Last Wednesday, I had the opportunity to participate, once again, in the 11th edition of the international forum Spain Investors Day, the reference meeting place in our country between international investors and listed companies.
This year, as confirmed by one of the organisers, BNP Paribas, there has been more interest than ever in participating from major international investors (fund and pension managers, sovereign wealth funds and insurance companies). There were 250 investors from 14 countries, with whom we met 46 Spanish listed companies, representing the main sectors of our economy.
This event has a special relevance at a time like now, in a year still marked by transition, but also a year in which we are starting to see the beginning of the end of the pandemic thanks to the vaccine, and in which our efforts must go into rebuilding. For this to happen, it is essential that Spain continues to be an attractive country in which to invest, owing to the key role private capital will have in the post-Covid economic recovery. This is a time for transparency and of striving to build trust, and it is also an excellent opportunity for our companies to explain their plans and perspectives.
Moreover, the opening of the event by the king of Spain and the participation by a wide representation of the Spanish government highlight the fact that the public-private partnership is now more necessary than ever, especially if the Next Generation EU recovery fund is to be properly allocated.
In this sense, I agree with the Spanish Vice President for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, who gave the first day’s closing speech, and stated that in order to recover from this crisis it is necessary to make a resolute commitment to “climate action and the energy transition, which in themselves form a complete programme for economic transformation”.
For investors around the world, decarbonisation is one of the areas of greatest interest at the moment. I was able to confirm this once again while taking part in one of the plenary sessions of this year’s Spain Investors Day. It has been very gratifying to see how large investors are increasingly enquiring about Enagás’ contribution to decarbonisation, the different green hydrogen projects we are promoting and other general topics related to sustainability and ESG criteria.
In short, it is an event that highlights the value of Spain’s economy and its companies and conveys the message that Spain continues to offer excellent opportunities for investment in the coming years, as well as strengthening the public-private partnership needed to meet the challenge of rebuilding economic growth in our country.