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Financial education Updated: 08 Sep 2018

Education for entrepreneurship – the key to the European economy

BBVA is the only bank participating in the European Business  – Education Summit organized by the European Commission and CSR Europe in Brussels. At the meeting, BBVA’s Executive Member of the Board, Head of Global Economics, Regulation and Public Affairs, José Manuel González-Páramo, defended the importance of providing young people, not only with financial education, but also entrepreneurial skills, to boost Europe’s economy.

This, he said, is the foundation for the bank’s educational programs: “Education, especially financial education, is part of BBVA’s DNA,” he explained. However, addressing these issues is not a mission unique to those involved. “At BBVA, we believe in public-private partnerships at a national, European and international level. They are an essential tool to promote capacity building in financial education and business skills,” González-Páramo said, adding that European institutions need to make a greater effort to achieve this.

At BBVA, we believe in public-private partnerships at a national, European and international level. They are an essential tool to promote capacity building in financial education and business skills"

At this first European Business- Education Summit, the accomplishments of the Pact for Youth campaign were analyzed. The high-level event is an opportunity to find ways to promote youth employability in the years to come.

José Manuel González-Páramo- BBVA

José Manuel González-Páramo, executive director responsible for economics, regulation and institutional relations at BBVA, during his speech at the 'European Business and Education Summit' - CSR Europe

BBVA, a global leader in financial education

BBVA is a model of public-private partnership in financial education, in all of the areas where the bank has a presence – in South America as well as in Mexico and Spain – through global initiatives such as the Center for Financial Education and Capability, as well as local programs. José Manuel González-Páramo mentioned the School for Entrepreneurship campaign, which the bank launched together with the Colombian government in 2013, to combat youth unemployment. Four years later, the Escuela para el Emprendimiento (School for Entrepreneurship) was founded, with more than 85,000 students from 250 Colombian schools.

BBVA’s commitment to education is part of the bank’s new digital approach. The bank believes that young entrepreneurs contribute to economic development with their innovative ideas. For this reason, BBVA helps them to expand both their financial knowledge  and their entrepreneurial skills.

Education, especially financial education, is part of BBVA’s DNA"

José Manuel González-Páramo underscored the wide range of financial education programs that BBVA carries out around the world. For example, Valores de Futuro (Future Values) is an initiative created in 2009 to provide the students with financial education. More than one million students from some 4,000 Spanish schools participate in the program every year. The bank also offers the BBVA Momentum program, to support social entrepreneurs, or companies with a positive social impact and commitment to sustainability. BBVA Momentum was founded in 2011 and to date has trained 75 entrepreneurs in Spain.

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José Manuel González-Páramo during a moment of his speech on entrepreneurship and education - CSR

A European summit for education

The European Business – Education Summit is one of the major events on youth employment in Europe. It brought together 650 participants, 40 executives from European companies, opinion leaders, and EU politicians, including the President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, and President of the European Council, Donald Tusk.

José Manuel González-Páramo participated in a round table discussion with Tibor Navracsics, European Commissioner of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport; Jacques van den Broek, CEO and Chairman of Board at Randstad Global; Jukka Jäämaa, CEO of ISS Finland; Harry Goldman, CEO of Swedish Jobs & Society Foundation; and Mustafa Panshiri, a beneficiary of the Swedish Jobs & Society Foundation programs.

The Pact for Youth is a mutual commitment between companies and EU leaders, which was initiated by CSR Europe in 2015. Its goal is to develop or consolidate partnerships to support youth employability and inclusion, in order to create 100,000 job opportunities for young people.