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Finance Night, the unmissable event that brings together big business owners and financial leaders, took place today at the Events Centre at Feria Valencia, with a very successful turnout. The business, insurance, financial and political sectors came together at the gala, which also served as the prelude to the thirteenth edition of Forinvest, Spain's biggest financial and business networking space, which runs from 3 to 4 March.

Finance Night has been characterised by a strong presence from political representatives, major companies and financial groups. Some of the public officials that attended were the president of the Valencian Regional Government, Ximo Puig; the speaker of the Valencian Parliament, Enric Morera; the regional minister of Finance and the Economic Model, Vicente Soler, who is also the president of Forinvest; the regional minister of Sustainable Economy, Productive Sectors, Trade and Employment, Rafael Climent; the deputy mayor of Valencia, Sandra Gómez, and government delegate for the Valencian Community, Gloria Calero. There were also representatives from local political parties.

Also in attendance at this unmissable finance event were the heads of major companies like Consum, Mercadona, Chocolates Valor, Pikolinos, RNB, Grupo Palma and Anecoop, among many others, as well as major financial world leaders and Forinvest event partners: Bankia, Santander, CaixaBank, Sabadell, Ibercaja and the Valencia Institute of Finance (IVF) and Mapfre, official insurer.

Iberdrola's chairman, Forinvest 2020 speaker and award winner

The event kicked off with a keynote speech by Ignacio Galán, chairman and CEO of Iberdrola group and one of the world's top 5 best CEOs according to Harvard Business Review. He spoke about the social paradigm change in which society is demanding a business model capable of combining the interests of shareholders with those of employees and with the creation of sustainable value for society as a whole, as well as touching on Iberdrola's growth over the past 20 years and its positive impact on the Valencian Community. Galán was the first to be presented with an award at the 13^th Forinvest Awards ceremony, which is held every year at Finance Night.

These awards also recognised the business contributions of Rosana Perán, vice-chair of Grupo Pikolinos and the group's internal audit director; Belén Franch, NASA scientist, University of Maryland professor and University of Valencia researcher; and Luis Ferrer, former chairman of the Barcelona Association of Insurance Intermediaries and current chairman of Ferrer&Ojeda Correduría de Seguros. To close the evening, Forinvest invited attendees to a cocktail dinner courtesy of three-Michelin-star chef Quique Dacosta.

Finance Night served as a prelude to two days of intensive analyses, conferences and debate with A-list speakers, which will see Forinvest become the focal point for the country’s economic and financial affairs.

Forinvest 2020 will feature more than 200 speakers at its multiple forums, round tables, conferences and working lunches. There will also be an extensive commercial exhibition area featuring the best offerings from financial entities, brokers, securities firms, sector-specific institutions, universities, accelerators and suppliers of technology solutions. All in all, more than 100 exhibitors will be at the Events Centre at Feria de Valencia with their proposals from 9:30 am to 7 pm on 3 and 4 March.

Bankia, Santander, Caixabank, Sabadell, Ibercaja and the Government of the Autonomous Community of Valencia through the Valencia Institute of Finance (IVF) are Forinvest's event partners, while Mapfre is the official event insurer. Valencia City Council is the sponsor of this event, which also counts on the collaboration of a range of businesses, associations and professional groups.