This afternoon, Madrid hosted the founding ceremony of the new Federation of Associations of Engineering and Knowledge Companies of Spain, CIES, a business organisation created to represent the interests of almost two hundred companies belonging to the consulting engineering sector in all its branches, architecture, technological services, consulting, innovation and the knowledge industry.
The event took place in the hall of the Santander work café on the Paseo de Recoletos, where the top representatives of the autonomous business associations of the sector met, from Galicia, Castile and Leon, the Basque Country, Aragon, the Valencian Community, the Region of Murcia, Extremadura, Andalusia and the Canary Islands.
Ignacio Sánchez de Mora and Daniel Prieto, presidents of the Andalusian and Galician associations, presented the new entity with an aggregate turnover of 1.33 billion euros and 16,500 employees. Subsequently, the protocol establishing this body was signed.
National level
As Ignacio Sánchez de Mora Andrés, representative of the Andalusian association, explains the call to be its president, “the new business organization has a marked national character, so its action extends to the whole of Spain. In addition, and in defence of the interests of its partners, it will be able to extend its activities to the level of the European Union and international”.
The main aims of the newly formed employers’ organisation are to represent, manage, defend and promote the interests of its members in their dealings with public administrations, employers’ bodies and trade unions. Investment in engineering and knowledge will be promoted through the Next Generation Funds, a quality-based purchasing system with tender base prices comparable to the advanced economies of the European Union, and central purchasing for common goods and services will be encouraged.
According to its president, “this is a strategic step for the private sector, with which we will enhance our influence, prestige and business cooperation in the face of the opportunities generated by the intended transformation of the production model of the Spanish economy.”
The registered office of the new organization has been established in Seville (Santas Patronas, no 37) and will be governed by the General Assembly, Board of Directors and Presidency. The President shall be elected for a term of four years and may be re-elected for a maximum of two terms.
According to its statutes, CIES is independent of public administrations, trade unions and political or other associations external to the interests represented by the Federation. Its resources shall come from the contributions of its members.
All present
The official ceremony for the establishment of the new CIES, the culmination of fruitful years of cooperation between the various founding associations, was attended by the highest representatives of the various autonomous associations; Victorino Zorraquino Lozano, of ASINCAR (Aragonese Association of Engineering and Organization Consultants), Vicente Candela Canales, of AVINCO (Valencian Association of Consulting Engineers), Tomás Iriondo Astigarraga, of the GAIA cluster (Association of Knowledge and Applied Technology Industries of the Basque Country), Juan Merino Sánchez, of ASINCEX (Association of Engineering and Consultancy of Extremadura), Ignacio Sánchez de Mora Andrés, of ASICA (Aso Empresarial de Ingenieros Consultores de Andalucía), Daniel Prieto Renda, of AGEINCO (Galician Association of Engineering, Consultancy and Technological Services Companies), Javier Blanco Embún, of ACALINCO (Castilian-Leonese Association of Engineering, Consultancy and Technological Services Companies), Norberto Guillén Albacete, of AECIC (Association of Civil Engineering Companies of the Region of Murcia), and Francisco González González-Jaraba, of AINCO (Association of Engineering and Consultancy Companies of Las Palmas).