[Politics] Investments, one of the axes of President Guillermo Lasso's visit to Spain

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Iran will be the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Mauricio Montalvo; of Production and Foreign Trade, Julio Prado, and of Telecommunications, Vianna Maino.

The increase in investments will be one of the axes of the official visit that begins, this Thursday, November 4, the president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, to Spain.

Lasso arrived in Madrid a few moments ago after participating in the COP26 summit, held in Glasgow, United Kingdom.

According to a statement from the General Secretariat of Communication (Segcom), the objective of the visit is to continue deploying the strategy "More Ecuador in the world and more world in Ecuador" and to strengthen relations with strategic partners.

As part of this agenda, some high-level appointments with authorities in this country and meetings with businessmen are planned.

The day of this November 4 will be marked by the meeting of Lasso with King Felipe VI of Spain, at the Palacio de la Zarzuela (at 09:00, Spanish time; 02:00 Ecuador time) and with the president of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón (at 4:30 p.m., Spanish time; 10:30, Ecuador time), at the Palacio de La Moncloa. These meetings will discuss matters of mutual interest that will strengthen bilateral relations between the two nations.

Hours later, the president will have an appointment with the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, in Plaza de la Villa, and will attend the Spain-Ecuador business meeting, with the Spanish Chamber of Commerce; so far the attendance of 90 company representatives has been confirmed for this event, Segcom said.

On November 5, the head of state will participate in the "ABC Spain-Ecuador Forum: Thinking the S-XXI", a space for reflection and a proposal for analysis on the economic, political and social scenario of both countries and Latin America. In this meeting, in which Lasso will be the main speaker, there will also be figures such as former Spanish president José María Aznar; the director of ABC, Julián Quiroz; and the vice president of the International University of La Rioja (UNIR), Emilio Lamo de Espinosa. The event will take place from 09:30, Spain time (03:30 Ecuador time).

He will also visit the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso. The appointment will be at the Royal Post Office, at 11:00, Spain time (05:00, Ecuador time).

The official agenda in Madrid will end on November 6 with a meeting with Ecuadorians residing in Spain.

In an interview with the Efe agency before starting the trip to Europe, Lasso indicated that in the meetings with the king and with the president of the Spanish Government he will seek "to strengthen Ecuador's relations with Spain and also the European Union."

He pointed out that the issue of the Schengen visa will be on the agenda, "since Ecuador signed a free trade agreement with the EU after Colombia and Peru, but the visa liberalization for Ecuadorians is pending."

Asked about the negotiations on the issue, he acknowledged that "there is progress", although "they are still small."

The other big issue is that of investments, which he will address in meetings with the Spanish business community.

"Ecuador is preparing an Investment Summit on November 19 and 20, and obviously we want the participation of important Spanish companies that look to the country with an investment opportunity in strategic sectors," Lasso told Efe and listed key sectors such as "hydrocarbons, minerals , telecommunications and energy, especially renewables and infrastructures ”.

For this he will be accompanied by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Mauricio Montalvo; of Production and Foreign Trade, Julio Prado, and of Telecommunications, Vianna Maino.

Lasso wants to tender a series of strategic projects in sectors such as infrastructure, mining, oil and energy, and thereby achieve his goal of 30,000 million dollars in investment by 2025.

In 2019, Spain had an investment position in Ecuador of some 2,362 million dollars, in a range of sectors that included crude oil extraction, commercial distribution, non-metallic mineral product manufacturing, telecommunications and the food industry, among others.

According to the Bank of Ecuador, in 2020 it remained the second foreign investor with 230.9 million dollars that year, 20% of the total, behind Canada.

Lasso, who in foreign policy is based on the maxim "more Ecuador in the world and more world in Ecuador", wants to increase these figures within a policy of openness to the world with which he seeks some "20,000 million dollars" for everything type of economic reactivation projects that promote employment.

"Knowing a little about Spain, I would say that sectors such as infrastructure, road construction and also the clean energy sector, wind and photovoltaic", he said about the potential of Spanish companies

LINK: https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/politica/inversiones-uno-de-los-ejes-de-la-visita-del-presidente-guillermo-lasso-a-espana-nota/