For this purpose, new publications were brought out to join the now traditional ERD productions, the
aim of which is to monitor and analyse areas like those previously mentioned in detail. Therefore 2008 saw
the launch of: “China Watch”, the Informe-País (Country-Report) series, which published monographs on
Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam (in Spanish and English), “Texas Trends” and “US
Regional Watch” as well as a multitude of watchdogs and three new weekly observatories: “Commodity
Watch”, “Asia Weekly Report” and Observatorio Semanal América Latina (Latin America Weekly
Observatory), the latter two in Spanish and English.
More in-depth work was done on monitoring markets and financial systems, in order to identify the
relative strengths in the various markets and countries, which would enable the global financial turbulence
to be contended with. In particular, a detailed analysis was made of the financial systems in Latin American
countries in our new magazine “Financial System Latinwatch”. “Financial Observatories” have moreover
been launched dealing with various countries.
Likewise, a publication has been added to the Latin American Situación series: Situación Brasil, which
puts the spotlight on this market which is so important in Latin America. In view of the importance of the
real estate sector in the region, launches were made of Situación Inmobiliaria Argentina (Real Estate Watch
Argentina), Situación Inmobiliaria Perú, and Situación Inmobiliaria Colombia in order to keep a close eye
on the trends there.
The web page has enlarged its sections to accommodate the aforementioned publications, in order to
foster greater dissemination and it includes both the Spanish and English versions of all of them, to make
them more accessible to non-Spanish speakers.
One of this year’s milestones was the increase in relations between BBVA and Universities, a task in
which the Economic Research Department has played an active role. Therefore, beside the Southern Spain
regional head office, the ERD signed a collaboration agreement with the Pablo de Olavide University to
broaden knowledge of the social and economic situation in Andalusia in macroeconomic and sector terms,
giving rise to a framework for relations between the academic world and the business world. Under said
agreement, the Economic Research Department began a new publication, Situación Andalucía y
Extremadura which is published twice yearly, the first edition of which came out in June.
The members of the ERD continued actively collaborating in important national and Latin American
press media, through opinion tribunes, in keeping with the constant support they lend to the
Communication and Image Department, as shown in various presentations to the media, press
conferences, etc. This department has likewise attempted to address some of the key question marks that
arose in the turbulent economic and financial situation of the last year, attempting to anticipate possible
scenarios for the economy and thus ease decision-making among economic players. The ERD, in short,
increased its presence in all kinds of forums to analyse the present economic situation and the prospects
for the future.
Indeed, in 2008, the Economic Research Department received the prize annually awarded by the
International Conference of Commercial Bank Economists (ICCBE), in recognition of its good work in
forecasting economic and financial variables.
2008
Throughout last year, the ERD collaborated with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in
CRR
matters related to pensions and insurance, it made numerous presentations, especially focusing on the
training of would-be professionals in this field, and it worked intensely on the reform of pension systems in
Latin America.
In the bancarisation and microfinance field there were also fruitful expert meetings in various forums on
INFORMATION
this topic. Lastly, the ERD took part in a seminar held on CSR in London and in various meeting held in
Mexico dealing with housing.
The new organisation of the Economic Research Department was divided into four areas in January 2009:
• Spain and Europe unit. This aims to enhance analyses of the European economy and frame the Spanish
economy in a higher profile European context. Its chief publications are Situación España, ‘Europa
SUPPLEMENTARY
Watch’, Situació Catalunya and Situación Andalucía. Corporate Responsibility Report 2008
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