Opinions

 

In the past, I have talked about how Latin America is fast becoming a very attractive region for foreign investment. The world recognizes the stability that our region has shown throughout the recent economic shocks in the world, as well as the great potential we have in areas such as commodities.

The Arab region is no exception. Over the last few years, commercial relations between the two regions have grown and there is still a lot of potential waiting to be exploited. Therefore, with the aim of developing a strategic vision regarding areas of mutual concern between Latin America and the Arab world, in recent days took place, in Abu Dhabi, the IV Arab-Latin American Forum, lead by Leonel Fernandez, President of the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (FUNGLODE), and the honorable Jeque Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE Minister for Higher Education and Scientific Research.

I was honored to participate as moderator in the panel “Assessing the business climate in both regions and existing and potential channels for interregional trade relationship”, where Mohammad Halaika, Former Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs in Jordan, and Osvaldo Rosales, Director of the International Trade and Integration Division at the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean participated as speakers.

On this occasion, topics such as growth tendencies, legal frameworks and the conditions required to enhance commercial relations between our regions were analyzed and evaluated.

The Arab World certainly offers great advantages in foreign trade as competitive tariff quotas, excellent port infrastructure and customs procedures, as well as a solid banking industry, which we should capitalize.

Arab countries currently import around 92% of food consumed, allocating $45 billion dollars for this purpose each year. This is definitely a great area of opportunity for Latin America. We need to work for capital flows between the Middle East and our region continue to increase, as well as fully capitalize on current trade agreements.

This Forum was definitely an excellent space to strengthen ties between both regions and understand which tasks are pending as well as areas on which our governments and entrepreneurs can contribute to maximize our commercial relations.

I offer my congratulations to Dr. Leonel Fernandez for this initiative.

I would like to share this link, where you can view other participant’s impressions of the Forum: http://vimeo.com/arablatinforum/videos

Opinions

I recently attended the XXII Latin American Summit (Cumbre Iberoamericana) in Cadiz, Spain, where I  participated as a speaker about one of the most important topics in media industry: content development for global audiences.

During my presentation, I described the extraordinary wealth of our region, and the fact that we don´t make the most of it, probably because we are not aware of the best ways to position America as a key region for global development.  For that reason, I proposed to create a “Supranational Commission” to distribute information about Latin America, facts and events to other continents.

Keeping this potential  in mind, in the specific case of media industry, I considered two key issues to address this new decade during my presentation:

1) To keep developing innovative formats, according to audiences requirements.

2) To evolve hand in hand with the new technologies.

During the forum, I was able to attend  to  the opinions of business leaders, like Jose Antonio Vera, President of Agencia EFE (the Spanish news agency), Leopoldo Gonzalez-Echenique, President of Corporación Radio Televisión Española, and Juan Luis Cebrian, President of Grupo Prisa among others. We all agreed that the main challenge for usin the industry is to capitalize all the potential and the economic growth  of our region.

Highlights Communication Forum

Opinions

Recently, the Family Business Institute (Instituto de Empresas Familiares) held its National Conference in Barcelona, Spain.  More than 400 people attended the inaugural luncheon, chaired by Prince Felipe of Spain, to listen to different presentations on family businesses and their potential for growth.

I had the opportunity to participate as a speaker about my greatest passion:  Latin America.  During my presentation, I described the region, its new look, and how  it has become a big successful site for  foreign investment due to the positive changes it has experienced in the last twenty years, which have generated solid incentives to potential partners and stakeholders

Without a doubt, Latin America offers today amazing opportunities together with natural resources, vast lands from north to south and an extensive population.

Cooperation and partnerships have proved to be right in the path of development for Latin America, which today shows a promising and stable outlook to the world. Only in 2011, there was $13,810 million USD of IED (Inversión extranjera directa) through so-called “multi-Latin” corporations in countries such as Mexico, Chile, Brazil and Colombia.

I am proud to be a witness and a spokesman of the region progress and development, and to put up everybody´s effort to continue betting on the time of Latin America.

Key statements by Gustavo Cisneros during his intervention at the Congreso de Instituto de Empresas Familiares  

Opinions

Leonel Fernández, former president of the Dominican Republic, recently received the 2012 “Statesman of the Year” award from the Canadian Council for The Americas.

I was honored to attend the ceremony where Kenneth N. Frankel, the Council’s Chair, spoke about the boost the Dominican Republic has experienced during the past few years. Given my great affection for this country, I have been able to witness the outstanding changes described by Mr. Frankel.

The leadership displayed by Leonel Fernández has been pivotal in the growth of the Dominican economy, which has almost tripled in the last eight years Also, just as Mr. Frankel described during the ceremony, Fernández work has reached out far beyond Dominican borders. In fact, he became a key player in the region’s conflict resolution, and he also demonstrated great leadership skills when he coordinated international relief efforts for Haiti in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake.

That is precisely what I would like to highlight.  If Latin America can face the world with a new face today it is thanks to leaders such as Mr. Fernández, who with a deep sense of unity, is aware of the need to project our countries as a single region in search of the common good.

Without a doubt, a well-deserved award.

Bravo, Leonel!

Listin Diario: Premian a Leonel Fernández como el estadista del año 2012 (article in Spanish, “Leonel Fernández receives the 2012 Statesman of the Year Award”)

 

CSR

Every year, at its Honor Night Gala, the Advertising Educational Foundation (AEF) recognizes the role of advertisers, agencies, media, students and important personalities for their contributions to the entertainment industry and society in general.

This year, I had the honor to receive the special “Lifetime Achievement Award” in recognition of the role of the philanthropic activities of the Fundación Cisneros in Latin America and for my career in the entertainment industry.

I feel very proud of this distinction since it represents many decades of effort devoted to improving education in the region as a catalyst for development. Today, Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives are part of our business strategy. This means that each new project or business venture we undertake includes a contribution to the community where it resides that fosters development and well-being for its inhabitants, and strives to provide them with the tools they need to become more competitive in a more demanding society.

You can see those activities in the video that follows:

CSR

Recently, my wife Patricia and I had the opportunity to host a dinner at which the CEDIMAT Cardiovascular Center project was introduced to Dominican entrepreneurs, a complex that not only will be the first of its kind in the Dominican Republic, but is also shaping up to be one of the largest in Latin America.

We were honored by the presence of His Eminence Cardinal Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez, Chairman of the Board of CEDIMAT – who noted that this center is built following the regulations of the Joint Commission International, which will makes it  the first world-class center in Dominican Republic.

Dr. Pedro Ureña –Director of the Cardiovascular Center- explained that investment for the construction of this facility is US$60 million. It will be ready in late 2013 and will feature the latest technology and the highest quality services.

The CEDIMAT Cardiovascular Center is a key project for Health, Education and Tourism sectors in the Dominican Republic.

I am convinced that projects like this one, intended to express solidarity and unity, help nations achieve equality and well-being.

Cardiovascular Center will be one of the most advanced – Listin Diario

CSR

Although the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is relatively new, for The Cisneros Group of Companies it is a vision and a family value that has been part of our business plan from the beginning: social commitment and successful business practices go hand in hand.

Giving back to society is a value that my father, Diego Cisneros, our founder, bequeathed us, and it has become a highly effective philosophy of the Group. Each new enterprise undertaken is developed along with Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives focused on boosting the development of the nations in which we are present.

The CSR respects values, communities and the environment, a philosophy that permeates the spirit of companies and guides their behavior, allowing them not only to properly position their image, but also to obtain a social license in order to operate in communities where they are present, propelling real change in them, thus maximizing business strategies.

For us at The Cisneros Group of Companies, education and the promotion of culture are powerful catalysts for progress and well-being in communities; therefore we have concentrated significant efforts on initiatives aimed at overcoming inequality and facilitating access to education, thus contributing to the formation of better citizens.

In the seventies, my wife Patricia and I set up the Fundación Cisneros in order to encourage the creation of social capital in Latin America, based on education and cultural programs such as: cl@se, Actualización de Maestros en Educación (AME), The Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros and Piensa en arte/Think Art.

These programs and their excellent results have become one of the best letters of presentation for The Cisneros Group of Companies and have allowed it to become a point of reference with regard to Corporate Social Responsibility strategies.

I am convinced that private initiative needs to be a catalyst that detonates the potential of future leaders of Latin America and, for this reason, Corporate Social Responsibility activities need to be designed hand in hand r with business strategies, allowing us to generate real value for the communities where we operate.

I invite you to find out more about the activities of the Fundación Cisneros:

http://www.fundacion.cisneros.org/

http://www.youtube.com/user/CisnerosRSE

Opinions

When I look back and see the road we have travelled at the Cisneros Group of Companies over the last 82 years, through three generations of leadership, one of the things that makes me most proud is the power to say that today we are a Global Organization that maintains the legacy and tradition of a family company.

It is not easy for a company that started off as a family business to grow and develop corporate structure along with long-term vision. At the Cisneros Group we have achieved this. This has allowed us to become an international business and — more recently – to follow the path of digital convergence, a daunting challenge for many companies.

At the Cisneros Group, we benefit from a firm foundation based on the values established by of our founder, my father Diego Cisneros. He showed us a path based upon business ethics, loyalty, a sense of purpose, recognition for people’s work and passion, reinforced with a spirit of innovation and continuous evolution. This combination has allowed us to become a solid, modern, professional organization well prepared to face future challenges.

I think that it is imperative that family companies in our region make changes and take risks and create new structures. If deeply rooted their fundamental identity, values and foundations will never change. On the contrary, they will be the driving force that will promote innovation, productive changes and foster the growth of new thoughts and ideas. That is what has allowed us to make history, while maintaining our own identity through the years.

Interviews

I have already commented in interviews that I believe that this is going to be Latin America’s decade, why?

Latin America has built a large market: 450 million consumers and 40 million Hispanics in the United States, in which more than 30% of foreign investments come from Latin American companies.

Latin American entrepreneurs have decided to go international and are doing so on a level we could never have imagined before, including service companies, particularly those linked to sectors such as telecommunications, entertainment and engineering. We are exporting new business models.

We are learning to be flexible and to successfully operate in a region that has been affected by political instability and we have developed qualities that have allowed us to confront serious financial crises.

Likewise, countries such as Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru are strongly committed to those areas crucial to the progress of nations: education, access to technology, research, strengthening of institutions and development of infrastructure. These nations have put aside six-year government plans and have started to develop long-term plans that are strengthening them enormously.

Even though there is still unacceptable inequality in large areas of our region, this is, without doubt, going to be Latin America’s decade. Society, the authorities and entrepreneurs will continue to work together to make Latin America the leading region that we have worked so hard for.