2023-10-21 02:00:00
Tabakalera was the setting chosen this Friday by Elkargi for the fifth edition of the Finance Forum, in which the focus was on banking and industry, under the title ‘Banking and industry in the Basque Country, an inseparable binomial’. Promoted by the SGR itself and with the support of EL DIARIO VASCO and EL CORREO and the sponsorship of Kutxabank, EY and the three Basque councils, the event became the meeting point for people from all areas of the Basque financial and business fabric. , who listened carefully to the round tables presented by the organizers before enjoying a coffee and networking that served to fraternize among the attendees.
Two round tables and a subsequent intervention by Eider Mendoza, general deputy of Gipuzkoa, responded to the interest aroused by the forum and contributed to continuing to disseminate financial culture in the business environment.
With the aim of delving into the ins and outs of this relationship between banking and industry, Eduardo Ruiz de Gordejuela, CEO of Kutxabank, took the stage first; Zenón Vázquez, general director of Elkargi; Teresa Madariaga, president of Ingeteam; and Javier Roquero, co-founder and CEO of the Oiartzuarra firm Salto Systems.
Led by El Diario Vasco journalist Julio Díaz de Alda, they all presented their point of view on the historical relationship between banking and industry in a debate under the title ‘Banking and industry, two sides of the same coin’. Ingeteam, as Teresa Madariaga explained, is a clear example of how banking in the Basque Country has not only penetrated the world of industry through financing, but also by forming part of the shareholders of companies: «Shortly after Our foundation, which was in February 1972, Lagun Aro entered with 37% of the shares and was key to being able to lay the foundations of our company. Subsequently, BBK assumed that share package in the exit of Lagun Aro and it was essential for us in the acquisition and integration of Indar.
Eduardo Ruiz de Gordejuela focused on this issue opened by Madariaga by detailing that “we have a tradition of industrial participation that has played a leading role as part of a business, but with unique coordinates.” And it was explained: “In these cases, return is combined, because an investment must have it, with the search for an economic and social value in which values such as roots also enter.”
The phrases
Zenón Vázquez | General Director of Elkargi «I do not currently see banks reducing credit, but rather companies being more cautious»
Eduardo Ruiz de Gordejuela | CEO of Kutxaban k«We have a tradition of industrial participation that combines return with the search for economic and social value»
Teresa Madariaga | President of Ingeteam “We are a country of entrepreneurs and, if we are, it is because there has been an industrial bank that has supported”
Basque banking, the CEO of Kutxabank understands, has opted for “feedback and a balance between the creation of social value, results, employment and economic activity”, and this results, he said, “in a benefit.” indirect of economic activity.
The relationship with banking and the financial world is different in the case of Salto Systems, although it has also had great weight in its evolution. «They have been with us in three fundamental moments. At our birth, in 2000; in 2008; and in 2020, when we completed a notable capital increase to face that of a very large Austrian firm,” said Roquero.
Elkargi, in the middle of the table
In this relationship between both parties, “Elkargi is in the middle of the table,” questioned Zenón Vázquez. The head of Elkargi believes that the banking and industry binomial in Euskadi has been successful, but cited as transcendental “that companies know the alternatives that exist because banking has changed, there has been terrible innovation and in the same way that our companies have innovated In many areas, perhaps they have not done so much in approaching all these economic-financial varieties.
Javier Roquero | Co-founder and CEO at Salto Systems «Banking has been with us in three fundamental moments for our company»
Eider Mendoza | General Deputy of Gipuzkoa «In Gipuzkoa we have a very good industry, a very good banking system and a very good welfare system; “We are in the Champions League.”
Pablo Sanz | Partner responsible for the Northern Zone of EY “With this uncertainty, we have to look at scenarios, but I don’t think this is going to generate less financing”
What everyone present agreed on was that the relationship model has resulted in Euskadi and has allowed it to have a first-class industry. Roquero went back to that key era of industrial reconversion, “in which banking played a fundamental role.” “We drink from that industrial fabric that helped generate it today,” he said. Madariaga emphasized that, beyond being an industrial country, “we are a country of entrepreneurs and, if we are, it is because there has been an industrial bank that has supported this type of projects. Or maybe it’s the other way around.” “It is difficult to know if it was the chicken or the egg first,” added Ruiz de Gordejuela. “But it is not a coincidence and it is not the merit of one or the other, but of joint work that has generated collective success,” he highlighted. In this sense, “the banking policy of industrial participations has been key, but also the culture of entrepreneurship and institutions that have favored this climate,” he said. Vázquez was encouraged to say that “the entire ecosystem emerges from the entrepreneur.”
Financing today
Pablo Sanz, head of EY’s Northern Zone, joined the table in place of Madariaga and Roquero when it turned the topic towards ‘Financial solutions for the industry’. And he wanted to emphasize that we have a “hyperregulated” banking sector and that “with the uncertainty that exists at the moment we have to look at scenarios, but I don’t think this is going to generate less financing.” Ruiz de Gordejuela assured that we are in a very different moment from the 2008 crisis: «There is no safe environment when it comes to making decisions, but if there is a project and viability, there are no credit restrictions. We are better than in the previous crisis, in which there were problems with access to credit. “Our banking system today has solvency and the doors of credit are open.” Zenón Vázquez interpreted that, after a few years of uncertainty, there may be more caution on the part of the company than on the part of the bank when it comes to financing. “I don’t see banks reducing credit, but rather companies being more cautious.”
Mendoza highlights the “team”
The day ended with the intervention of the general deputy of Gipuzkoa, Eider Mendoza, who wanted to talk about “team” more than a “binomial.” A team in which “there are the companies, the financial entities that provide oxygen and us, who provide heat,” she stated. “But we not only provide warmth,” she added, “but we have to have a vision of leadership for the future because if not, we would not be successful as a people. And in this town we have gotten a lot right and we have overcome many difficulties. As a result, she recalled, “we have a very good industry, a very good banking system and a very good welfare system.” Thanks to that “Gipuzkoa is in the Champions League and we want to move up positions in the Champions League.” In short, the general deputy urged to continue working with “prudence, which is the mark of the Provincial Council, but also with seriousness, enthusiasm and ambition.” “Those are our flags,” she said.
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