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Abengoa received the first Valued Company Award granted by the Spanish Academy of Engineering in recognition of its past achievements, its success in conducting its business in different fields of activity and its inexorable spirit of innovation

Abengoa, an industrial and technological company that provides solutions for sustainable development, the information and knowledge society and the creation of infrastructures, received the first Valued Company Award granted by the Spanish Academy of Engineering in recognition of its past achievements, its success in conducting its business in different fields of activity and its inexorable spirit of innovation.

At the award ceremony held in the function room at the Madrid School of Mine Engineering, Javier Benjumea Llorente, the chairman of Abengoa, thanked the Academy for this important award and emphasised the company’s persistent and determined commitment to innovation and the ongoing generation of options for the future.

On this subject, he also underlined the need for a concerted effort to bring Spain into line with the most technologically advanced countries in the EU and worldwide, by weaving a resilient industrial and technological fabric to tap the enormous potential that our country possesses.

He outlined the steps that need to be taken immediately to achieve this goal:

1. Commitment of the Administration and technology companies to a ten-year Strategic Innovation Plan clearly identifying priority development sectors and establishing the actions required to ensure the full involvement of the public RDI system.
2. Creation of long-term programmes for Relevant Demonstration Projects involving the Administration and each of the selected companies, establishing the technological assets and financial resources that each party undertakes to provide.
3. Effective implementation of tax benefits to incentivise innovation, which innovating companies currently find it very difficult to obtain.
4. Effective coordination among the administrations.
5. Continuity of the plan, ensuring that it is not affected by changes of government or the ups and downs of the business cycle.

Javier Aracil, a member of the Academy of Engineering, outlined Abengoa’s achievements and performance since its formation, describing its track record as “exemplary and laudable”. He also praised its skill in adapting creatively to the changing circumstances of the Spanish economy in recent decades and its ability to use innovation as a springboard to convert potential into development and economic growth.

He concluded by saying: “the Academy of Engineering has conferred this award as a public declaration of its appreciation of Abengoa and hereby makes it the first member of a select group of companies which will receive this distinction in years to come”.