Spain’s Guadarrama Forum bestowed an award to Philippine Ambassador to Spain Philippe J. Lhuillier in recognition of the Philippines’ economic ties with Spain and his continued efforts to enhance these links recently in Madrid.
Guadarrama Forum is an annual conference considered the most important meeting point for companies in the regions of Madrid, Castille, and León. The forum is regularly attended by high-level government and business sector representatives from both regions.
The Fifth Guadarrama Forum saw the participation of over 300 people, including Madrid’s Vice Minister of Economy and the Secretary-General of the Board of Education. This year’s edition was organized by the business magazine Castilla y León Económica and was co-sponsored by Bankia (Spain’s fourth-largest bank) and the Board and the Community of Madrid.
During the event, Javier Ruiz Santiago, Vice Minister of Economy and Competitiveness of Madrid, and Juan Casado, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Education and Commissioner for Science and Technology of Castille and León, both noted the importance of strengthening trade and business relations between the Madrid and Castille and León territories.
In this regard, the Vice Minister also stressed the need to “continue to promote meetings to strengthen the relationships of our productive tissues and enable the implementation of new forms of business.”
At the conference, great emphasis was placed on promoting the growth of companies to increase competitiveness, digitization, and support for talent, as well as internationalization.
The latter part of the evening included a ceremony to confer awards to three countries in recognition of their economic ties to Spain and the efforts of their diplomatic missions to enhance these ties.
Aside from the Philippines, the other two awardees for this year included Brazil and the Czech Republic.
Lhuillier thanked the organizers for the award and expressed his commitment to continue the Embassy’s efforts to increase trade and investment between the Philippines and these two vital economic regions of Spain.