SAFE AND SUSTAINABLE

ABC: Hello, Rafael. Thanks for taking the time for speaking with ABC magazine in Australia. First up, congratulations on your new role! How does the new appointment feel? A long time coming or a bit unexpected?

RS: First of all, thanks a lot for the congratulations. When I joined Irizar in 2007 and I was appointed as new GM for Irizar Mexico, I felt it was a lot of responsibility but I was also very proud and extremely happy. The feeling is the same now. It is a bigger responsibility, but I also want to achieve a lot.

I assume the role with great pride. Irizar is very stable and consolidated in the global market, but still has great challenges ahead. Innovation is key to our identity as well as the conviction that the future is in sustainable solutions. We have very capable and talented people working to make Irizar the ideal partner for transport operators.

ABC: How has your career progressed to date? What other roles have you had since finishing school? How did you arrive at being CEO at Irizar? What does your timeline of progress look like?

I studied Telecom Engineering in Bilbao, Spain, and even before finishing university I knew that I wanted to experience other parts of the world, other cultures, and become part of them. I joined Nokia in 1998, one