Yoel Rivera, president of Ultimate Solutions, participated on January 25, 2022, in the Puerto Rico-Spain Business Meeting, which was attended by King Felipe VI of Spain as part of the activities carried out on the occasion of the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the founding of San Juan.
The meeting presented two panels with businessmen from both countries who spoke about the importance of trade and investment relations and experiences to strengthen economic relations.
Among the businessmen invited for the panel “Commercial Relationship between Spain and Puerto Rico” were: Antonio Huertas, president of Mapfre; Richard Carrión, chairman of Banco Popular of Puerto Rico; José Aljaro, CEO of Abertis; Carmen Sampol, director of Sampol and Yoel Rivera, president of Ultimate Solutions.
According to Yoel Rivera, of Ultimate Solutions, a Puerto Rican company that offers services and products to the Life Sciences Industry, the need to prevent the counterfeiting and smuggling of medicines was what led them to install offices in Spain.
“We are experts in the implementation of technology to prevent counterfeiting and smuggling of medicines. We identified a need to implement traceability solutions for medicines in Spain and with processes in Spanish. We managed to be part of the Science Park of Madrid, a project of the Autonomous University and from there we have attended to the countries that make up the European Union and that have the same need. We have managed to transfer our knowledge to Spanish employees, mostly engineers from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and Barcelona”, explained Rivera, engineer graduated from Mayagüez and who has his main offices in Caguas and a second location in Kentucky, United States.
In his case, he indicated on a side note, that it was vital for his success in Spain to identify a human resource resident in the country. “Getting a committed human resource in the place where you plan to export, where not only the vision and mission of the company are shared, but also the values is fundamental. This is important for the development of a long-term strategy that is beneficial for the growth of the main organization and the new entity, in this case, Ultimate Solutions Global SL which is our entity in Spain”, he said. “This knowledge that we have acquired in Puerto Rico in the regulated industry and FDA for the past 60 years is of great value. That knowledge has a global demand and to the extent that local companies, like us, develop a value proposition and a global marketing plan, it results in a possibility of expansion for Puerto Rican companies”, Rivera concluded.
For his part, the King of Spain, Felipe VI, addressed those present and insisted that Puerto Rico has always been considered a commercial meeting place and considers that it is the ideal time to establish a vision of the future with strategic sectors.
“In Hurricane Maria and now with the pandemic, resources and investments are needed to overcome the negative effects. Launch concrete projects that allow economic recovery so that local and Spanish companies generate jobs. Public-private partnerships are an important part of social benefit and well-being. Spain allows that access to a larger market… with a perspective to a European market”, said King Felipe VI.
The Business Meeting also had another panel entitled: Trade and Investment Relations Spain-Puerto Rico. In it, Antonio Garamendi, president of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations; Omar Marrero, Secretary of State of Puerto Rico; José Luis Bonet, president of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce; and Manuel Cidre, Secretary of Economic Development.
Governor Pedro Pierluisi and the mayor of San Juan, Miguel Romero also addressed those present during the meeting that was held at the Sheraton Hotel of the Convention Center.
