Carlos Torres Vila noted that the global economy continues to show resilience, supported by its capacity to adapt, despite the international context marked by geopolitical uncertainty, trade tensions and shifts in the global economic order. BBVA’s Chair explained that the Group’s current projections point to over three percent growth for the coming years, but the main multilateral institutions are lowering their estimates. Nevertheless, he underscored that “even in complex environments, the global economy – and Mexico in particular – continues to create opportunities.”
In this context, he explained that Plan Mexico is aimed at strengthening the domestic market, raising wages and promoting more sustainable and inclusive growth. Its geographic proximity to and integration with the U.S., its industrial capabilities, macroeconomic stability and talent provide the country with significant advantages. The country has consolidated its role as a strategic partner of the U.S. and currently accounts for a substantial portion of its imports at a time when North American companies are looking for closer, more reliable suppliers that are better integrated into their production chains.
Complementing these factors is another advantage: over 80 percent of imports from Mexico reach the U.S. market without tariffs. There is also a very significant cost advantage, with highly competitive labor costs compared with other economies. “All of this puts Mexico in a privileged position to harness the opportunities stemming from nearshoring and the restructuring of global value chains,” he remarked.
The importance of financing for the Mexican economy
Carlos Torres Vila noted that potential alone is not sufficient. For it to materialize, investment is needed in infrastructure, innovation and technology. And investment requires financing. In this regard, banks play a fundamental role, he indicated. “At BBVA, we channel savings into productive investment. We transform the savings of households, businesses and institutions into credit for those who want to purchase a home, expand a factory, digitize a business, invest in sustainability or open new markets.”
BBVA’s Chair recalled that the Group has a 100-billion-peso investment plan underway in Mexico for the 2025–2030 period.
Torres Vila underscored that it is therefore important for BBVA to continue growing and reaching more people. In 2025, the BBVA Group added 11.5 million new customers and increased lending by 16.2 percent in constant euros. The Group also posted a record attributable profit of €10.51 billion for the year, and holds leading positions in Europe in profitability, with an ROTE of 19.3 percent, and in efficiency, which stood at 39 percent at the end of 2025. “What sets BBVA apart most is our ability to combine two dimensions, leading in both: growth and profitability,” he said. “These figures reflect the strength of our business model: a diversified, profitable, efficient model with significant growth potential. These record-breaking results cannot be attributed to a single factor. They reflect our excellent performance in all business areas, with a highly notable contribution from Mexico, which remains one of our primary drivers, and very positive performance in the other geographies.”
BBVA’s Chair recalled that the Group is making steady progress toward its financial targets for the 2025–2028 period. The bank aims to reach a cumulative attributable profit of around €48 billion between 2025 and 2028, maintain an average ROTE near 22 percent, keep efficiency at around 35 percent and achieve a compound annual growth rate of approximately 15 percent in tangible net assets plus dividends. “These are ambitious targets. But they are built on a very solid foundation: our current position, our leading franchises, our technological capabilities and the clarity of our strategy.”
In this regard, Torres Vila indicated that the strategic priorities reinforce the Group’s leading position. He referred to its radical client perspective, sustainability as a driver of growth and a lever to differentiate BBVA, leadership in the corporate segment, value creation in every decision, innovation through artificial intelligence (AI), and the team, “because no transformation is possible without people with talent, commitment and the ability to adapt.”
AI’s potential
Carlos Torres Vila stressed that BBVA has always harnessed innovation as a key lever to differentiate from its peers. It demonstrated this through digitization over the past decade, and the Group is committed to doing so again through AI. “At BBVA, we will lead banking in the era of artificial intelligence, just as we led the digital transformation. And we have a clear roadmap to achieve this,” he said.
This roadmap is structured around eight major initiatives – from Blue, the personal advisor for each customer, and AI for bankers, to assistants for risk, processes and software development – incorporating intelligence throughout the entire organization.
“Beyond specific projects and use cases, our vision is that, to structurally capture the abundance of the AI era, organizations must industrialize the creation and management of AI agents at scale, which is what we are doing at BBVA. This will not only transform how solutions are created, but will also reshape management and governance models,” he added.
The Chair concluded his remarks by stating that Mexico has the conditions to attract investment, strengthen its productive fabric, further integrate into global value chains and enhance its growth potential: “BBVA has the scale, technology, talent and commitment to help turn that potential into reality.”