Ibero-American business leaders present ten commitments on investment, employment and public-private cooperation

The 16th Ibero-American Business Meeting (EEIB) concluded on 4 November in Madrid with the presentation of ten private-sector commitments to promote the region’s economic and social development and strengthen public-private cooperation. Legal certainty, strong institutions, investment, and responses to climate change and artificial intelligence were central to the discussions.

The closing ceremony was attended by the King of Spain, Felipe VI; the president of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader; the president of Costa Rica, Laura Fernández; the president of Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz; the prime minister of Portugal, Luís Montenegro; the president of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez; and the Ibero-American secretary-general, Andrés Allamand. The meeting was held as part of the 30th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government.

Antonio Garamendi, then president of the Ibero-American Business Council (CEIB) and president of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organisations (CEOE), presented the Business Commitment to the Future of Ibero-America. The document, which resulted from the meeting, was submitted for consideration at the Summit, whose agenda continued on 5 November in Madrid.

The ten commitments cover active private-sector participation in Ibero-American economic and social development initiatives; the promotion of growth, productive investment and quality employment; sustainable and competitive productive transformation; innovation and the digital transition; strengthening SMEs and entrepreneurship; talent development; a more inclusive economy; formalisation of the productive sector; consolidating public-private collaboration; and developing evidence-based proposals, with indicators to assess progress and report periodically.

To put them into practice, the private sector committed to making its networks and capabilities available to implement Summit agreements in businesses and local communities, and to strengthening an Ibero-American community based on trust, cooperation and dialogue.

Legal certainty, investment and economic transformation

Before the closing ceremony, Andrés Allamand held a discussion with the leaders of Spain, Costa Rica, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic and Portugal on entrepreneurship, investment and the region’s international profile. Topics included responses to climate change, the need for Ibero-America to have its own voice on artificial intelligence, legal certainty and strong institutions.

Laura Fernández advocated people-centred social and economic development and argued that it is possible to balance economic freedoms and the promotion of business activity with sustainable development.

Pedro Sánchez called for just transitions and an alliance between the public and private sectors to address current challenges. He said the climate emergency and the technological revolution linked to artificial intelligence require this collaboration to deliver effective and equitable responses.

For his part, Rodrigo Paz spoke about legal certainty, justice and recognising the role of Indigenous people. He also raised the need to involve young people in society and offer them prospects for the future.

Luís Montenegro highlighted the contribution of small and medium-sized enterprises to the economy and the importance of cooperation between countries. He also urged participants to make use of a linguistic community of nearly 900 million people as a source of business opportunities and called for trust to be strengthened after the meeting.

Luis Abinader stressed that the Dominican economy extends beyond tourism and advocated diversification and knowledge-sharing to address challenges shared across the Caribbean, such as sargassum.

In his remarks, Felipe VI returned to the meeting’s theme, “Ibero-America and the challenges of the global economy: strengthening public-private collaboration”, saying that these challenges cannot be addressed in isolation. He said governments are responsible for ensuring infrastructure, quality education and training, and support for entrepreneurship. Businesses, including SMEs and individual entrepreneurs, are responsible for investing, innovating and creating decent jobs, combining profitability with social purpose and a contribution to the common good.

Awards and change of leadership at the CEIB

The Ibero-American Quality Awardswere presented during the meeting, recognising projects related to innovation, sustainability and cooperation. Gestrisam received the award for Best Practices in the Sustainable Development Goals category.

The Ibero-American Quality Award also went to Francisco Parmenio Echeverri, chairman of the board of Coomeva, in Colombia, and Luis Isasi Fernández de Bobadilla, president of Santander Spain.

Antonio Garamendi also handed over the presidency of the CEIB to Anabel Gallardo, president of the Honduran Council of Private Enterprise (COHEP), continuing business leaders’ representation at the Summit forums. The meeting was confirmed as an official private-sector dialogue forum within the framework of the Ibero-American Summits.

Key facts

• Meeting: 16th Ibero-American Business Meeting, concluded on 4 November 2026 in Madrid
• Institutional framework: 30th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government
• Document: Business Commitment to the Future of Ibero-America, setting out ten private-sector commitments
• Priorities: productive investment, quality employment, sustainability, digitalisation, SMEs, entrepreneurship, talent, inclusion and formalisation
• Follow-up: evidence-based proposals, progress indicators and periodic reporting
• Institutional debate: legal certainty, strong institutions, climate change and artificial intelligence
• CEIB presidency: Antonio Garamendi succeeded by Anabel Gallardo, president of COHEP
• Awards: Gestrisam, Francisco Parmenio Echeverri and Luis Isasi Fernández de Bobadilla