AIR EUROPA celebrates the 30th anniversary of the airline company in the Spanish Embassy in Belgium

The airline company Air Europa celebrated on the 15th December its 30th anniversary in the Spanish Embassy in Belgium. The event were attended by the Ambassadors of the countries where the company operates, as well as by members of the diplomatic body, representatives of the chambers of commerce and colleagues from the tourism and press sector.

During his speech, the Director General from Air Europa in France and Belgium, Alcino Ribeiro, undertook a brief overview of the beginnings of the company, whose success is the work of the president of the Globalia Group, Juan José Hidalgo, who emigrated to Switzerland at the age of 19. Thanks to the savings earned from working as a painter, a waiter and a builder, he bought a Mercedes that he used to transport migrants who wanted to enter in Spain. Soon after, he bought a bus and, afterwards, the acquisition of a bus fleet came to his mind. According to Ribeiro, that is how he founded the Halcón company, a travel agency he bought later.

Then, as Ribeiro reminded, Hidalgo started up a flight between Madrid and Zurich, which was his first experience in the airline sector.

The origins of Air Europa as we know it nowadays comes back from 1986. “It was called Air España at the time”, as the Director-General in France and Belgium indicated. This company was created by an English businessman to flight between Spain and the UK. The first commercial flight went from Tenerife to London the 21st November 1986, 30 years ago, the reason why this anniversary took place in Belgium the 15th December.

Ribeiro related that five years later, in 1991, Juan José Hidalgo bought the company, after the bankruptcy of the English stakeholders, and changed its name to Air Europa.

Some of the key dates on the history of the company:

  • 1993: Air Europa, charter flight Company, transforms to a regular Company and starts to operate in the domestic Spanish flights.
  • 1995: International flights started like the London or the New York
  • 1996: Air Europa reaches 750 weekly flights and initiates another symbolic one: Madrid-Paris.
  • 1998: Creation of the Globalia Group, integrated by companies such as Halcón or Travelplan, of which Air Europa is the main subsidiary.
  • 2000: Close to 6 million passengers reached on board of Air Europa.
  • 2007: Air Europa joins SkyTeam Alliance and suggests Flying Blue.
  • 2008: Air Europa asks for 8 Boeing 787 that it is receiving currently.
  • 2012: Air Europa performs a record year in terms of creation of new flight lines, Brussels-Madrid line deserves a special mention.
  • 2015: It is the beginning of the modernization plan of the fleet, the exclusive on board services and the release of a new corporate image. Air Europa reaches over 10 million passengers.
  • 2016: This year Air Europa opens new long distance flight lines: Bogota (Colombia, 28th June) Guayaquil (Ecuador, 16th December) Cordoba (Argentina, 18th December).
  • Air Europa disposes of a 51-plane fleet: 11 Embraer 195, 20 Boeing 737-800, 15 Airbus 330 and 5 Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
  • 2017: two new routes are expected: San Pedro Sula (Honduras) in April and Boston in June.

The event was supported by the Spanish Tourism Office in Belgium, the Tourism Office from the Dominican Republic, and the Tourism Office from Peru. The Hispania restaurant also contributed to the success of this celebration.

Air Europa received in 2013 the Company of the Year award of the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, in recognition of its quick commercial positioning in Belgium.

Collaboration of the Chamber with the fishing sector in Galicia

The Secretary of the Galician Federation of fishermen’s associations, Mr. Sergio López García, showed his gratitude for the collaboration received from the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, in the organization of the Galicia-Flanders fishing matters meeting, held on the 6th December in the headquarters of the Vlaamse Visveiling, entity controlling the marketplaces in Zeebrugge, Oostende and Nieuwpoort.

The federation looks forward to continuing to work closely with the Chamber in the interest of the Galician fishing sector and the improvement of the commercialization of  sea products.

The Chamber welcomes the service given to the fishing sector in Galicia and opens the door to new opportunities for cooperation.

COCEF celebrates its 130th anniversary and delivers its 2016 awards

The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in France (COCEF) celebrated its 130th anniversary on 15th December. The Spanish Ambassador in France, his Excellency Ramón de Miguel and the President of COCEF, Mr. José Michel García, handed the prizes of the 2016 COCEF awards.

Among the prizes awarded, SAICA received the Company of the year award, CT Ingenieros the the SMEs award and Mrs. Teresa Ribera (IDDRI director and former Spanish state minister for climate change) received the 2016 Person of the Year award.

During the event held in the prestigious Opera salon of the Paris le Grand Intercontinental Hotel, the president of the COCEF talked about the parallelism between the second industrial revolution and its enormous socio-cultural transformations that took place in 1886 (when COCEF was founded), with the current period, given the revolution taking place in the technological field and the new environmental challenges.

The Ambassador of Spain in France, his Excellency Ramón de Miguel, highlighted the close collaboration between COCEF and the Economic and Commercial Office of the Spanish Embassy in France. He also emphasized the effectiveness and the importance of the role of COCEF in the international trade, for the companies’ services and congratulated and showed his admiration to the COCEF President.

Close to 200 people attended the event, including members of the Spanish diplomatic body and the executives of the most influential companies of both Spain and France.

The President of FEDECOM Juan Rodríguez-Villa Matons and the Secretary General of the Official Spanish Chamber in Belgium and Luxembourg, María Catalán, participated in the celebration supporting the activities developed by COCEF in France.

Public sale of a Spanish State property in Brussels on the 16th of March

One property of the Spanish State in Brussels is now in public sale. It is located in rue Léopold Courouble 25, Avenue Eugène Demolder 47 – 1030 Brussels. The real estate complex consists on three buildings with courtyard and garden located in the residential area of Schaerbeek.

The auction will take place on the 16th of March of 2017 at 14:30PM in the Chamber I of the Maison des Notaires, which is situated in rue de la Montagne 30-34, 1000 Brussels.

For prior visists, contact with Mr. Rysman | Tel: 0475 61 80 54.

You can have further details about the property in this link.

The Chamber meets with a group of entrepreneurs of Extremadura

The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg received last 16 December a group of entrepreneurs from the region of Extremadura. The visit was part of an institutional agenda organised by the Cáceres and Badajoz Provincial Councils and developed for the entrepreneurs on 14th, 15th and 16th of December in Brussels.

The Secretary General, María Catalán, presented the particularities of the Belgian and Luxembourgian markets and the support offered to new entrepreneurs in both countries. Thus, the group, some of whom had started to run their companies in incubators of Extremadura and others had just won an entrepreneurship award, got to know the programme Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs (EYE), in which the Chamber participates as a local contact point in BeLux.

The entrepreneurs, one of whom is going to take part in the Erasmus For Young Entrerpreneurs next January, had the chance to talk to the Secretary General and to solve their questions about the Belgian and Luxembourgian markets.

Luncheon-debate with Neven Mimica, the Commissioner of International Cooperation and Development – 8 December

The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg held last 8 December a luncheon-debate with the Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, about “The role of private sector in EU Development Cooperation in light of the 2030 Agenda”.

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The event, sponsored by the technological consultancy firm Indra, was attended by members of the Chamber, corporate executives, members of the Spanish and the international diplomatic corps, and European Union representatives. The luncheon-debate began with the welcoming remarks by the President of the Chamber, Juan Rodríguez-Villa Matons, who thanked the Commissioner for his participation, and Iñigo de Palacio, Director of Institutional Relations of Indra, for the collaboration of the company as sponsor company.

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De Palacio gave a short summing up of Mimica’s professional background and announced the main development projects which Indra is currently implementing in Africa. Thus, he highlighted the importance of the collaboration of the private with the public sector, providing it its experience in different fields, such us in the energy one, transport or health, in order to make the cities more stable and the citizens more secure. “There should be a greater coordination between the companies and the European Union”, he said.

The Director of Institutional Relations of Indra gave the floor to the Commissioner Mimica, who started his intervention thanking the Chamber for his invitation to the tribune “Business Circle” as a honour guest. The speaker first reminded that in 2015, the European Year for Development, numerous agreements were signed to promote the cooperation. For example, in July of that year the Third International Conference on Financing for Development was held in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and ratified afterwards in New York. Then, he pointed out the Agenda 2030 scopes and highlighted the higher investment for development. In this sense, Mimica stressed the EU’s willing to combine the traditional funding sources with new public-private partnerships.

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The speaker introduced the new package of proposals announced last week by the Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DG DEVCO). Those include the creation of new employments in Africa and helping the most vulnerable sectors of the population in the integration into the workplace. “In this way, we will create new markets and big opportunities will emerge for Europe”, he said. Mimica stressed, however, that for achieving these goals the collaboration with the private sector is essential. The European Commission, in this sense, can offer to the companies the right business environment with the developing countries as well as helping them to invest in order to address the market weaknesses.

The European Commission can encourage dialogue between the private sector and the developing countries through, for example, the business forums in which they take part in. The Commissioner also referred to the European External Investment Plan, announced last September, which promotes the investments in Africa and in the EU neighbour states, in particular to help the economic and social infrastructure as well as the SMEs to address the obstacles for the private investment.

Mimica also explained the steps that a company has to follow to implement a project cofinanced by the EU: firstly, the company has to present the project to the Commission; this reviews it; the EC takes the final decision and, if it approves it, it looks for the financing in the European banks.

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The Commissioner expressed as an example the success of the projects implemented in Latin America in the energy, transport, climate change and health sectors. Moreover, he highlighted the one developed in Nicaragua to improve the quality of the water.

Mimica finished his speech emphasizing that «cooperation is not about charity; it’s about the actions carried out and not only the words”. During the question time the attendees could raise him their doubts. Those included questions about the European External Investment Plan or the guarantees which the EC must ensure to the companies for letting them implement the projects in the Agenda 2030 framework.

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Mimica answered in detail to all the questions and highlighted the EU’s willingness to review and monitor the sustainable projects carried out by the private sector. “These should look for the human development, seek to eradicate diseases in Africa, for example, and reinforce the healthcare system”, he said.

The Chamber and Indra concluded the event giving a gift to Neven Mimica in recognition to his work as Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development.

We would like to thank the winery Bodegas Corral for sponsoring the wine of the event.

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Galicia-Flandes meeting about fishery issues

Last Tuesday 6th of December, in the headquarters of Vlaamse Visveiling, the institution that controls the fish markets of Zeebrugge, Oostende and Nieuwpoort, took place a meeting between representatives of Galician organizations and ship-owners and their Flemish counterparts. The event was organized by the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, in collaboration with the Foundation Galicia-Europa.

Johan Van de Steene, Director of the fish market (Vlaamse Visveiling), was in charge of the presentation of the trading system.

The Belgian Fisherman’s Association (Rederscentimg-20161207-wa0002-003rale) were represented by Emile Brouckert, Director of Rederscentrale (Oostend), who talked about the characteristics of the Belgian fishing fleet, their fishing areas and the relationship with Belgian and European authorities in relation to quotas and legislation. Brouckaert expressed his concern about sustainability, quotas and Brexit’s consequences.

The Galician delegation was accompanied by our President, Juan Rodríguez-Villa.

The Chamber, the  Galician Foundation and Delegation of Fisherman’ and shipowners would particularly like to thank you, the kindness, the explanations and the attention received from Jan Buisseret, Director of Business Development of Vlaamse Visveiling, who, speaking a perfect Spanish, was a key person for the success of the meeting.

How to mount an art exhibition step by step thanks to Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs

The young Spanish entrepreneur Natalia Domínguez and Annie Gentils, the owner of an art gallery in Anterwerp (Belgium), tell us their experiences after working together during three months thanks to an exchange of the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneur (EYE) programme

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Preparations for an exhibition organised by Annie and Natalia.

Being more realistic is the main thing that Natalia, a 26 years old artist from Spain, has learned from Annie, an experimented entrepreneur who owes her own art gallery in Antwerp (Belgium). By working together in Annie’s gallery during three months, they have learned a lot from each other. Although Natalia had been assisting a gallery in Valencia during last year, her commitment in Belgium was bigger and she acquired more knowledge and experience.

She decided to go to Antwerp because she visited a friend who was working in the art field there and afterwards she started to think to go through a similar experience. “When I came here for the first time I realized this city was big enough but small enough at the same time to handle it without problems”, she says. In fact, it’s easier to get contacts in the art field than in a bigger city. After all, this is a very important culture hub in Belgium. Although she doesn’t speak Dutch -the local language- she didn’t have any problem to communicate in English.

Thanks to the Annie’s background, which began in the 80s, Natalia has learned how to mount an exhibition from the very beginning. Thus, she managed to get in touch with the contacts they needed, dealing with other entities and foundations, organizing all the details for the exhibition… In short, she got on-the-job experience in the art gallery. “It’s stressful because you must have everything planned in order to succeed”, she stated.

This exchange has also helped her to be more realistic. She is now aware she cannot run a gallery immediately, as she would need a partner. Therefore, in the following six months she would like to have a new experience in another art gallery to grow up as a professional: “Going out from my country is teaching me a lot both personally and professionally”.

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Annie’s art gallery located in Antwerp.

As part of her day to day, Natalia helped Annie on specific matters, like editing flyers and catalogues: “I’m not very good in designing and I still have to learn. In this sense, Natalia has been very useful for the gallery. “For instance, I went to an art fair in October and she made beautiful catalogues to promote the gallery there”, Annie recognizes. In the same way, the Spanish artist also improved the mailing of Annie’s work, which was helpful for the two exhibitions which took place during Natalia’s stay.

They both share that working together has been a positive experience, getting to do many different things. In the words of Annie, “managing an art gallery is very dynamic. One day you have to build up an exhibition and the other you have to get in touch with the artists, which is not always easy”.

Although she admits that she would have loved to stay longer, taking part in this exchange was important to Natalia as she is now more aware of the pros and cons of starting or expanding a project: “Through the experience of another person you can learn how you can improve it and question yourself if the idea you already had is feasible”.

This same thought is shared by the owner of the gallery, who highlights that she also went through a similar experience in the early 80s: “It was not easy to be an entrepreneur thirty years ago”. For Annie, it has been a pleasure to work with people who are so engaged building their projects: “I’m really enthusiastic about this program and I am open to host other new entrepreneurs in the future”.

CEDENOR. S. A. – New sponsor of the Chamber

We have the pleasure to introduce you the new sponsor of the Chamber: CEDENOR, S. A. CEDENOR is a consulting firm specialized in tax and labor advisory and consultancy services. Its aim is to offer a personalized, agile, dynamic and professional service to individuals and self-employed professionals and companies of any size.

CEDENOR’s office in Brussels, established in 2015, offers information, advice and identification in European funding opportunities. Likewise, CEDENOR provides information on European project development to enterprises.

The company also provides services oriented to the internationalization of Spanish enterprises, organizing trade agendas, managing administrative procedures, counselling on international commerce, etc.

Among the projects that CEDENOR is managing are IMC company consortiums (www.industrialmc.com) and Santander Global Metal (www.santanterglobalmetal.com), as well as several actions for UNATE’s adult University UNATE (www.unate.org).

Founded on the philosophy of  integral support in all possible fields of action, CEDENOR always tries to contribute on giving solutions to the problems raised finding the tools and the external support required.

Meeting of the Chamber with La Maison de l’Entreprise and Spanish entrepreneurs

The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg met last November 29 with La Maison de l’Entreprise representatives. This coworking space located in Mons hosted during three weeks a group of Spanish entrepreneurs, who also came to the meeting, in order to accelerate the development of their projects and helping them to make contacts in Belgium.

The Chamber presented them the advantages of taking part in the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs (EYE) programme as well as the services we offer to the entrepreneurs.