EL BLOG DE LA FIIAPP. Cooperación Española

We have several long months of hard work behind us. Numerous meetings, agreements and negotiations for achieving our objective: to bring Latin American experts to our Spanish institutions to share, through our experts, our know-how, experience and knowledge.

But, what does this incredible exchange of experience really do?

After attending several opening and closing sessions for a variety of seminars – such as the ones on property law, wastewater treatment, social innovation, international taxation and the fight against tax fraud  – one comes to appreciate the enormous utility of these types of activities.

Activities that we could call specialised cultural exchanges and which have resulted in the creation of networks of experts that extend well beyond simple know-how. They end up leading to inseparable personal bonds and institutional links that turn into professional and cultural exchange networks.

This conclusion reconciles us once more with our work, if we were ever in doubt about what can be achieved by dint of effort and great determination.

It renews our faith in our small contributions in the context of international development cooperation, always focused on institutional strengthening through technical cooperation and mobilization of experts.

It also confirms that these actions are important, as they demonstrate, once again, that those who share experiences and knowledge are the people we manage to bring together for weeks at a time around a specific, always important, issue for Spanish Cooperation.

But we don’t leave it at that. We can go even further and be more ambitious with our expectations, as they demonstrate that, with these initiatives, we promote the sharing of a dose of culture and confidence in the institutions of different countries.  Because at FIIAPP we work for people, and thus we improve citizens’ quality of life which, in the final analysis, is our ultimate objective.

It is always gratifying to be able to see first-hand, through direct experiences narrated in the first person by our guests and collaborators, that the effort has paid off, that the reward is talking to you and asking you to continue working in this same direction and that, with great effort butnot much money, great and ambitious objectives can be achieved.

All of this encourages us to keep making an effort and working day after day to improve our institutions through people. Through this, we also progress and become better people and institutions.

By Isabel Ramos, Director of the Information and Special Programmes Area

Within the framework of a monographic training course held at FIIAPP’s offices in Madrid, Fernando Pedro Méndez González, Director of International Relations, answers our questions about the function of Spain’s Association of Land Registrars at the international level. We talk about the contributions of the Association in countries like Cuba and Colombia, and about opportunities for working with the rest of the region.

Why is the international cooperation of the Association of Land Registrars with the countries of Latin America important?

One of the conditions for any country to join the European Union is a solid legal system. Why is this so important? Because a good legal system guarantees that the property rights that exist in a country can be exercised, for example, in the case of guaranteeing mortgage loans; and this means there are resources for initiating business or professional activities.

But this cannot be done if deeds are not clear and easily transferable. And this, in an environment of impersonal contracting in a world made up of millions of people, is very difficult and requires very specific and sophisticated technology, and land registries have this. If registries develop themselves, the property market develops. All of this has, therefore, an enormous impact on a country’s economic development.

What are the strengths of the Spanish Association of Land Registrars?

Our main asset is our reputation. The prestige of the Spanish land registration system and of the Association of Land Registrars is very high. That is the fundamental reason that institutions from other countries come to us.

Not so much because our land registration systems are similar, as in the case of Cuba or Puerto Rico, but because they believe that we can offer them innovations, etc.

Moreover, we are going to other countries in an absolutely respectful manner. In other words, we aren’t going there to impose anything. We are going to answer the questions they put to us or to make suggestions we feel are opportune in light of what we are seeing. And I think that this peer-to-peer approach, to put it thusly, is very important for them to continue to trust us.

In what areas could an association like yours collaborate with a foundation like FIIAPP?

FIIAPP is an excellent rara avis because it is dedicated precisely to institutional strengthening and manages considerable funds to this end; and the goal of the Association of Land Registrars is, precisely, institutional strengthening in the area of the land register, the mercantile register, the immovable property register, and tax issues related to these registries, which constitutes a basic institutional aspect.

Therefore, we are two institutions called on to understand each other and to collaborate as intensely as possible.

What can the Association offer in Cuba?

In the case of Cuba, we have been cooperating for some time on the theme of liberalisation of property ownership in the country, and right now we are working on the development of its registration system in three areas: training of human capital, technology transfer, and legislative advising. Always to the extent that they request.

There is a convention signed with the Cuban government that is currently pending implementation. And we want to develop it in coming weeks.

The first thing to be developed is the training of human capital with a course for some 25 Cuban registrars, who are already working to become familiar with the technologies we are using. So that they can see how the Spanish registries work and the benefits that can be obtained from a register, so that, if they consider it interesting, they can put it into practice there.

And in the case of Colombia?

The case of Colombia, everything depends on the post-conflict scenario. Let’s say there is a great deal of energy that is currently waiting, in effect, for the post-conflict scenario to emerge.

And, here, we are working on a policy on accessible housing. We want to collaborate because they have asked us to, in relation to the degree that development of property registration might contribute to the regularisation of landholdings altered as a consequence of so many years of conflict.