The fifth edition of the La Toja Forum, which will be held on the Pontevedra island starting on September 28 and which promotes "Atlantic links", will focus on the future of trade relations in the midst of the process of deglobalization and the loss of convergence of Spain with the EU, in addition to other aspects such as the situation of companies in the post-covid scenario.
The main lines of the new edition were presented this Wednesday at a press conference by the president of the forum and former Secretary of State for Communication in the Government of Mariano Rajoy, Carmen Martínez de Castro, and the president of both the La Toja Foundation and the Hotusa Group, Amancio López Seijas, as well as Carlos López Blanco, member of the organizing committee.
López Blanco explained that the organization "does not give up addressing the most global and strategic challenges of the Western world." If the first edition was about populism, the following ones have addressed topics such as the strategic autonomy of Europe, the post-covid world or the war in Ukraine. "China's strategic rivalry with the United States is what the external gaze now leads to," says Martínez de Castro.
The organizers have also decided to pay a "permanent tribute" to one of the main promoters of the forum, the former minister Josep Piqué, who recently died. From now on, an award will be given in each edition with the name La Toja Josep Piqué, which on this occasion will be for Afghan women. Piqué "designed a good part of the programs and impregnated the forum with his philosophy," said López Seijas.
The organizers expect the presence of King Felipe VI and already have among those attending the Princess of Asturias award winner Dani Rodrick, whose most outstanding works on Economics deal with international trade and the trilemma between hyperglobalization, democracy and sovereignty.
The former president of the Government Mariano Rajoy will also attend; the governor of the Bank of Spain, Pablo Hernández de Cos; former Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya; former Chilean president Sebastián Piñera; the president of Airef, Cristina Herrero, or the president of BBVA Research, Rafael Domenech.
In the business field, the presence of the president of Iberdrola, Ignacio Sánchez Galán, stands out; of Indra, Marc Murtra; from Abanca, Juan Carlos Escotet; of Astrazeneca in Spain, Rick Suárez, and the CEO of IAG, Luis Gallego, among others.
There will also be a regional table in which the president of Galicia, Alfonso Rueda, that of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, or that of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, will participate. Historian Michael Ignatieff will also participate in the forum.
