Our History
The association was launched in 2011 by a number of individuals and businesses with a diverse range of experience, professional expertise and a genuine passion for promoting Spanish trade, business, communication and culture in Australia.
La Camara aims to be the preeminent point of reference for Spanish companies interested in investing in Australia, as well as for Australian companies willing to develop and expand their business in Spain.
From the very beginning, these initial members had the support and advice of the Spanish Trade Commission, given that the purpose of the association was to become the Spanish Official Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Australia.
After only one year La Camara became a reality, The Official Spanish-Australian Chamber of Commerce is an incorporated association formed under and governed by the Associations Incorporation Act 2009 (“the Act”) in the State of New South Wales and operates at a national level. Currently over 70 companies are formal members, including individuals, small and medium organisations and large corporate members.
Our Mission, Vision and Values
Mission
Our mission is to promote and facilitate the creation of business links between our members.
Vision
Our vision is to become the preeminent point of reference for the Spanish Australian Business community.
Values
Our values are integrity, transparency and accountability, ensuring leadership and diversity within our board and management team, striving for excellence and innovation in our work and the services to our members and the broader community.
Honorary Roles
H. E. Alicia Moral Revilla
Honorary President
Ambassador of Spain to Australia
Rodrigo Tilve Seoane
Bachelor of Law from the Complutense University, holds a Master's in Financial Markets from the Institute of Stock Market Studies.
A career civil servant, he joined the Spanish public administration as member of the corps of State Economists and Trade Experts. He has held various positions of responsibility, both in Spain and abroad, related to business internationalization and development financing, in close collaboration with international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the European Investment Bank, among others. In recent years, after a stint as Deputy Minister of Economy and Competitiveness of the Madrid region, he served as Director of Industrial Technology and Professional Services at ICEX Spain, Export and Investment. Since September 1st, he has held the position of Chief Economic and Trade Commissioner of Spain in Australia.
Throughout his career, he has also served on the boards of entities such as IFEMA and Metro de Madrid. In 2016, he was awarded the Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic by His Majesty King Felipe VI.
Rodrigo Tilve Seoane
Honorary Vice-President
Chief Economic and Trade Commissioner
Economic and Trade Commission of Spain in Australia
Embassy of Spain in Australia
Patron
Christopher Brown AM
Patron of La Camara
Board Members
Sylvia Fernandez
Sylvia Fernandez is a senior partner at Thomson Geer and an experienced litigation lawyer with international and multiindustry experience. Sylvia is Australian born of Spanish parents and is fluent in spoken and written Spanish. She is also an experienced team leader.
Sylvia has been a member of the Board of La Camara since 2011 and served as President from July 2014 to July 2018 after served as Vice-President and Secretary and is currently serving as President again.
She brings to the Board exceptional corporate legal expertise, a solid understanding of corporate governance as well as experience with government, major corporates and multinationals. This, together with her Spanish heritage makes Sylvia a solid contributor to La Camara’s Board.
Sylvia Fernandez
president
Senior Partner
Thomson Geer
Pablo Santos
Pablo is a Director at S&L – an Australian company founded by two Spanish entrepreneur’s. S&L is a medium to heavy steel fabricator that specializes in complex projects within Mining, Road and Rail Infrastructure, Defence and the Commercial sector throughout Australia.
Pablo is a CPA and also holds a Masters in Business Operations Management degree from UTS. He is also a qualified lawyer from the Sydney University.
Prior to joining S&L, Pablo worked for CSR within its Building Products division and within the Ethanol business. A milestone in Pablo’s career was the involvement in the sale transaction of Dairy Farmers to Kirin for $910M in 2008.
Pablo’s main focus with La Camara is to foster greater relationships between Spanish and Australian stakeholders within Supply Chain and Infrastructure sectors.
Pablo is currently serving as Vice-President.
Pablo Santos
National Vice-president
Director
S&L Steel
Pedro Pellón Lescot
Pedro is the Director of CAF Rail Australia, Australian subsidiary of CAF, since 2015. Pedro has more than 15 years of international experience in the Transport and Telecommunications sectors.
Since his arrival to Australia, CAF has grown considerably in the region winning projects valued at more than 1.6billion AUD in the region and becoming a key player in the rolling stock and rail systems sectors. CAF has now a local presence of around 100 staff in Australia. Pedro has a deep understanding of complex projects including PPP’s and DBOM’s.
Pedro brings to La Camara his international and constructive thinking, together with his experience managing stakeholders and partners in demanding environments. Pedro is currently serving as Secretary.
Pedro Pellón Lescot
Secretary
Director
CAF Rail Australia
Beata Krasuska
After finishing my bachelor’s degree in business administration in Poland I decided to explore the world more and enrolled into a master’s degree in Corporate Finance in Madrid, Spain. Not long after finishing the master I was offered a position in the finance department in one of Ferrovial’s divisions – Airports - in Heathrow Airport. In 2012, I was invited to join Ferrovial Services in Poland, when the company was starting its operation in that market. I was responsible for budgeting, estimations, and tendering for public and private projects in areas of Infrastructure Maintenance and Facility Management, as well as assisting in the delivery phase taking care of the financial aspects of the projects.
In 2015 I decided to move to Australia with Ferrovial Construction and have been since then working in the Head Office of the company with main responsibilities being accounting, budgeting, audits, and financial controlling.
Beata Krasuska
Treasurer
Financial Controller
Ferrovial Construction(Australia) Pty Ltd
Pilar Gomez
HR professional who has had the opportunity to work in sectors as diverse as banking, telecommunications and, since September 2004 in the new sector of Sustainable Development (Acciona), first as Director of Development and Top Executives, then in Acciona Agua as HR Director for the water business and since 2014 leading the HR function in Australia, NZ and SEA Region, first for the Infrastructure and Renewable Energy portfolio and since 2019, focused on the Infrastructure portfolio in Australia & New Zealand, due to the rapid growth of the business in this region.
Throughout these years in Acciona she has been responsible for designing and implementing Talent Acquisition policies, Training (Corporate University) and Development as well as consolidating the HR function in the different businesses that she has worked for.
With tertiary qualifications in Psychology and Human Resources, together with her Executive MBA and Masters in Labour Relations, Pilar has a passion for promoting Diversity in the workforce as a key factor to promote productivity and increase the success of any business. She provides a great understanding of the impact people make within a business and the importance of aligning employee’s commitment and motivation with business objectives.
PILAR Gómez
Board Member
Human Resources Director
Acciona Infrastructure Australia
Manuel Gonzalez
With 18+ years of international contract and project management experience, Manuel has been involved since 2000 in key infrastructure projects worldwide, including A13 project in London, EastLink in Melbourne or the more recent ones of Waterview tunnel in NZ and WestConnex in Sydney.
In 2011, Manuel promoted to MD of SICE AUS and SICE NZ and since then he has being involved the following projects: OMCS for the M5W project, ConnectEast back-office replacement, T2E tunnel, Waterview tunnel, TRARM and WestConnex (stages 1B and 2). In these projects, Manuel was responsible for the contractual relation with clients including InterLink Roads, Road and Maritime Services (RMS), ConnectEast, CPB, John Holland, Lend Lease and NZTA.
Manuel is also the Chairman of the O&M Alliance for the Waterview tunnel since 2016.
Manuel González
Board Member
Managing Director
Sice ANZ
Carlos Vidal Jimenez
Carlos is a Director with over twenty years of experience successfully leading different technology and industry solutions in United States, Europe, Latam, Asia, Asia Pacific and Australia.
Carlos is responsible for Management and Development of Asia Pacific, South East Asia and Australia Business units for Transportation and Infrastructure markets. This included the defining and execution of strategic direction and business regional specific objectives. Carlos has extensive experience in leading and managing diverse teams within assigned geographical regions.
From November 2012 to October 2018, Carlos was led the management of the Malaysian business unit for the Transportation Railways market. Partnering with senior management in defining strategic direction and business unit specific objectives. Chief Operations Officer (COO) at Indra Malaysia, and performs oversight functions in the rest of the Southeast Asia infrastructure projects.
Carlos joined Indra in May 2007 as Senior Manager for the Railways Transport Market in Spain and subsequently for LATAM. He was responsible for project management including assignment of resources, supervision of size and scope of project and quality control.
Carlos has extensive experience in managing business strategy, budgets, P&Ls and cost controls to ensure that project objectives are achieved within budget and timelines ensuring project deliverables are aligned with customer expectations. Throughout his career, he has trained and developed his individual team members to ensure their career growth and professional development. He is an inclusive manager and his coaching and mentoring is valued by the team members.
Prior to Indra, Carlos gained his experience as a Project Manager in the private sector within the international automotive market.
Carlos holds a Postgraduate Degree in Strategic Management from the Polytechnic University of Madrid; a Master’s in Business Administration from the IE University; an Executive MBA from the IE business School; and a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering and a Bachelor Degree in Industrial Engineering from the Superior Technical School of Industrial Engineering (ETSII) of the UNED.
Carlos currently lives in Sydney, is married and has one child.
Carlos Vidal Jiménez
Board Member
General Manager for Transport for APAC
Indra Australia
Brian Satterthwaite
Brian Satterthwaite is currently a Director with Assetinsure following 29 years corporate and institutional banking experience in Australia. '
He has worked predominantly with international banks, with the last 10 spent as Country Head/Chief Representative of BBVA in Sydney. During these years he has worked with many Australian and international clients.
His focus being the infrastructure, energy, transport and renewables sectors. He has been a proud and active member of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce since 2016. Brian has Bachelor of Economics from Sydney University, a Graduate Diploma in in Applied Finance and Investments from the Securities Institute of Australia and a Master of Applied Finance from Macquarie University.
Brian is CFTO Senior Member, Finance and Treasury Association (FTA), a Member of Asia-Pacific Loan Markets Association (APLMA), and a Board Member of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce.
Brian Satterthwaite
Board Member
Director
Assetinsure
Carmen Verdu
Carmen Verdu is a civil Civil Engineering with 17 years of experience working in multidisciplinary fields.
Carmen started her career as a structural engineer taking on a broad range of different responsibilities early in the Spanish booming infrastructure market a decade ago. During this period Carmen worked in construction supervision and the design of a wide variety of structures and road projects.
In 2010 Carmen moved into leadership roles internationally, coordinating the work on-site and dealing with local clients and partners. Carmen participated in big tenders and concept designs for railway projects in UAE, Kazakhstan and Croatia, working as Technical Coordinator, Design Manager/Project Manager.
In 2016 Carmen moved to Australia and she is currently the General Manager and Executive Director of TYPSA in Australia. Carmen has contributed to successfully establishing the business locally, being responsible and accountable for its operation.
The variety of roles across different countries has allowed Carmen to grow and learn to work in a collaborative multicultural and diverse work environment, being able to multitask whilst keeping focused on the results, and always bringing integrity and professionalism to the forefront.
Carmen Verdú
Board Member
General Manager and Executive Director
TYPSA
Mariano Villaescusa
Mariano Villaescusa is the CEO of Consystex. With over 30 years of experience in the construction industry, Mariano has developed a range of patents and created systems that have become standard practice in the construction industry. These products save time, labour and create high quality finishes in the world of concrete construction.
Mariano is a pioneer in the world of concrete. Designing and developing various patents over the course of his career has led him to constantly innovate and meet the demands of the Australian Construction Industry. These products have become standard practice in the construction industry saving time, labour and creating high quality finishes with dynamic systems.
Consystex signature pink tubes can be seen across construction sites. Being inspired by his previous career as a professional Matador he brings a unique life philosophy to his business and is a proud Spanish Australian with a passion for networking and growing the connection between Australia and Spain.
Mariano Villaescusa
Board Member
CEO
Consystex
Management Team
