we need various vaccines, not only for the virus, but also for education, training, work, the new taxation or entertainment and, for this, we must value the digital transformation" , he sentenced. Grynspan assured that we do not need only the problem, but also the answer and the solution. For this reason, optimism and the tireless commitment to working together must be, without a doubt, the recipes to get out of this crisis, he declared.

The Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Infrastructure of the Andorran government, César Marquina, stressed that the motto of the next Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government: "Innovation for sustainable development-2030 Goal. Ibero-America facing the challenge of Coronavirus ", It is not a coincidence. In the current context, he indicated, it is crucial to put innovation at the service of sustainability, to take advantage of opportunities, be able to establish the transition to the formal economy and promote equal access to services for all. Digital transformation, he stressed, is essential to materialize innovation and to guarantee the resilience of economies and societies. Marquina highlighted the importance of cable, fiber or 5G connectivity; and it opted to promote training in digital matters, artificial intelligence, robotization or innovation, to develop skills and promote better living conditions for workers. The Secretary of State also spoke of a Digital Transformation Plan launched by the Andorran government from this year until 2023, to implement and promote projects and initiatives in digital matters, which will involve all sectors.

The Secretary of State for Commerce, Xiana Méndez, closed the opening session by mentioning the exponential acceleration of digitization during these months. For this reason, he indicated, it is crucial that Spain and Latin America collaborate together in this challenge. Méndez reported that SMEs in the Region account for 99% of the productive fabric and are the ones that encounter the most obstacles when it comes to obtaining financing and getting ahead and, for them, public-private collaboration is key to improving their conditions and achieving stay operational. Our production model, Méndez pointed out, demands a change in its patterns, in which sustainability will play a fundamental role. And, as regards digital transformation, he stressed, "we cannot tackle this challenge alone, a change in business culture is required, forging alliances and making collective proposals," he considered. Méndez also mentioned the 2021 National Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, which contemplates the allocation of funds for the modernization and digitization of the business ecosystem, given the urgent need to support the business fabric and guarantee industrial competitiveness in the post-Covid era. This process, he concluded, must be carried out thanks to the involvement of all actors in society, to emerge stronger from this crisis and look to the future with optimism.

Government strategies for digital transformation

Participants in the first panel of the day: "Government Strategies for the digital transformation of production", moderated by the head of SMEs and Entrepreneurs of SEGIB, Esteban Campero, the Vice Minister of Industrial Development of the Dominican Republic, Fantino Polanco; the Undersecretary of Mipymes and Crafts of the Ministry of Production of Ecuador, Marcela Chávez; the director of Strategy 4.0 of the State of Nuevo León (Mexico), Abraham Tijerina; and the Program Manager at the Technical Cooperation Service in Chile (SERCOTEC), Marilyn Masbernat.

During this debate, the public policies and tools that have been implemented in some of the Ibero-American countries could be learned first-hand. In the case of the Dominican Republic, a survey was conducted of 5,000 MSMEs, in which the lack of maturity of most of the companies in the digital transformation process was verified. After verifying the results, the Government designed programs and public policies aimed at improving the productive development of companies, promoting their training, better access to technology and their access to credit. A clear example of this was the Digital Productive Chain Program, so that large companies chain and drag smaller ones based on digital technologies.

In Ecuador, a digital transformation bill was approved and a strategy was created to promote electronic commerce. The main objective was to strengthen the capacities of MSMEs in banking, promoting new contracting mechanisms and developing soft skills. Virtual sector fairs and business rounds were also held to identify new market niches.

In the case of the State of Nuevo León, in Mexico, great use was made of technology for the prevention and diagnosis of the virus during the pandemic and also to recover employment in the region. In order to support economic recovery, the Government forged alliances with important technologists and experts, such as Google, in order to reconvert capabilities; it was about connecting global value chains digitally; and it worked in collaboration with industry and academia, bringing technology closer to companies.

Finally, from the Technical Cooperation Service (SERCOTEC) in Chile, programs such as "Digitize your SME" or "Digital Route" were implemented to train companies, identify their level of maturity and train them in different areas such as cybersecurity or marketing . In addition, they provided a technological toolkit so that companies could test their knowledge. In this sense, the Public Administration was also forced to modernize its processes to reach companies faster and provide them with the support they demanded.

Industry 4.0 and the manufacturing of the future

Julio Linares, president of the CEOE Digital Society Commission, acted as moderator in the second panel of the forum: “Industry 4.0 and the manufacturing of the future”, which featured prominent representatives and experts from the sector, such as Sergio Drucaroff, coordinator Centro Industria X, Unión Industrial Argentina (UIA) and Accenture; Carmen Alonso, Technology and Data expert at Global Head IOT & Big Data at Telefónica Tech; Daniel Seseña, Director of Industry 4.0 at INDRA; and Carolina Martín Gutiérrez. Head of Market Intelligence and Innovation Processes at CEREALTO SIRO.

From Argentina, the alliance between the business organization UIA and the Accenture company was highlighted through the Centro Industria X project, a center called to promote a series of initiatives that promote the adoption of technologies, with a more agile vision, and thought for SMEs that interact in global value chains.

From Telefónica Tech, the preparation of the white paper on the digital transformation of SMEs in Spain, has sought to serve as a guide for digitization processes together with an analysis of the main technologies. These must be seen as a whole and thus develop an organizational and collaborative ecosystem.

At INDRA, in turn, they have focused on four axes: savings, supply, customers and technology; in which the different technological tools have made it possible to improve practices in this time of pandemic. And it is a good time to take advantage of and promote business practices and lay the foundations for a stronger future.

In the case of CEREALTO SIRO, a company in the agri-food sector, the need to incorporate new technologies in each of the company's business units was stressed, promoting communication and adaptation between departments.

Digital multilatinas

The last panel of the day: "Digital Multilatinas", was moderated by the head of Economy and Business at SEGIB, Pablo Adrián Hardy. Representatives of prominent Latin companies participated in the meeting, such as Sergio Torres Lebrija, Director of Strategy and Innovation for BBVA's Digital Banking in Mexico; Ángeles Vela, director of the Nuevo León Software Council in Mexico; Carlos Barillas, president of Global Pay Solutions in the United States; and Rodrigo Zamora, executive director of Banco Lafise in Nicaragua.

Within the digital banking sector, in a company like BBVA in Mexico, most of the digital tools have been assimilated very successfully, due to the acceleration of this process during the pandemic, in a company where more than 60% of your customers are digital. Likewise, they paid special attention to connection, since digitization without digitization and telecommunication companies, and without data companies, would not be possible.

The Nuevo León Software Council in Mexico has redefined the concept of cluster of information technologies, where the country's technology providers are located, in order to support companies to reinvent themselves through a process of reorientation in sectors such as Fintech, agrotech or health.

For Global Pay Solutions, internet penetration has also been key in the development of its application, taking into account that 91% of users use prepaid services with a constant need to recharge. This is where the company that has developed a collaborative economy model comes into play and that has also made it possible to facilitate financial inclusion for disadvantaged sectors and marginalized social groups.

The Lafise Bank, for its part, has been affected by the different restrictions of the different governments in which its offices were located and they have been forced to adapt in order to emerge stronger from this crisis. A path to digital transformation that had already begun and that has allowed them to focus on their customers, create value, implement a more agile culture and a mindset of continuous improvement.

The PwC Foundation and the CEOE Foundation have prepared, within the framework of their collaboration agreement, the report ‘Corporate Foundations in Spain. Strategic reflection on its relevance and impact assessment ’. The objective of the study is to highlight this important set of foundations, to know their specific attributes and to build tools to measure the impact of their contribution to society.

Spanish foundations are a fragmented sector with more than 14,000 entities of different types and with very different sizes and objectives. After exhaustive analysis work, the report identifies 730 Corporate Foundations in Spain -Those that have a relationship with a company with which they generally share a name, and from which they obtain their main financing. In recent months, we have witnessed an increase in its prominence, establishing itself as an essential instrument for companies to channel their aid aimed at fighting the effects of COVID-19.

Although it may seem like a small sector given the number of entities, it is estimated that in 2018 the set of Corporate Foundations had a total budget of at least 1,200 million euros, 15% of the budget of all foundations in Spain. Likewise, the sector employed almost 3,000 people that same year and its activity accounts for 0.1% of GDP.

However, the contribution generated by Corporate Foundations goes far beyond the money they contribute and the employment they generate directly. How to assess these impacts is crucial to determine the fulfillment of the proposed objectives and has become even more important after the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis. For this reason, the report aims to raise awareness about the importance of evaluation and measurement as a key tool for managing and enhancing the work of foundations, through various methodologies.

The Sector of Corporate Foundations in Spain

Corporate Foundations in Spain have specific characteristics that define them as a collective and make them a group differentiated from the rest. The report notes a diverse typology according to its legal regime; your source of funding; as well as according to their degree of integration with the company.

The Corporate Foundations sector is a heterogeneous sector in size, associated sectors and sources of financing, the report highlights. In Spain, it was in the 90s when its generalized birth took place. Regarding their geographical scope, in a great majority of cases, Business Foundations share their headquarters with that of the founding company. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Community of Madrid and Catalonia are the regions with the highest number of Corporate Foundations. However, if we analyze the foundations associated with Savings Banks separately, a great dispersion is observed.

On the other hand, the report highlights that the financial sector is the main creator of foundations, with 36% of the total; while the Pharma and Health sector ranks as the second with the greatest weight. Likewise, the document indicates that the average individual budget of the group of foundations analyzed is around € 11.1 million. In addition, he maintains that, despite the fact that some Foundations have reinforced their budget, the COVID-19 crisis is expected to impact the available budgets, especially those financed by dividends.

Challenges of corporate foundations

The report highlights how the sector has evolved positively in many respects in recent years, although it still faces many challenges, such as the one represented by the emergence of COVID-19. In the first place, it is essential that Corporate Foundations have their mission well defined and that they have a strategic plan to guide long-term activities. Second, they must find the optimal model that adapts to the characteristics and needs of each foundation, with corporate governance being the key to ensuring credibility. Finally, it is essential that foundations improve their external and internal communication tools to evaluate their impact.

For Santiago Barrenechea, President of the PwC Foundation, "Common understanding criteria in measuring impacts should facilitate greater efficiency and, ultimately, an expansion and consolidation of this type of activities of social interest"

For its part, Fátima Báñez, president of the board of the CEOE Foundation, “The societies that enjoy higher levels of well-being are those that have more dynamic, modern business sectors and, above all, more responsible management. For all these issues, let's bet on corporate foundations ”.

At the joint meeting of the European Union Commission, which presides Jesus Ortiz, and the Digital Society Commission, chaired by Julio Linares, Key elements of the European digitization strategy have been addressed, such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence or connectivity.

The session had the participation of Alejandro Cainzos, member of the Cabinet of Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice President of the European Commission for the Digital Age, and of Carlos Romero, Minister of Digital Transformation at the Permanent Representation of Spain to the EU in Brussels, who have reviewed the legislative initiatives that the European Commission intends to launch in the coming months, as well as the dossiers on which the European co-legislators are working currently in areas such as digital services (Digital Services Act and Digital Market Act), Data Governance, Artificial Intelligence, Platforms and e-Privacy, among others.

During the interventions, emphasis was placed on the role of digitization in the recovery process and the important role that CEOE can play in helping in this transformation. Therefore, from the Permanent Delegation to the European Union and the Department of Digitization, Innovation, Commerce and Infrastructures of CEOE, a permanent monitoring of the European digitization strategy, given its strategic importance for Spanish companies.

Spain must execute 140,000 million euros in six years from the European Recovery Plan, which constitutes a very important management challenge. The “Spain can” Plan itself already warns of possible operational “bottlenecks”, due to lack of means, or legal, given the complexity of the procedure.

On the one hand, if these obstacles are not overcome, by delaying spending commitments and, in this way, preventing them from being met with the amount allocated from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism, the recovery of the Spanish economy to which they are intended These funds could be frustrated, with the consequent destruction of businesses and jobs.

Therefore, to maximize the impact of these funds, it is essential to eliminate these bottlenecks and bureaucratic obstacles in the current legislation on public contracts and subsidies.

CEOE's response

With this urgency, at the beginning of October, within the CEOE Legal Commission, a working group was set up made up, on the one hand, by experts and national referents in Public Law and, on the other hand, by representatives of sectoral business organizations with extensive experience in tenders and grants.

The CEOE proposal that has been derived from these works is structured around an ad hoc emergency rule that temporarily exempts, without modifying them, the application of certain provisions of the public procurement and subsidies legislation, when dealing with the distribution of Next Generation EU funds.

Specifically, the approval of a Royal Decree-law is proposed with modifications to specific provisions of the Law of Public Sector Contracts and the General Law of Subsidies, as well as other complementary regulations, which are exclusively applicable with respect to the procedures to which European funds are intended.

Specifically, the CEOE proposal aims to offer solutions through the following actions:

• Provide the units in charge of the execution and management of European funds with additional means to deal with this task, not only by tackling or minimizing operational bottlenecks, but also by generating synergies between these units, thanks to administrative documentation models extrapolables and to the preference given to the processing of these procedures.

• Shorten the processing times of the files and simplify their instruction. For example, suspending the need for all procedures to be classified as urgent. Thus, it is provided that those that are subject to this scope of application are processed directly within the deadlines established for files classified as urgent.

• In addition, the exclusion of the requirement of provisional guarantee, the generalization of responsible declarations and the use of electronic means is proposed.

• It is proposed to prevent certain procedures, such as prior inspection or accreditation of the existence of a budget credit, from preventing progress in the processing of contracts or grants, thereby saving time.

• The aim is to make the essential environmental control measures of certain projects compatible with the agility in the processing of the procedures destined to carry them out.

• Encourage the search in the private sector for transformational projects aligned with the objectives of the European Next Generation EU funds, given the revenues associated with being the first to propose these projects to the public sector. To this end, individuals are empowered to submit contract proposals that may be subject to the principles of the National Plan, accessing an additional score in their tender offer in order to encourage the submission of proposals by individuals.

• Streamline public-private collaboration, making the forms of inter-administrative collaboration and those of the public and private sectors more flexible through consortia with the aim that such collaboration allows a more efficient and effective use of European funds.

• Incorporate financial institutions into the streamlining mission, opening the possibility that they voluntarily submit to the corresponding collaboration agreement, when the regulatory bases so provide, to intervene in the grant award procedure, in order to process the the applications, the requirements analysis and the concession proposal.

Switzerland tops the IMD 2020 Global Talent Rankings for the fourth year in a row, followed by Denmark and Luxembourg. Spain once again ranks 32nd, as in 2019.

The impact of Brexit on the competitiveness of UK talent seems to be reflected in numbers. In 2016, the year of the Brexit vote, the UK was in 16th position, while ethis year his position in position 23 is a probable reflection that the uncertainties around this process have been undermining the competitiveness of the talent of that country.

Switzerland balances a high-quality education system that scores top marks for those entering university (# 1) and for those embarking on apprenticeships (# 1). The country is also attractive to foreign labor thanks to its high quality of life (3) and remuneration (1).

Denmark, in second position, performs well in all areas and stands out for the perceived fairness of its society (eg, justice, 1).

Luxembourg in third place, has seen steady improvement over the last five years, moving up from 11th place. This is due to a marked improvement in the investment and development factor, both in relation to other economies and in absolute terms.

The Institute for Management Development's Center for Global Competitiveness takes a three-pronged approach to measuring talent in economies. The investment and development factor measures the resources devoted to cultivating a local workforce. The appeal factor assesses the extent to which an economy attracts foreigners and retains local talent. And the preparation factor measures the quality of the skills and competencies available in a country's talent pool.