The Chamber promoted youth entrepreneurship at the “Digital skill-up!” training week.

The “Digital skill-up!” training week was organised in the framework of the Erasmus+ project “Transforming COVID-19 into an opportunity: new inclusive digital jobs and training for in the creative sector”. From 25 to 29 October, participants received practical training on content creation for digital media.  

On 28 October, the Chamber had the opportunity to meet the participants online and explain the projects that are currently open for young people to develop their entrepreneurial skills and business ideas: 

  • Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs, a European exchange programme that allows young or future entrepreneurs to learn from experienced entrepreneurs running small businesses in other countries.  
  • MobiliseSME, a pilot programme that seeks to strengthen the skills and capacity building of SMEs through temporary exchanges of staff, managers, owners or employees of SMEs. 
  • StartCraft, a training programme for craft entrepreneurs. 

 

The Chamber is grateful for the invitation to YouthProacktiv and looks forward to continuing collaborating with them to promote entrepreneurship among young people. 

 If you would like to know more about any of the programmes, please contact: 

  • Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs, Soraya Bravo: erasmus4youngentrepreneurs@e camara.com 
  • MobiliseSME, Noelia Sánchez: mobilisesme@e-camara.com  
  • StartCraft, Soraya Bravo: startcraft@e-camara.com  

Spanish wine tasting in Brussels

On October 21st, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organised, together with its member company From de Roots, a tasting of Spanish wines.

During the tasting, attendees had the opportunity to learn more about the wine production in La Rioja and Catalonia, and enjoy five different wines from both regions: from more traditional ones to biodynamic or natural wines.

Jaume Puigdefabregas and Pedro Fecha not only offered a technical analysis of the wines, but also encouraged the audience to share their opinions, ideas and tastes. They were able to adapt the presentation to the different levels of knowledge of the attendees, allowing both beginners and experts to broaden their knowledge and taste for Spanish wine.

Additionally, the attendees were offered a special food paring for the tasting: high quality Spanish ham, pork loin, cheese, or olives that enhanced the taste of the different wines.

Finally, the participants received a glass of cava as a gift from the organisers, and a glass of wine as a souvenir of their participation.

The Chamber continues its collaboration with Antwerp University within the EYE programme

On the 21st of October, the Chamber presented the session “Test your business idea with the EYE programme” to the students of the Spanish for Professional Communication Masters at the Antwerp University.

This presentation was organised in the framework of the annual collaboration between the Chamber and the University, and aims not only to meet the students to discuss about entrepreneurship, but also to unlock their potential for innovation and help them develop a business plan.

For this reason, for one hour and a half the students had the possibility to create their own “start-ups” and receive individualized recommendations to improve their business plans from the project manager of the Chamber.

Additionally, in December 2021 the students will present their business projects in a pitching session, where the project manager of the Chamber will attend as advisor.

The Chamber thanks invitation to the University of Antwerp, and to Lieve Vangehuchten, Head of Spanish Business and Professional Communication at the Institute of Academic and Professional Communication (IPAC) of the University of Antwerp and looks forward to continuing collaborating with them to promote entrepreneurship among university students.

If you would like to know more about the program Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs, please contact:

Soraya Bravo- erasmus4youngentrepreneurs@e-camara.com

Interview to Stein De Maeijer, Tiberghien BV

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Third edition of the SFF Magazine

The third issue of the SFF Magazine is now available. This publication is produced by the Chamber in the framework of its Committee “Spanish Financial Forum”, focused on the financial sector.

The SFF Magazine is a sectoral publication targeted towards all those professionals working in the financial services industry who wish to be informed of legislative news, trends and business development opportunities between Spain and Luxembourg within this sector.

This publication is quarterly published both in Spanish and English, and it is distributed for free in digital format. The contents are provided by members of the SFF and financial stakeholders in both countries.

This new issue contains:

  • Editorial by Joseba Arriortua, Vice-President of the Chamber and President of the SFF.
  • An opinion section focusing on reinsurance captive companies in Luxembourg.
  • Interview with Álvaro Hermida Santos, CEO of CaixaBank Wealth Management Luxembourg.
  • Quarterly dossier dedicated to Cross-border fund distribution. The topic is covered from the perspective of professionals involved in the Luxembourg fund industry, including contributions from Santander Asset Management Luxembourg, CaixaBank Asset Management Luxembourg, Fundsquare and Nolen, Winkler and Partners. The dossier is completed by an article by Deloitte Luxembourg on UCITS funds.
  • Articles on current issues:
    • Top regulatory trends in Spain and Luxembourg
    • Low interest rates: what are the options?
    • Private Equity and SRI funds: long-terms and sustainable investments
  • A section with current information from SFF members and collaborators.

View HERE the third edition of the SFF Magazine.

You can subscribe HERE to the SFF Magazine.

The Chamber of Commerce and the Agencia EFE in Brussels decide to collaborate to promote the “Marca España”

The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg and the delegation of the Agencia EFE in Brussels have signed a collaboration agreement with the aim of giving a higher visibility to the Spanish companies operating in Belgium and Luxembourg and to the Spanish professionals working in the European institutions and in the EU environment.

The agreement establishes a general framework of collaboration between both institutions, taking advantage of the wide range of services of commercial promotion, information, advice, logistic and administrative support offered by the Chamber and the wide information coverage of the Agencia EFE, a world leader in information in Spanish.

After signing the agreement, Pablo López-Álvarez, President of the Chamber, and Catalina Guerrero, Director of the Brussels delegation of the Agencia EFE, defined the priority actions.

“With this collaboration, we seek to benefit not only our partner companies but also to promote Spanish interests as a whole, both in the Belgian and Luxembourg markets and in Brussels. as the capital of the EU. This is something that both institutions have been doing separately for decades and so this collaboration was a logical decision”.

For her part, Catalina Guerrero stated that “this collaboration will undoubtedly open up privileged channels of communication between Efe and the Spanish companies located in Belgium and Luxembourg, and will help to give greater depth to our coverage of economic information and to nourish our specialised services even more. In this way, Efe, the first Spanish media to open an office in Brussels, maintains intact its European commitment and its public service vocation, with the largest deployment in the European capital and with a team that has just been reinforced”.

27th Networking Meeting of Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs

From the 18th to the 21st of October took place the 27th edition of the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs Network Meeting. The meeting, in online format, offered the different consortiums participating in the programme the opportunity to learn about the future of the EYE programme and network online with different intermediary organisations.

During the first day, different representatives from the European Commission (EC) presented how the program has recovered from the crisis and the coming actions. On the second day, different workshops were organised to improve the communication on social networks and the quality of the exchanges.

On the last day, the European Commission, EISMEA and the Support Office addressed the plenary and provided conclusions for the event.

Online Breakfast-Debate with Carlos Romero Duplá, Counsellor of Digital Transformation at the Permanent Representation of Spain to the EU

On October 15th 2021, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organised a new virtual breakfast in the framework of its “Business Circle” platform. Carlos Romero Duplá, Counsellor for Digital Transformation at the Permanent Representation of Spain to the EU, participated in the debate.

The topic of the breakfast was “European digital policy: recent advances and future prospects”.

Pablo López Álvarez, 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.

Carlos Romero Duplá began his speech by referring to the digital revolution and strategies that are currently being presented.

He began the discussion mentioning the importance of the renovation of networks and the analysis carried out by the European Commission. In that last point, he highlighted the shortage of components, basic manufacturers, geopolitics and cybersecurity, that block European economic growth.

Then, the speaker detailed the importance of the first regulation issued in Europe on artificial intelligence and data protection, which has been a benchmark for other countries.

Romero also added that Europe must be digitally sovereign in those areas in which it can be successful, refering the regulatory paradigms in artificial intelligence and the potential of the exploitation of the data that Europe produces.

In addition, he set out some of the most important pillars in the digital revolution such as the platform economy, artificial intelligence and the Data act. He pointed out the importance of regulating with a “leverage spirit” by generating a free movement ecosystem to drive industrial development, focusing on ethics as had been done before, but knowing how to easily put it into practice.

Carlos Romero also briefly mentioned the eagerly awaited Data Act initiative, which is due to be published in December this year. Which will try to solve problems in the data sector by avoiding oligopolies in data retention.

Finally, the Counsellor for Digital Transformation stressed that the pandemic has accelerated Europe’s digital adaptation. Consequently, with its new strategy, the Commission not only wants to legislate, but also to develop a review. To this end, it will produce an annual report with objectives, consequences, multi-country projects, etc. Among the countries supporting it, he named Germany, Italy, France and Spain.

Spanish companies are joining this digital revolution that the Commission wants to develop. Romero believes that electronic identification will allow a diversification on the portfolios of information, which  will give added value and recognition of digital rights, giving value to citizens.

During the question and answer time, attendees were able to express their doubts and comments on numerous issues of interest. Thus, topics such as the European health area- the initial position, current context and future prospects-, connectivity and the digitalization aspirations were discussed, a special mention was made to roaming as one of the great achievements for communication within Europe. Then, it was discussed the initiative to the transition to both 5G and 6G, the importance of being able to access data from different sectors, the digitisation of infrastructure, the transformation of the economy and the successful connectivity of Europe.

From the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg we would like to thank Carlos Romero Duplá and all the attendees for their participation.

Interview to Eric Nolen, NoW Partners

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Online Breakfast-Debate with Jorge Ferreras Gutiérrez, Coordinating Counsellor for Finance at the Permanent Representation of Spain to the EU

On Friday October 1, 2021, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organised a new virtual breakfast-debate within the cycle “Business Circle”, a meeting platform between Spanish companies and representatives in the European institutions. Jorge Ferreras Gutiérrez, Coordinating Counsellor for Finance of the Permanent Representation of Spain to the EU, took part in the debate.

The topic of the breakfast was “Business taxation in the European Union: The Communication of the European Commission on this matter and the implications of the recent agreements of the G20 and the OECD”.

The President of the Chamber and moderator of the event, Pablo López Álvarez, welcomed and briefly introduced the speaker, summarising his professional career. He also thanked all the attendees for their presence.

Jorge Ferreras Gutiérrez began his speech by contextualising the current situation of digital business taxation in the EU. To do so, he divided the issue into three basic questions: where do we come from, where are we now and where are we going.

On the first point, he pointed out the need to connect the decisions of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) with the initiatives of the European Commission for tackling the problem of base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). In this regard, he highlighted that in 2013 the recommendations of both organisations were embodied in the so-called BEPS Action Plan, which includes 15 measures, focusing the first one on digital economy issues. Ferreras also mentioned the impossibility of separating the digital economy from the rest of the economic activity and how the difficulties of the first one make the problems of the economy as a whole to increase exponentially.

The speaker then detailed the implications for companies of the agreement reached in July 2021, based on two pillars: the redistribution of available profits and the establishment of effective taxation. On this point, he discussed the development of the negotiations between the Member States and their impact on the public debate.

Finally, the Coordinating Counsellor for Finance set out a number of challenges for the proposals to be presented in the course of the coming year and for achieving consensus between the European jurisdictions.

During the question and answer time, participants were able to express their doubts and comments on a number of issues of interest. Thus, issues such as the reasons for the lack of agreement with Ireland, the fiscal measures proposed by the European Commission to recover the funds of the Next Generation EU (NGEU), the percentage of the redistribution of profits that could correspond to Spain and how this new international regulation will affect Luxembourg were discussed.

From the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg we would like to thank Jorge Ferreras Gutiérrez for his participation and all the attendees for their presence.