Luncheon-debate with Kerstin Jorna, Director General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs DG Growth

Yesterday, Thursday 28th April, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg held in Brussels a new luncheon-debate with Kerstin Jorna, Director General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs of the European Commission. The theme of the event revolved around the Fit for Future strategy of the EU, which aims to establish a roadmap for the creation of an industrially competitive Europe.

More than 70 participants attended the event, including Chamber members, business executives, delegates from the Autonomous Communities and representatives of Spanish and European organisations.


The event was inaugurated by Pablo López Álvarez, President of the Chamber, who thanked all those present for their attendance. He dedicated a few words of special recognition to the extensive career of the speaker, Jorna, and her long trajectory dedicated to the European project. López-Álvarez also highlighted the current complex geopolitical situation due to the war in Ukraine and the still lingering consequences of the pandemic and its effects on the industrial fabric of the Eurozone.

The President of the Chamber also introduced Toon Digneffe, board member of EUCOPE – European Confederation of Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurs, and sponsor of the event. Digneffe briefly introduced his organisation, Europe’s leading trade body for innovative small and medium-sized enterprises working in the field of biopharmaceuticals and medical technologies. He also stressed the importance of continuing to build the European value chain through collaboration between the business community.

Internal market of the EU

Jorna dedicated her speech to a brief review of the consequences of the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and its implications for the internal market of the European Union. She stressed that the current context has served to identify the importance of a stable supply chain for Europe, which, according to her, must be based on collaborative ecosystems that take advantage of the EU’s own resources.


The speaker took the opportunity to affirm that European industrial policy is more necessary than ever, and that it must play a key role in the transformations that the European economic model must undergo in the coming decades. Jorna pointed out the importance of creating an excellent environment for attracting private capital, which will ultimately be the fundamental pillar for making possible the development of a new sustainable industrial and economic model for the future.

The presentation was followed by a question-and-answer session where participants were able to express their opinions and raise different issues related to the presentation.

From the Chamber we would like to show a special thanks to Bodegas Madrid Romero, whose wines “Vino Tinto Madrid Romero” and “3 Calas Sauvignon Blanc” could be tasted by all the attendees, as well as the participants, making this event a very successful luncheon-debate.

4th edition of the SFF Magazine

The fourth 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 Bernardo de Sicart Escoda, Ambassador of Spain to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
  • An opinion section focusing on Crypto-assets: a short-term trend or a paradigm shift? In collaboration with the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and Now Partnets.
  • Quarterly dossier dedicated to Trends in Wealth Management. The topic is covered from the perspective of professionals involved in the Luxembourg wealth management industry, including contributions from CA Indosuez Wealth Management, CMS Luxembourg, Lombard International Assurance S.A. y Octogone Europe S.A. The dossier is completed by an article on “the private banker’s role in wealth transfer planning” provided by the Banque de Luxembourg.
  • Articles:
    • Investment Financial Advisors (IFAs) in Spain, in collaboration with ASEAFI.
  • 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.

Members´ afterwork in Luxembourg

On 21 April, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organised the first afterwork between members of the year in Luxembourg. The event took place at the Meliá Luxembourg Hotel and gathered more than 40 representatives of partner companies.

This face-to-face meeting enabled the exchange of contacts and networking among the members of the Chamber in the Grand Duchy. The Vice-president of Luxembourg, Joseba Arriortua, gave some words of welcome and passed the floor to the Secretary General, who then detailed the next activities planned by the delegation. She also took the opportunity to put herself at the disposal of the partners and to continue promoting initiatives of common interest.

From the Chamber, we would like to thank Bodegas Nabal for sponsoring the wines served during the event, Valle del Nabal Ribera del Duero and Nabal Rosé.

The Chamber presents its activities to 60 students from IE University


Last Wednesday, April 6th, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg participated as a speaker in a conference aimed to IE University students at the Thon UE Hotel in Brussels.

Sara Sánchez, business development manager of the Chamber, and Julián Szkatulak, from the commercial department of the company, explained the services offered to Spanish, Luxembourgish and Belgian companies, the organised events, the assistance to entrepreneurs as well as the European programs coordinated from the Chamber. During the presentation, they also chatted with the university students to know their interest and knowledge about exports and imports between Belgium and Spain.

The presentation took place in English and was attended by around 60 IE University students from more than 10 different countries in and outside Europe.

From the Chamber we would like to thank IE University for having counted on our institution for the presentation and the attendees for the interest shown in the presentation.

Trade missions carried out by the Chamber in the first trimester of 2022

During the first three months of the year, the Chamber has carried out several trade missions in the food and beverage sector, supporting the internationalisation of 10 Spanish companies interested in expanding and developing sales of their gourmet products in the Belgian and Luxembourg markets.
Firstly, the Chamber has collaborated with the Catalonia Gourmet cluster, whose objective is to bring the most exclusive taste of Catalonia to the whole world. Together with them, an internationalisation plan has been made in the BeLux for nine companies: Can Bech, Hort del Silenci, Anela Fruits, Sant Aniol, Torrons i Alemany, Molí de Pomerí, Gin Nut, Terra Nostra and Finca la Noguera. Their organised meetings with importers of Spanish or organic products, retailers, restaurants and food hospital and schools distributors have taken place virtually.
At the same time, the Chamber has worked together with Central de Carnes, Norteños Group, one of the Spanish leaders in the sale of meat for the horeca industry. In this case, the presence of the representatives from Central de Carnes at the international food fair Tavola Kortrijk 2022 has been used to organise in-person meetings. The profile of the companies that met Central de Carnes were gourmet butcheries, distributors focused on the foodservice sector and importers specialized in quality meat products.
If you are interested in getting more information about the organisation of a commercial mission for your company, contact our commercial department at info@e-camara.com.

Kick-off meeting of the European Soft Improve project in Brussels

On the 7th and 8th of April took place in Brussels the kick-off meeting of Soft Improve, an Erasmus+ project coordinated by the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg.

The project partners, coming from Estonia, Iceland, France, Germany, Spain and Belgium gathered at the Chamber’s premises with the aim of initiating the project activities and establishing the future actions for its proper implementation.

Soft Improve is a 36-month project and the main motivation behind the project is the conviction that soft skills are the key to unlock potential in young professionals and entrepreneurs. In the context of the rise of artificial intelligence, soft skills have proven to be a crucial asset in terms of employability and entrepreneurial success.

In addition, the meeting served to create synergies between the project partners and to identify the persons responsible for each organisation. The fact that the meeting was held in a face-to-face format also made it possible to create links and generate an atmosphere of trust that will allow the collaboration of the partners to be strengthened.

Via the different activities, the partners aim to:

  • Characterise soft skills, decipher the role they play in improving employability, career and business and assess professionals and entrepreneurs’ needs and expectations of training on soft skills.
  • Specify and develop a methodology blending in-person teaching and distance learning to train employed and unemployed professionals and aspiring and confirmed entrepreneurs on soft skills along with tools to monitor and assess the trainees’ progress in soft skills.
  • Develop a face-to-face training course on soft skills combining theoretical knowledge, coaching, gamification and peer-to-peer feedbacks to be tested in pilot sessions, evaluated and refined.
  • Construct a distance learning platform on soft skills made up of adapted as well as specifically developed contents.
  • Promote a generation of professionals and entrepreneurs well-aware of and well trained on soft skills with the message than soft skills are as important as hard skills, and that soft skills can be improved through learning.

Interview with Verónica Alcanda, Alcanda Matchmaking

Read more

Spanish wine tasting in Brussels

Last Thursday, April 7, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organised a wine tasting together with the member company From de Roots, wine and delicatessen importer from the Peninsula.

During the tasting, attendees received information about the three types of wine production and about the differences that exist between wines from different Spanish regions while enjoying five very varied wines: from the most traditional white and red wines, to biodynamic or natural.

Jaume Puigdefabregas and Pedro Fecha, from From de Roots, not only offered a technical analysis of the wines, but also encouraged attendees to share their opinions, interests and ideas. They adapted the presentation to the different levels of knowledge of the attendees, allowing both novices and experts to expand their knowledge and taste for Spanish wine.

Likewise, the attendees got a special pairing for the occasion: charcuterie and cheeses from the Peninsula that enhanced the taste of the different wines.

At the end of the event, attendees received a glass of wine as a souvenir.

The Chamber presents its Yearbook 2022

The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg has now released its Yearbook 2022.

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 2021, 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 2022 Yearbook, which allows us to finance the production of this publication:

               

Meeting of the Board of Directors

On 23 March, the Chamber‘s Board of Directors held a new meeting in hybrid form.
During the meeting, the activity developed by the Chamber during the first quarter was reviewed, the working commissions Competition Spain and Spanish Financial Forum were discussed as well as the different European projects managed by the Chamber. Finally, the next scheduled events were detailed.
The list of members for 2021 was approved and the first draft of the new statutes was presented.