Basf, ibm and unilever all sing praises of spanish productivity

Last thursday business leaders at basf, ibm and unilever in spain put forward their case for keeping up and indeed strengthening industry as the key driver of the state’s economy, boosting innovation and taking full advantage of the country’s fortes.

within the framework of the iese conference, 'creating the firm of 2020 and its environment,’ head of basf spain, erwin rauhe addressing those present stated, “i believe in the industrial vocation of this country. we need its industry and we have the capability to keep it.” backing his assertion, mr. rauhe cited the fact that productivity of the employees in the southern european site is double that of the group average.

unilever spain’s ceo, jaime aguilera added that it was impossible to imagine spain without an “industrial fabric that backs innovation,” while recommending the need to get behind industries that had a competitive edge, which makes them different and sets them apart from those of other states, such as tourism and agro-food.

the head of ibm for iberia, greece and israel, marta martínez backed the opinion voiced by her colleagues, messrs. rauhe and aguilera, noting that ibm had shown its commitment to spain by setting up four innovation centres (cáceres, ourense, salamanca and reus) serving both national and international clients, as there was an “important pool of talent.” indeed, ibm is scheduled to open its first cloud computing facility in spain in the middle of this year in cerdanyola del vallès (barcelona), to add to the other eight centres already up and running, providing services to clients around the world.

source: europa press, 11/4/2013