Top experts and businesspersons have come together in the 8th Business Forum: Innovation & Sustainability, set up by the Regional Center of the Private Sector (Centro Regional del Sector Privado: CR/SP) in support of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and to take stock of development and sustainability in the Ibero-American region.

The Forum was officially inaugurated by the Ibero-American Secretary General, Rebeca Grynspan, the Secretary of State for Trade, Xiana Margarida Méndez Bértolo, and the president of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organization (Confederación Española de Organizaciones Empresariales: CEOE), Antonio Garamendi. One of the keynote guest speakers was Nikhil Seth, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).

For each forum the Regional Center identifies a key issue for the private sector and works with the host country’s top professionals to hold the event. The keynote theme of this year’s forum was Innovation and Sustainability as central thrusts for business adaptation and development. Other issues dealt with were Agenda 2030 as a tool in business decision-making, the rule of law, investment security and sustainable innovation as the great challenge for Ibero-American companies. This last panel was chaired by Luis Fernando Álvarez-Gascón, General Manager of GMV’s Secure e-Solutions sector and President of the Innovation Committee of The Spanish Association of Electronics, Digital Contents and ICT Companies (Asociación de Empresas de Electrónica, Tecnologías de la Información, Telecomunicaciones y Contenidos Digitales: AMETIC).

This forum acts as a sustainability- and innovation-debating platform, presents the latest trends and looks at the practical use of UN initiatives by the private sector.