Founder's Foreword

The recent history of the Principality of Andorra has been marked by the depth of the social and socio-economic changes that have substantially altered the way members of the Andorran community relate to one another. What was, just a few decades ago, just a small country with a rural economy that provided a bare living has now, at the turn of the millennium, become a small sovereign state which, while preserving the best of its traditional identity, has demonstrated an ability to open up to the complex modern world in a careful and considered manner thereby achieving the recognition and approval of the international community.

It would not have been possible without the efforts and dedication of generations of Andorrans who laid the foundations for this modern project, a wide-ranging project that encompasses all sections of society and which imbues the new regulations with the spirit of the centuries-old laws and customs we inherited from our forebears.Amongst the outstanding figures whose labours have helped the Principality progress and modernise is Julià Reig who, as a banker, entrepreneur and as a prominent politician in the service of his country, played a very prominent role.

The origins of many of the achievements we have made are to be found in the pioneering spirit which characterised Julià Reig throughout all his political and business life alongside his inseparable brother, colleague and friend, Serafí Reig Ribó.Those of us who have benefited from the fruits of his legacy would like to express our affinity to the spirit of openness and progress for which he was chiefly known. One of the ways of demonstrating this affinity has been to establish a non-profit-making foundation to nurture and support initiatives that, coming forth from Andorran civil society, can have a real effect on the Principality’s progress and its openness to the outside world.

Òscar Ribas Reig

January 1999