Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria : “Garanti Bank is one of the pillars of BBVA´s transformation”

BBVA won the award in the Spanish Company category of the third annual Prizes of the Spanish-Turkish Official Chamber of Commerce and Industry. During the event, held December 11 in Madrid, Jorge Sáenz-Azcúnaga, BBVA's Director of Country Monitoring, underscored the Group´s commitment to Turkey and said Garanti is one of the pillars of the transformation of BBVA.

The Spanish-Turkish Chamber´s prizes are awarded annually to recognize those Spanish and Turkish people, institutions or companies that have made distinguished contributions to a greater mutual understanding or a greater level of relationship between the two countries, in the commercial, cultural and social fields.

The third annual awards ceremony, held at the Hotel Villamagna in Madrid, was attended by Ömer Önhon, ambassador of Turkey in Madrid; José Ignacio Ceniceros, president of Spain´s La Rioja region; Francisco Javier Garzón Morales, CEO of the Spanish Foreign Trade Institute (ICEX) and Esther González, president of the Spanish-Turkish Chamber of Commerce.

This year´s winners were José Lladó Fernández-Urrutia, president of Técnicas Reunidas, in the Prize for Business Merit category; Standard Profil, in the Turkish Company category; and BBVA, in the Spanish Company category.

Jorge Sáenz-Azcúnaga received the prize on behalf of the BBVA Group, which in 2011 acquired a 25% interest in Garanti Bank of Turkey; that participation today stands at nearly 50%.

The prize was presented to BBVA by Francisco Javier Garzón Morales, of ICEX, who underscored the leading role the Group has taken in the Turkish financial system. 'BBVA has made the largest investment by a Spanish company in this market,' he said.

In his speech, Jorge Sáenz-Azcúnaga said that BBVA is a bank with a clear competitive advantage. 'It knows how to work in emerging markets by doing universal banking.' He gave the reasons behind BBVA's commitment to Turkey: the size of the market, with 80 million people; a young population (38% are under 18 years of age); a positive outlook for economic growth and a powerful middle class, which translates into a banked population eligible to receive bank credit.

Currently, Turkey is in fact one of BBVA's most important markets'

'All these are characteristics that BBVA seeks in new emerging markets,' explained Sáénz-Azcúnaga. 'On top of that, Turkey has a very high educational level and stands as a link between the rich western countries and the high-growth oriental economies'.

BBVA's Director of Country Monitoring, who is also vice-president of Garanti Bank, reaffirmed the bank´s commitment to Turkey. 'Currently, Turkey is in fact one of BBVA's most important markets,' he said.

Garanti, at the forefront of the digital transformation

Speaking of Garanti, Sáenz-Azcúnaga recalled that it is the leading Turkish bank in profitability and solvency, and has been showing robust growth and prudent risk management. 'But just as important is the fact that Garanti is at the forefront of digital transformation, not just at the local level, but also internationally.'

'Garanti shares with BBVA a clear vision of the transformation of the finance industry. It is, in fact, one of the pillars of the transformation of the BBVA Group,' he stressed.