This past Friday, March 22nd, the Australia Spain Business Association celebrated its Annual General Meeting in the Centro Riojano in Madrid. The executive board was in full attendance: Susana Lapique, in representation of Navantia; Carlos Díaz Marquina, Secretary, Treasurer, and Coordinator of Data Protection; John Rochlin, Vice President, ASBA Cataluña; Sonia Lorenzo, Vice President, ASBA Galicia; and Juan Millán, Vice President, ASBA Madrid. Attendance was open to all ASBA members. Among those present included representatives from Airbus, the Ayuntamiento de Madrid, Austrade – The Australian Trade and Investment Commission, and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.
On the agenda was the approval of 2018 expenditures and the 2019 budget, as well as the change of the official address for ASBA to C/ Doctor Esquerdo, 18, Escalera A, 1o B. In light of Carlos Díaz Marquina’s resignation from the ASBA board, Juan Millán was nominated as Secretary and Coordinator of Data Protection, and Fernando Mancha, General Director of MIRACOM, was nominated as Treasurer. Gina Bowman was nominated to the position of ASBA liaison to ABIE, the network of Australian business associations in Europe. Finally, Susana Lapique announced the resignation of Gonzalo Mateo-Guerrero as Navantia’s representative to the Institutional Presidency of ASBA and was nominated to take his place. All nominations and fiscal proposalsff were approved.
Following the meeting, ASBA members enjoyed lunch and networking in the Centro Riojano. We were fortunate to be joined by the Australian Ambassador to Spain, Julie-Ann Guivarra, who serves as the Honorary President of ASBA, as well as by the New Zealand Ambassador to Spain, Nigel Fyfe.