The students of the Professional Executive Master in Business Management (MEX) participated last week, January 21-25, in the Doing Business in Spain - a program signed by the International Relations Department of EBAPE with IE Business School in Madrid.

It is a Short Exchange whose theme was Cultural and Social Perspective, focusing on Spanish management and culture. Last October, 18 students from the International MBA (Master of Business Administration) of the Spanish School were also in Rio to attend the course with focus on Brazil (Doing Business in Brazil).

The 23 students of MEX's class of 2012 participated in the lectures with the School's professors and guests, as well as visits to major companies and institutions established in Spain. The topics of the lectures were about the euro zone, the history and culture of the country.

The visits included the headquarters of bank Santander, Telefónica and El Corte Ingles, the largest department store chain in Europe. There was also a presentation about the wine industry with one of the board members of Bodegas Muga, one of the largest of the Rioja region, and its role in society, culture and tourism in the country and abroad.

The students left impressed by the cultural diversity, despite the pessimistic scenario that haunts the country and much of Europe. Listening to experts from IE, and even from people who live in Madrid, the most diverse points of view have been of great value to our learning. Brazil and its executives have much to learn from Spain and its will to overcome these difficult times, said Guilherme Takamine, one of the students who participated in the program.

Another point of great importance that he addressed was the contact with IE, considered the best school in Europe, according to the 2012 ranking by the Financial Times.Getting to know the Area 31 and its incubator, as well as its teaching model, allowed us FGV students to see how entrepreneurship can be taught if a proper space is created to develop it, he concludes.