The Ibero-American Secretary General, Rebeca Grynspan; the president of CEOE and vice president of BUSINESSEUROPE, Antonio Garamendi; the president of the Fundación Iberoamericana Empresarial, Josep Piqué; and the president of the Latimpacto Council, Pablo Gabriel Obregón, inaugurated the virtual seminar “Social impact of companies and academia. The role of companies as investors for reconstruction in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic ”. Aware of the importance of continuing to deepen regional integration and constructive dialogue in Ibero-America. The meeting aims to generate a space for debate in which to share reflections and opinions on the role of companies as social investors for the reconstruction of the Region in the context of the pandemic. The event was held within the framework of the intense program of activities carried out by SEGIB, CEIB and FIJE with a view to the Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government and, on this occasion, with the collaboration of Latimpacto.
During the conference, which featured prominent representatives and experts from the public and private sectors, the impact of philanthropy and social investment on the socio-economic reconstruction of the Region and the different lines was analyzed from a business and academic perspective. of action and future opportunities for Ibero-America in the face of the unprecedented situation it is going through due to the advance of COVID-19. The CEO of the Latam de Mapfre territorial area, Arisatóbulo Baustela, spoke at the various round tables; the Vice President of Innovation and Sustainability of Bancolombia, Cipriano López; the executive director of the Votorantim Institute, Cloves Carvalho; the vice president of Telefónica Brasil, Renato Gasparetto; the director of the ESADE Spain Entrepreneurship Center, Lisa Hehenberger; the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Finance of the Universidad del Pacífico in Peru, Vicente León; the director of the Center for Social Innovation at the University of San Andrés in Argentina, Gabriel Berger; and the associate professor of Management and Organizations of INCAE Business School of Costa Rica and director of the Strachan Chair of Philanthropy and Social Investment, Andrea Prado. The two round tables, business and academic, were moderated by the CEO of Latimpacto, Carolina Suárez, and the Director of Knowledge of said institution, Alan Wagenberg.
The seminar was closed by the permanent secretary of the Ibero-American Business Council (CEIB), Narciso Casado; the head of Economy and Business of the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), Pablo Adrián Hardy; the general secretary of the Ibero-American Federation of Young Entrepreneurs (FIJE), Antonio Magraner; and the director of Latimpacto, Alejandro Álvarez Von Gustedt.
Opening
The president of CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, highlighted in his speech the intense activity that CEIB, SEGIB and FIJE have carried out during these months to combat the pandemic and promote economic recovery. In this sense, he assured that "the companies have shown a lot, not only in the performance of our daily work, but also collaborating in the logistics and the necessary solidarity work during the Covid". A good example of this, he reported, is the project carried out by the Fundación CEOE “Empresas que Ayudan”, which has also served to value what companies and associations have been doing for society as a whole. No one can be left behind, he said, people come first and they must always be at the center of things, especially companies. For this reason, he considered, we must continue working for the future, "winning game by game", through industry, change, global, digitization and, above all, training. Garamendi stressed that the relationship between Ibero-American businessmen is growing and, therefore, it is important to send a message of responsibility, leadership and commitment to the SDGs, which undoubtedly represent the future. In his opinion, the only way to break inequalities in the Region is to promote equality for work, through job creation and public-private collaboration.
The president of the Latimpacto Council, Pablo Gabriel Obregón, explained that the main objective of this non-profit community, consists of bringing together philanthropists and social investors (foundations, corporations, investors, family offices, professional services, academia and the public sector), with the purpose of mobilizing greater capital (human, intellectual and financial) to provide effective support to organizations of purpose social, applying the principles of investment by impact (venture philanthropy). Obregón explained that Ibero-America faces a struggle to recover what the Covid has caused the Region to lose in relation to GDP, equality, employment and poverty. For this reason, he stressed, international financing, intraregional trade, new technologies and large doses of public-private collaboration are needed. It is essential, he assured, to make an effort to promote the achievement of the SDGs and promote inclusive and sustainable investments, as well as to promote systemic changes and adopt efficient public policies in the face of recovery. In this sense, he added, the business, philanthropic and academic sectors can make great contributions, promoting public-private collaboration and promoting more effective social investment. "Latimpacto was fortunate to be born with the arrival of the pandemic, in order to be able to break traditional schemes and promote change in the Region," he said.
The president of the Fundación Iberoamericana Empresarial (FIE), Josep Piqué, spoke about the importance of creating spaces for reflection, debate, joining forces and promoting transversal and efficient public policies. He insisted that "together we are great and capable, if companies collaborate with governments, administrations, the Academy and society." Piqué highlighted the importance of seeking political, economic and social consensus, always defending multilateralism to achieve common advances for the collective welfare. In this sense, he stressed that the strengthening of the Ibero-American community must be done through companies, and these must exercise a clear social role. In addition, legal security for investments must be strengthened, good business practices and corporate governance must be encouraged and promoted, and there must be fluid communication between the various stakeholders involved. Piqué underlined that the report prepared by SEGIB, in collaboration with FIE and the Euroamerica Foundation: "Latin America: an Agenda for Recovery", also insists on the need to diversify investments, establish adequate regulatory frameworks and enhance the important role that companies will have in the post-pandemic stage in the face of economic reactivation. "For all this, public-private collaboration is a fundamental factor," he said.
The Ibero-American Secretary General, Rebeca Grynspan, in turn, assured that very difficult times await us and this should make us focus on the immense work that lies ahead. The objective of this meeting is to be able to collect a series of conclusions that will be included in future recommendations that will be passed on to the Heads of State and Government at the next Ibero-American Summit, which will be held in Andorra on April 21 and 22, 2021 And, for this, the Ibero-American Business Meeting will take place previously, in which many of the issues discussed during these months of the pandemic will be addressed. For this reason, it is necessary to build a consensus agenda with the 22 countries of the Region, and to be able to do things that have a great impact on citizens. “On January 1, 2021, Ibero-Americans will wake up with a very harsh reality: with an economy that will probably be 8% smaller, with 3 million companies that may not have survived this year, and with a GDP per capita like the one that existed 10 years ago in the Region, with poverty rates like those of 2005 and extreme poverty that is very close to that of 1990; unemployment will affect practically 1 in 5 workers; informality will increase from 50% to 75%; and the middle class will be considerably reduced ”, he reported. In this sense, he considered that, given this panorama, we must make the greatest effort that we have ever made as a society, to join the public sector, companies, the Academy and the philanthropic sector. In this pandemic, there has been a revaluation of the public, he stressed, which does not mean state, but includes finishing the pending tasks of the twentieth century, which implies everything that we build together among all social actors.
Companies, he emphasized, have proven to be much more than an income statement, showing their willingness to engage in social dialogue, to rebuild the social pact that is needed and, above all, to try to re-inspire trust. "We have to trust each other, and rebuild this important value together and for everyone," he stressed. The stable and sustainable growth of the Region will depend, to a large extent, on the effort we make to avoid exclusion, and that the recovery reaches everyone equally, since “there are no successful companies in failed countries”, it is important that we all remember in the same direction. Grynspan opted to establish a new sustainable model, one that thinks about inclusion, the social development of all communities, and that contemplates a possible recovery in a shared future, but always with activism, not just optimism, he concluded.
Table of Ibero-American business leaders
The representative of MAPFRE, Aristóbulo Bausela Sánchez and CEO of the Latam Territorial Area, highlighted the public-private collaboration and the importance of joint collaboration with a view to the Ibero-American recovery and for this it is key to continue promoting investments in the region, creating and maintain jobs, invest in technology and digitization, and enhance social commitment.
For his part, the vice president of innovation and sustainability of BANCOLOMBIA, Cipriano López, quoted: "there are companies that do good as a result of good results and there are others, in which good results are the consequences of good." And in this case, Bancolombia is positioned, with the aim of becoming a bank and industry that promotes sustainable economic development and achieves the well-being of all, rebuilding social dialogue through trust.
The executive director of the Votorantim Institute, Cloves Carvalho, stressed the need to support small cities in Brazil through technical support and supply in the field of health, as well as the complementarity between public policies and the actions of companies .
The vice president of Telefónica Brasil, Renato Gasparetto, in turn, stressed the purpose of the company, which is to see digitization as a process to bring people closer together, and necessary for digital inclusion. In fact, he added, digital education in the country has accelerated during the pandemic, as a result of the effort to position the company not only as a hub of telecommunications infrastructure digital services, but also as a provider of digital services in education and health.
Table of outstanding universities in research on and promotion of strategic philanthropy and social investment and their commitment to socio-economic reconstruction
At the table oriented to the vision of academic institutions, the vice dean of the Faculty of Economics and Finance of the Universidad del Pacífico in Peru, Vicente León, emphasized the importance of research and academia as key actors in the dissemination of information, as well as the interest of young people in developing new initiatives in favor of society.
The associate professor of Management and Organizations at INCAE Business School of Costa Rica and director of the Strachan Chair of Philanthropy and Social Investment, Andrea Prado, highlighted the importance of training beyond the traditional, promoting entrepreneurship with a social or environmental impact . It is necessary, he stressed, that business schools contribute to the investment of startups in the Region, as well as training investors to integrate these concepts into their investment criteria.
Lisa Hehenberger, director of the ESADE Entrepreneurship Center, also mentioned the role of impact investing, claiming that it is “a very interesting tool, an investment strategy that invests in innovative and social companies, but that it is not the solution for everything. ”. For this reason, it was considered necessary to continue working on measuring impact and integrating this tool into investor processes.
In turn, the director of the Center for Social Innovation at the University of San Andrés in Argentina, Gabriel Berger, reinforced the idea of developing a more strengthened and impactful investment ecosystem where the Academy provides research and training, this being essential for those who they demand capital and to be able to mobilize it.
Closure
The permanent secretary of CEIB, Narciso Casado, estimated that, in the face of the social crisis generated by the Covid crisis, companies must step forward as an active part of civil society, and they have already been doing so during these months with their capacity for management and mobilization of human, technical and financial resources. Organizations and companies, he considered, have been giving their skin to successfully emerge from this pandemic, and they have done so with conviction, determination, generosity, commitment and institutional loyalty. In fact, from CEIB, what has been called the "antidote to isolation" was activated, that is, information, through the weekly dissemination of informative bulletins, Newsletters and reports, which include the structural reforms that the Region needs , to the social and solidarity programs and initiatives launched by Ibero-American business organizations. Proof of this is CONFIEP in Peru, through its # BonoPerúUnido; ANDI in Colombia, through the # UnidosSomosMásPaís project; “People helping people”, promoted by 48 companies of the Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of the Private Business Sector (UCCAEP); or the Solidarity Remedies of COPARMEX (Mexico).
Casado also highlighted the importance of public-private collaboration and, as an example, spoke of the alliance between CEIB and SEGIB with the main economic, political and social actors, to continue deepening the integration of the Region. The role of academia and training, he said, is also key when it comes to guaranteeing equal opportunities and inclusive growth demanded by Latin America. "We cannot allow short-term problems to become structural problems," he declared. We must regain the trust of everyone and everyone, he stressed, and bet on economic growth, job creation and social peace, which are essential for the consolidation of the post-pandemic recovery in our countries.
The general secretary of FIJE, Antonio Magraner, highlighted the importance that, today, there is already a clear social awareness on the part of companies and entrepreneurs, since they not only think about obtaining an economic benefit from their operations, rather, they seek to go further, through the social impact they may have and always seeking the inclusive development of society. "If a company does well, its environment does well," he said. Magraner also highlighted the importance of forging alliances and promoting any type of collaboration, whether public-private or between companies or organizations, to make "More Iberoamerica" and build a more sustainable future.
The director of Latimpacto, Alejandro Álvarez Von Gustedt, especially emphasized that, despite the bleak outlook currently being presented in Latin America, it must also be borne in mind that there are very committed actors, investing capital in the Region and making their daily work, both in the field of companies and in the Academy. Álvarez insisted on the ultimate function of the Latimpacto Foundation, which consists of connecting knowledge and being able to transfer it to other regions and act as a multiplier platform for alliances, in order to collaborate, combine good practices, and all together cause a greater social impact.
The head of Economy and Business at SEGIB, Pablo Adrián Hardy, assured that "neither governments, companies, nor the Academy alone can meet the demand that Latin America has and will have in the short term." Precisely for this reason, he stressed, events like this are the ones that will help to reach the next Ibero-American Summit, which will be held at the end of April 2021 in Andorra, collecting a series of recommendations that will be useful to governments to help the Region, and among which those reached in this seminar will be included.
