Conference with Deloitte: “Investment in Spain: Current trends and key aspects”

Last Wednesday, 25 November, the Official Chamber of Commerce of Spain organized, in collaboration with Deloitte, a conference on “Investment in Spain: current trends and key aspects”. The conference, which took place in Deloitte’s headquarters, counted on the presence of the Ambassador of Spain in Luxembourg, Carlos de Lojendio y Pardo Manuel de Villena, as well as the participation of numerous managers of companies based in Luxembourg with investment interest in Spain.

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The conference started with some welcoming words from Francisco Da Cunha, Tax Partner at Deloitte Luxembourg, who welcomed the attendees and introduced the speakers. Then the Ambassador of Spain in Luxembourg, Carlos de Lojendio, welcomed the guests and highlighted the investment opportunities Spain offers the possible investors, especially in Real Estate, thanks to the progressive improvement of the Spanish economy.

After the welcoming speeches, José María Gómez, representing Deloitte Spain, clearly exposed the economic situation in Spain. On this topic, he introduced the main risks and concerns the current economy faces. Then he highlighted the different investment opportunities in Spain and their benefits. Finally he focused during his speech on exposing the current situation and the possibilities of Spanish Real Estate.

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Francisco Da Cunha, representing Deloitte Luxembourg, focused in his speech on presenting Luxembourg as a financial capital investment mechanism for Spain and the world, as well as presenting the different factors and figures being part of this process. Following this line, he highlighted Luxembourg as one of the main countries in the world for financial investment and asset management.

The conference finished with some closing words from Sergio de Miguel-Jessel, Vice-President of the Official Chamber of Commerce of Spain, who thanked the attendees for their participation and the collaboration of Deloitte in organizing the conference. He also thanked the role of the Spanish Chamber in Luxembourg as well as the great opportunities it offers to its members in the Grand Duchy.

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Plenary session of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce on 24 November

On 24 November the Plenary session of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Madrid took place. Juan Rodríguez-Villa Matons, as President of FEDECOM Europe-Africa-Asia-Oceania, participated in the meeting, which was also attended by the President of FECECA, Rafael Roldán.

The Plenary session of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce appointed Adolfo Diaz-Ambrona as Secretary General of the institution. The new Secretary General, whose incorporation into the Chamber will take place in January 2016, has been selected by a public tender procedure.

The public tender to appoint the Secretary General of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce was launched on last October 5th publishing the vacancy announcement in the largest daily newspaper in Spain and on the website of the institution, as established by the Chamber’s Internal Regime Regulations.

Logroño and Brussels enhance ties after their III Internationalization Institutional Meeting

The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organized on 18 and 19 November an agenda of meetings for a delegation from La Rioja led by the Mayor of Logroño, Concepción Gamarra, and the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of La Rioja, José María Ruiz-Alejos Herrero. This mission is part of the III Institutional Meeting for the Internationalization of Logroño, which aims to promote the economic development of Logroño, thanks to their external projection, and attract investments presenting the opportunities offered by the city which already developed in the last years in London and Germany.

The meetings were set up based in three areas: strenghtening of existing relationships, establish new institutional contacts and draw lines of business and commercial collaboration with public and private organizations.

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This third meeting started on Wednesday 18 November at the headquarters of the company Constantia Louvain SPRL, group leader in the field of packaging and labeling, which has a factory in Logroño for over 80 years (Constantia Tobepal). The day after, they met with the Computer Centre for the Brussels Region, a public organization focusing on the field of smart cities, with the AWEX agency, body for the promotion of foreign trade and welcoming foreign investment in the Walloon region and they ended the morning schedule with an official reception at the town hall of Brussels.

During the afternoon, the agenda was resumed with a meeting with the Chamber of Commerce and Union of Enterprises in Brussels, also known as BECI-its acronym in French- or “Chamber of the companies”, which represents thousands of companies, ensuring the defense of their interests and offering numerous services in order to facilitate the management of their businesses. After this meeting, they met with Hector Benitez, director of the Delegation of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Brussels, advisory and cooperation body from the government of Spain for matters of trade, industry and services.

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A particularly important aspect to highlight is the relationship that has been established with the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg. The president of the Chamber of La Rioja, José María Ruiz Alejos, signed with the president of the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, Juan Rodríguez-Villa Matons, and the mayor of Logroño as a witness, an agreement that formalizes the partnership between the two organisms. In the articles of the agreement detailed issues such as “promotion and support of economic, industrial, technological, scientific, educational, cultural and tourism in both regions; “promote the implementation of programs for cooperation and industrial investment”, “promoting the participation of representatives of the other part in congresses and conferences of international character” or “effective exchange of information, documentation and other material” are present.

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On 19 November the Smart City Expo Barcelona was celebrated: Seminar “Brussels, key city for Smart City opportunities”

Last 19 November the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg participated in the seminar organized by Brussels Invest Export in the event Smart City Expo in Barcelona. During the seminar, the opportunities offered by the Brussels Capital region were presented to Spanish businesses within the framework of the project Smart City, that the Belgian city intends to develop shortly.

Ariane Leonard, Commercial Counselor of the Brussels Region in Spain opened the seminar to inform participants on the advantages Brussels offers for the establishment of foreign companies and investment. Carole Van der Borght, head manager of Smart Cities in the region of Brussels, presented in detail the action plans of development of Brussels within the framework of the Smart City project, promoted by the “Centre d’Informatique” for the Brussels Region the next few years.

David Simon, associate director for Bell Pottinger, continued the seminar by offering the attendees a global vision regarding the opportunities offered by the European institutions in Brussels and the access to credit lines. Subsequently, Bert Dehandschutter, Racine Avocats lawyer, explained the legal aspects of representation in Brussels. Finally, Stefaan Lenaerts, representative of Brussels Invest Export and María Catalán, Secretary General of the Official Spanish Chamber, presented respectively the Welcome Package, a free service establishment in Brussels for three months for foreign companies, and complementary services offered to Spanish companies for their activities in the Belgian capital.

The seminar counted on the participation of numerous local companies, as well as representatives of Spanish and Belgian public entities.

AECOM settles in Brussels

AECOM consultancy, a specialized company in providing comprehensive advisory and consulting solutions, settles in Brussels. Among the services provided, the firm provides technical assistance for companies, training and knowledge transfer, consulting, studies on economic, financial and social issues and evaluation, tracking and monitoring of development cooperation projects.

They offer services to governments, development support agencies, businesses and institutions. Their current office in Brussels is located at the premises of the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce  in Belgium and Luxembourg (Rue Belliard 20, 1 – 1040).

Belgium – Spain Foreign Trade Statistics

Hereafter you can check the latest foreign trade statistics between Belgium and Spain for July 2015, as well as a comparison with the preceding years. The document has been elaborated by the Belgian Foreign Trade Agency. Click here for more information.

Luncheon-Debate of ONCE and their Foundation with Marianne Thyssen, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility

The training management and employment boost models hold by ONCE and its Foundation (on top of their social companies ILUNION) supported by the co-managed investment from the European Social Fund (ESF) have managed to boost over 60.000 job opportunities for people with disabilities in Spain during the past 15 years.

These data were presented today by the President of the ONCE and its Foundation, Miguel Carballeda, to the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, Marianne Thyssen, during the luncheon-debate organized by the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg for a hundred businessmen and European Community authorities.

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Carballeda explained how the organization works to achieve “a more inclusive, accessible and competitive Europe”. He emphasized the need to keep building “partnerships for disabilities” from which over 80 million citizens within the EU benefit, four of them living in Spain. “We highlight in Brussels the value of disability and of people with disabilities to prevent them from being put at risk” he said.

The President of the ONCE and its Foundation explained how the social organization model works, based on the management of the responsible gaming by ONCE; the boost to the rights, the training, the employment and the accessibility for people with disabilities (among other aspects) and the consolidation of social companies within the Organization that, under the denomination of ILUNION, are an “example that the social and economic profitability can go hand in hand generating a real shared value and commitment with the citizenship.”

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Commissioner Thyssen, who visited ILUNION in Madrid a few months ago, explained how the European Social Fund has become a “catalyst” to invest in inclusion and support those social groups that are disadvantaged. She valued the transnational initiatives that took place in Spain and she emphasized the work of ONCE and its Foundation and its capacity to bring together “relevant actors beyond their own boundaries”.

Thyssen shared the ONCE and its Foundation´s point of view, wishing to “end the charitable approach that exists towards disabilities” and assured that the work of the Organization and its social companies ILUNION are “a source of inspiration and an example to follow by the Community policies for people with disabilities”. “Together we will make a more social and fair place of the European Union” she concluded.

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Strong partnership with Europe

Alberto Durán, Vice-president of the ONCE Foundation, highlighted the “solid” partnership they have with the European and Spanish authorities, as manager of the operational programs of the European Social Funds, particularly acting as intermediate body of the Spanish Operational Programme “Fight Against Discrimination”, which allows to boost “cooperation networks for employment and training with other public and private agents in Spain and Europe”, strengthening ESF´s work.

Durán noted before Thyssen how the partnership´s model “multiplies” the positive effects of the European funds for people with disabilities. In fact, over 230,000 people in Spain benefited the last 15 years of the different training programs, 60,000 of them obtained a job, “half of them being women with disabilities”.

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Furthermore, the management of these funds of ONCE and its Foundation made Disability a relevant topic in the European agenda, within diversity management, inclusion and corporative responsibility, aspects to which he committed the efforts of the Organization “now and in the future”.

“We want to contribute to the fact that Spain will be a reference in this chapter, but above all, we offer our support and experience to all of our European colleagues, to demonstrate that the talent, the spirit of improvement and enthusiasm of the people with disabilities transcend borders and it is an essential contribution for building a smart, sustainable and inclusive Europe, ” he said.

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Advertising campaign: “On the right path”

The ONCE and its Foundation took advantage of the event in Brussels to release the traditional advertising campaign of social awareness about people with disabilities in the European capital, which often coincides with Christmas time. On this occasion the topic precisely has the value of the 15 years of partnership with Europe and the jobs which it has allowed to boost, such as “life opportunities to those who will have more difficulties”, in the words of Miguel Carballeda.

In the campaign, the protagonists are people with different kinds of disabilities who have found an employment and show their daily life at work. This way, it can be seen how the laboral integration is but, above all and being the most important thing, how social inclusion is in the working groups, with colleagues, showing that they can contribute more together to the companies and society in general, with the slogan “On the right path”.

The whole day, the delegation of ONCE and its Foundation also celebrated a meeting with Juan de Arístegui, Permanent Representative Ambassador of Spain in the EU, who knew and appreciated all of them, among other meetings of interest with MEPs and representatives from the European Commission.

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Spanish wine tasting in Luxembourg organized by Salferso Wines

Last Friday, 13 November, Salferso Wines organized a Spanish wine tasting in Luxembourg, in collaboration with the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg.

The wine tasting was attended by the Ambassador of Spain in Luxembourg Carlos de Lojendio y Pardo Manuel de Villena, as well as several members of the Chamber in Luxembourg. The event, that lasted the whole afternoon, counted on the collaboration of different Spanish wine exporters, coming from all over Spain with the aim of promoting their products in the Grand Duchy.