Webinar on “Changes that may affect your HR management”
Last Tuesday 27th April, the Official Spanish Chamber in Belgium and Luxembourg organised a webinar on “Changes that may affect HR management” in collaboration with its member company SD Worx.
During this webinar, Valérie t’Serstevens, legal consultant in national and international law and Hugues Thibaut, public affairs consultant, both from SD Worx, reported on recent changes that may affect the human resources management of companies.
Among other issues, topics such as measures related to Covid and vaccinations, support for remote working, the possibility of hiring a British employee with Brexit or whether the reduction in social contributions for the first six employees hired still applies.
From the Chamber, we would like to warmly thank Valérie t’Serstevens and Hugues Thibaut for their participation, our member company for SD Worx their collaboration in organizing this event and all the attendees for their presence.
Event sponsored by:
Virtual meeting of Spanish entrepreneurs in Luxembourg
On April 20th, the Chamber organised the first virtual meeting of Spanish entrepreneurs in Luxembourg.
The meeting was organised in the framework of the EmprendeBelux programme, which aims to support Spaniards who decide to launch an entrepreneurial project in BeLux. This first meeting was attended by 12 entrepreneurs from different sectors of activity, who had the opportunity to present their project and exchange experiences and information of interest.
Also, several programmes that the Chamber manages in the field of entrepreneurship were presented: Mobility Plan – PICE, Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs, MobiliseSME and StartCraft.
Are you an entrepreneur living in Luxembourg and do you want to participate in upcoming calls? Contact us: luxemburgo@e-camara.com
Luxembourg’s Management Committee Meeting
On 14 April, the Luxembourg’s Management Committee met virtually for the first time after the election of its new members at the assembly meeting in February.
During this meeting, matters of interest to Luxembourg-based members were discussed, with a special focus on the development of new projects and activities.
In this regard, the recent publication of the first edition of the SFF Magazine was highlighted, as well as the project to launch a training offer focused on the financial sector.
Also, emphasis was placed on the diversification of the activities that the Chamber organises in the Grand Duchy to provide added value to all members.
The meeting was attended by all the members of the Luxembourg Management Committee.
Online Breakfast-Debate with Mirzha de Manuel, Member of the Cabinet of Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis for an Economy that Works for People.
Last Friday April 23 2021, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organised a new virtual breakfast-debate in the framework of its “Business Circle” platform. Mirzha de Manuel, Member of the Cabinet of Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis for an Economy that Works for People in the European Commission, participated in the debate. The topic of the breakfast was “Post-Covid economic recovery perspectives and the role of the Recovery and Resilience Facility.”
Pablo López Álvarez, Vice-President of the Chamber and moderator of the event, welcomed and briefly introduced the speaker and thanked him and all the attendees for their presence.
Mirzha de Manuel began by explaining the great success of the 100 billion investment launched by the EU. This recovery plan to overcome the economic and social struggles caused by the coronavirus pandemic was agreed by the European Commission, the European Parliament and EU leaders. This plan, unprecedented in its scale and content, contains short and long-term goals that are very important for Member States to generate sustained and sustainable growth. In addition, he stressed that all investments made by Member States related to the economic recovery from the pandemic are eligible for funding under various EU mechanisms, such as the SURE program. Finally, de Manuel stressed the importance of social dialogue as a frame of reference for tackling current problems, drawing up recovery plans and ensuring that the solutions have strong social backing.
During the Q&A session, attendees were able to express their doubts and comments on numerous issues of interest. Thus, issues such as the importance of the consultation of the recovery plans, the degree of development of the recovery and resilience plans, the Commission’s view on the draft presented by Spain as well as the opportunity to make a more European format for the post-covid recovery strategy were discussed.
The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg would like to thank Mirzha de Manuel and all the attendees for their participation.
Webinar: “Covid-19 response: examples of solutions in Belgium, Luxembourg and Spain”
Last Thursday 22nd of April, the Cultural and Scientific Department of the Spanish Embassy in Belgium and the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, in collaboration with the Spanish Embassy in Luxembourg, the Center for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI), the Spanish Office for Science and Technology (SOST-CDTI) and the Superior Council for Scientific Research’ (CSIC) Delegation to the European Union, organized the webinar “Response to COVID-19: solutions’ examples in Belgium, Luxembourg and Spain”. It consisted in a digital, special edition of the “Los Mediodias de la Embajada” and the fourth edition of the cycle Spain Means Innovation, a Chamber’ initiative to boost Spanish companies’ commercial and business interests at a local level in Belgium and Luxembourg.
During the webinar, different good practice examples were shown on the development of innovative technologies and solutions which are being carried out in order to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain, Belgium and Luxembourg, and both synergies and connections that can be established between the three countries were highlighted.
The webinar was inaugurated with welcoming words from H.E Ms. Beatriz Larrotcha Palma, Ambassador of Spain to the Kingdom of Belgium, who highlighted the importance of collaboration between countries in order to fight the pandemic, as well as thanking speakers and assistants for their presence. Boudewijn Catry, researcher at the Belgian public health and epidemiological center Sciensano spoke after her, and explained the Covid-19 epidemiological information’ management system launched by Belgium which has been identified by the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC) as one of the leading for epidemiological monitoring in Europe.
Following him, Marina Martinez, H2020 Programme Officer at the CDTI-SOST office intervened and threshed the different innovation programs recently launched by the EU to fight the pandemic, as well as highlighting the important Spanish participation in the Horizon 2020 program in fields such as nanotechnology. After this, S.E. Sr. Bernardo de Sicart Escoda, Spanish Ambassador in the Great Duchy of Luxembourg, spoke and presented the important work of Spanish institutions and associations in Luxembourg to generate synergies between the two countries in all fields, including health.
After the firsts interventions the board of experts started, moderated by Sergi Farré, Cultural and Scientific Advisor of the Spanish Embassy in Belgium. Dr. Gérard Schockmel, specialist physician in infectious diseases at the Robert Schuman Luxembourg Hospital began by detailing the pandemic management in Luxembourg and current trends.
On the other hand, Adolfo Fernández, director, and Belén Cabal, main researcher, both of the center fo
r nanomaterials and nanotechnology research CINN-CSIC-UO-PA, presented the innovative materials recently developed and its potential applications against Covid. José Maria Lagarón, of the IATA-CSIC research center, presented the development of a mask based on own nanotechnology as an example of rapid development of solutions against Covid given the scarcity of masks in the initial stages of the pandemic. Last, David Gering, Director of Communications at the Belgian pharmaceutical industry association (Pharma.be) explained the enormous importance of Belgium in the industry’s European network as well as of its impact on the Belgian economy.
During the question time, assistants to the event had the chance to express their doubts and comments to the speakers, such as the measures launched in Luxembourg, vaccination strategies or crisis management.
From the Official Spanish Commerce Chamber in Belgium and Luxembourg we would like to warmly thank all speakers for their excellent presentation, as well as to all participants for their presence.
The Chamber has now released its Yearbook 2021
The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg has now released its Yearbook 2021.
You can download the yearbook in its digital version through the Chamber’s Intranet by clicking here.
This publication includes information on the available services to our members, the report of the activities organized by the Chamber during 2020, a description of the programmes in which we are involved, as well as a directory of members by activity sector.
From the Chamber, we would like to thank all the associated companies for their support, which allows us to continue improving and to respond to the needs of our members.
The yearbook is available in both Spanish and English.
We would also like to thank the advertisers for their collaboration in the 2021 Yearbook, which allows us to finance the production of this publication:
Webinar on “Content Marketing”
On April 15th and 16th, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce of Belgium and Luxembourg organised a webinar on “Content Marketing”, in collaboration with Philippe Schifflers, digital marketing consultant and online trainer.
Content marketing is a strategic initiative used by many companies that dedicate resources to creating and sharing valuable content aimed at attracting, retaining and pleasing their target audience. Once the company earns the trust and a relationship is built, it is much easier for their followers to become customers, and ultimately ambassadors for their brand.
During the first session, the trainer gave a brief introduction about content marketing and the advantages of its use. Additionally, he explained how to optimize blogs and their content for SEO. He also shared with the participants some tips on how to measure the effectiveness of the strategy. Attendees had the opportunity to learn about real cases of good practice by companies and get advice on how to manage the different aspects of content marketing.
In the second session, Schifflers explained in more detail how to create content for social networks, and the different tools available to create and optimize newsletters and landing pages and recommended participants to create quality and timeless content.
From the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, we want to thank Philippe Schifflers for their presentation and dedication, as well as the participants for their presence.
Online Breakfast-Debate with Dolors Montserrat, MEP of the European People’s Party and President of the Committee on Petitions of the European Parliament
Last Friday April 16th 2021, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organised a new virtual breakfast-debate in the framework of its “Breakfast with the European Parliament” framework, a platform to bring European Parliament debates closer to our companies. Dolors Monserrat, MEP of the European People’s Party (EPP) and Chair of the Petitions Committee, took part in the debate.
The topic of the breakfast was “The priorities of the European People’s Party for this legislature”.
Pablo López Álvarez, Vice-President of the Chamber and moderator of the event, welcomed and briefly introduced the speaker and thanked her and all the attendees for their presence.
Dolors Monserrat first briefly addressed the priority of health and jobs and their complementarity for the European People’s Party. She stressed that Europe is experiencing the greatest crisis since the Second World War and that the EU needs to work resolutely to overcome the consequences of this crisis. The objective of the EU action and the strategy led by the EPP is to limit the economic and social impact of the crisis as much as possible.
Then, Dolors highlighted the different priorities of the EPP parliamentary group. These priorities include first the health field, followed by the economic field with decisive support for the most affected sectors (industry, tourism, SMEs, etc.) and promoting Europe’s leadership in the world during the current crisis.
She also underlined the enormous importance of the European recovery funds for Spain in order to face a new industrialisation (R&D) and modernisation of its economy. She also stressed the importance of stable job creation for a successful economic recovery for all Member States.
During the Q&A session, attendees were able to express their doubts and comments on numerous issues of interest. Thus, topics such as doubts about the vaccination plan in Spain, the elimination of inequalities for people with disabilities in the management of medical data (Big Data) or the difficulties encountered by Spanish companies in finding information on available European funds were discussed.
From the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg we would like to thank Dolors Montserrat and all the attendees for their participation.
With the support and recognition of