The King of Spain presented the ‘Enrique V. Iglesias Award’ to engineer Carlos Slim for his contribution to the growth of Ibero-America

On Wednesday, October 25, in Madrid, Spain, Carlos Slim Helú, chairman of Grupo Carso, received the “Enrique V. Iglesias Award for the development of the Ibero-American Business Space” from H.M. King Felipe VI. This award recognizes his contribution to the economic and social development of Ibero-America and the strengthening of ties between the countries that comprise it. The award ceremony was attended by high-level institutional and business representatives such as Núria Vilanova, president of the Business Council Alliance for Ibero-America (CEAPI), and the previous winner and president of Banco Santander, Ana Botín.

During the ceremony, Núria Vilanova thanked H.M. King Felipe VI for presiding over the ceremony, stressing that he is “an example of commitment, courage, effort, renunciation, project, purpose, love and family. A tireless ally who works for the union of Spain and the rest of the region. Where his efforts are recognized and he is much loved and admired”.

Likewise, the president of CEAPI has insisted that “it is an award different from the others, for the generosity of his majesty to invite us to experience it in family and in the Palace and the generosity of Carlos to share the award and his life with those he loves”. She also confessed that “it was very easy for the jury to deliberate. Engineer Carlos Slim is an example in the business world. His commitment to technology has led him to the point that his telecommunications companies are in Latin America, Europe, Africa and the Philippines”. She also took the opportunity to welcome the businessman as a member of CEAPI.

In addition, in the absence of CEAPI’s honorary president, Enrique V. Iglesias, Vilanova read a few words on his behalf: “Few Ibero-American businessmen could be more deserving of this recognition than Carlos Slim, who has honored me with his friendship for many years. I was thus able to follow and learn how his companies support the economic and social development of Mexico and Ibero-America”.

For his part, Carlos Slim emphasized that “poverty, marginalization and ignorance have always been ethical and social justice problems, but today they are an economic necessity, so the best public and private investment is to fight poverty and incorporate the marginalized population into education, health and increasingly better paid jobs”.

In his speech, Slim expressed his gratitude for this award: “I am grateful for the honorable distinction that CEAPI has been so kind to grant me, which bears the name of my dear and admired friend Enrique V. Iglesias, an award that I receive on behalf of myself, my family, 69,000 FCC employees in Spain and in numerous countries, as well as on behalf of the Group’s 290,000 employees, which began in Mexico in 1965 with eight people”.

Carlos Slim was chosen by unanimous decision of the jury as the winner of this award, promoted by the Business Council Alliance for Ibero-America (CEAPI).

The award ceremony for the ‘Enrique V. Iglesias Award’ took place at the Palacio de La Zarzuela, in Madrid, in a ceremony attended by high-level institutional and business representatives, including the previous winner and president of Banco Santander, Ana Botín, as well as Andrés Allamand, Ibero-American Secretary General (SEGIB); Esther Alcocer Koplowitz, President and Marquise of Casa Peñalver; José Luis Bonet I Ferrer, President of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce; Ana Botella, Founder and President of the Santander Group; Juan Luis Cebrián, Honorary President of El País; Mireya Cisneros, President of Unidos en Red; Antonio Fernández-Galiano, President of the Advisory Board of Atrevia; Isidoro Fainé, Chairman of Fundación la Caixa; Antonio Garamendi, Chairman of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE); Felipe González Márquez, former Prime Minister of Spain; Mariano Jabonero, Secretary General of the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI); Esther Koplowitz, vice-president and Marquise of Cárdenas de Montehermoso; Gina Magnolia Riaño Barón, secretary general of the Ibero-American Social Security Organization (OISS); Quirino Ordaz, Mexican ambassador to Spain; Max Trejo, secretary general of the International Juvenile Justice Observatory (IJJO); and Ignacio Ybarra, president of Vocento.

Since 2014, this award has recognized business figures from the Ibero-American Community who stand out for their relevant and extraordinary contribution to the development of the countries in the region and the promotion of ties between the nations of the Community through economic activity, investment and trade promotion, as well as the forging of a more inclusive and sustainable region.

The distinction is also a recognition and tribute to the figure of Enrique V. Iglesias, honorary president of CEAPI and tireless fighter for the Ibero-American cause during his long career, first as president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and later as the first Ibero-American secretary general.

Previous editions have recognized Mexican businessman Valentín Diez Morodo; Colombian banker, builder and philanthropist Luis Carlos Sarmiento; the Spanish-Mexican and now deceased founder of Grupo VIPS, Plácido Arango; the president of Pan-America Energy Group, Alejandro Bulgheroni; the former president of CAF, Enrique García, and the president of Copa Holdings, Panamanian Stanley Motta; and the executive president of Grupo Santander, Ana Botín, the first woman to receive the title. The president of the Colombian business and banking conglomerate Grupo Gilinski, Jaime Gilinski, also received this award in the previous edition.