The Embassy of Spain in Belgium celebrates the National Holiday

On October 9th, the Embassy of Spain in Belgium organized a reception at the Palais des Académies of Brussels on the occasion of the celebration of the National Holiday.

The reception was attended by local authorities, diplomats, businessmen, European officials and representatives of Spanish public institutions, among other personalities.

H.E. Ambassador of Spain in Belgium Beatriz Larrotcha Palma thanked the attendees for their participation in the National Holiday and highlighted bilateral relations in tourism, business and institutional between Belgium and Spain. The Permanent Representative to NATO, H.E. Ambassador Miguel Ángel Fernández Palacios, also presided the reception.

Both thanked the companies and sponsoring institutions for their collaboration in organizing the event, which was held in collaboration with the Official Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, was sponsored by our associated enterprises Everis, Iberdrola, Indra, Interparking, LaLiga, GAP, BBVA, Santander Consumer Bank, Hispania Brussels and Quality Media.

The offices of the Autonomous Communities in Brussels also contributed to the success of the reception thanks to the contribution of products and typical wines of each region.

19/09 III Meeting with Spanish entrepreneurs in Belgium

Third meeting with Spanish entrepreneurs in Belgium

On 19 September, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organized the third meeting between Spanish entrepreneurs in Brussels, at the offices of Language Studies International, a company member of the Chamber.

On this occasion, the meeting was focused on the training grants available for entrepreneurs in Brussels region. The attendees discovered in detail how to access to these training grants, in particular to language courses.

One of the main obstacles for foreign entrepreneurs in Brussels is the bilingualism of the region. It is estimated that those who know French or Dutch are more likely to succeed when implementing their business in the city.

Additionally, participants had the opportunity to interact with other entrepreneurs and exchange contacts and experiences around this topic.

The Chamber took the opportunity to present the new website of EmprendeBelux, a programme aimed at supporting Spanish entrepreneurs in the country and designed to accompany them in launching their project and/or consolidating their businesses.

Programme sponsored by:

The Chamber, new member of the EURES network in Belgium

Last June, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg was selected as a new member of the EURES network in Belgium for the Brussels and Wallonia regions.

EURES is a cooperation network designed to facilitate the free movement of workers within the EU 28 countries plus Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Employment agencies, unions and business organizations are part of this network.  Likewise, EURES provides its services through the portal and through a human network of around 1.000 advisers that are in daily contact with jobseekers and employers across Europe.

Since 2014, the Chamber has supported the Spanish residents of the BeLux in search of employment and the Belgian and Luxembourgish companies in search of personnel through its employment platform, initially called Programa Jóvenes; and currently EmpleoBelux.

With this recognition, the Chamber intends to continue supporting both jobseekers and companies and, therefore, will provide support services directly to jobseekers and employers in terms of intra-European contracting and contracting opportunities.

The aircraft carrier Juan Carlos I stops over at the Port of Zeebrugge

 

The President of the Chamber, Juan Rodríguez-Villa Matons, participated the last June 24 at the reception organized by the Embassy of Spain in Belgium on the occasion of the stopover at the Port of Zeebrugge of the aircraft carrier Juan Carlos I of the Spanish Navy.

The event was chaired by the Ambassador of Spain in Belgium, Beatriz Larrotcha Palma, and the Commander of the aircraft carrier, and had the participation of civil and military authorities.

Ten Belgian political representatives present their proposals for the country in the #Yes2Belgium Election Debate

Last April 3 took place the debate about the Belgian elections “#Yes2Belgium Election Debate” at the ING´s Manix Auditorium in Brussels. This debate was supported by 12 foreign chambers of commerce in Belgium and is part of their objective to involve their member companies in the upcoming federal, regional and European elections that will take place on May 26.

The event featured the participation of prominent personalities from 10 different parties that shared their vision and solutions to the problems that foreign companies identify as a priority; mobility, tax system and competitiveness, labour market and governance.

 

Mobility

The main topic for discussion was about the possibility to involve the private sector in the management of the Belgian public transports.

Even though there was not a consensus on this issue, they agreed that climate change, efficiency in transport and deficient infrastructure are still some of the key problems to tackle. The digitalization and the new transport models such as the autonomous cars were presented as new opportunities to these problems.

 

Labour market

The imbalance between the increasing demand of qualified workers and the rise of unemployment among less qualified candidates concentrated an important part of the political proposals that presented the training adapted to the market’s needs as main solution.

The labour costs remain still a key problem for the companies based in the country. Some of the candidates suggested to adapt the labour costs to the productivity and to move towards an adequate balance between labour flexibility and a solid social security system.

 

Tax system

The tax system assumed by the companies its perceived as a disadvantage when it comes to positioning Belgium as an attractive country from a tax perspective.

Different candidates agreed that the answer can not be national but European, to avoid the fiscal dumping among member states. They also presented different measures to attract investment in different sectors such as renewable energy and new technologies.

 

Governance

The participants agreed that the inefficiency as regards to governance is not linked to the system itself but rather on the necessity to improve the collaboration between the different political parties to reach agreements on key national political issues.

Different candidates presented the possibility to refederalize certain competences on key topics that require a national answer to avoid inefficiencies.

 

The different political representatives converged on the importance of the foreign investment in the country and the need to generate an attractive framework to foreign companies. The different subjects discussed were considered as crucial to improve the competitiveness of the country and to continue positioning Belgium as a lead country to attract capital and talent.

10th Edition Workshop on Social Media Management for Business and European Projects

The 14th and 15th of March, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg held the tenth edition of the “Workshop on social media management for business and European projects”, a workshop that aims to increase the knowledge of the participants about the planning, management and analysis of social networks in the field of European projects. The course, given by the community manager and coach Philippe Schiffler, filled all places, as in previous occasions.

During the first day of the training, the attendees could improve their knowledge about social networks and learn to take advantage of them. Also, they discovered new tools that a community managers can use to improve their performance, among which are Canva, Feedly or RSS Feedly. Schiffler also demonstrated to those present how to act on social networks in a crisis situation and the steps that must be taken to face it.

On the second day,  the importance of the GDPR, as well as the different functions of the well-known social networks such as Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram was discussed. As in the previous day, Schiffler talked about other applications such as Adobe Spark, Buffer or Hootsuite.

During these two days, all attendees had the opportunity to learn about different tools, which will help companies to have greater visibility on social networks. At the end of the course, Schiffler answered questions and clarified the doubts of the participants. The workshop was developed in a participative and dynamic environment in which attendees could discover the basis for good management of social networks.

The Chamber has available various workspaces for rent in its headquarters in Brussels

The Chamber has available various workspaces for rent in its headquarters in Brussels, that are situated in the European district (Rue Belliard 20, 1040 Brussels).

With capacity for one, two or three workstations (depending on the size of the office), the rental of workspaces includes the following services:

  • Furnished and totally equipped space
  • Access to the common areas, including a fully equipped meeting room for up to 35 people
  • Visitors reception service
  • Direct billing
  • Access 24/24, 7/7
  • Other services: wifi, telephone line pre-installations, overheads included, cleaning service, etc.

Furthermore, you will be able to have access to our network of contacts, as well as to the events and networking activities that we frequently organize in our headquarters.

If you are interested, do not hesitate to contact us to ask detailed information about the conditions:

Person of contact: María Catalán

Email address: info@e-camara.com – Tel: +32 25171740

New Year’s Cocktail in Brussels

On January 24th, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg celebrated the New Year’s cocktail in Brussels. The event was attended by the coach of the Belgian national football team, Roberto Martínez.

Until the KBC Sablon, place where the cocktail was held, more than 80 attendees participated in the cocktail which took place at the  KBC Sablon, among them members,  representatives of Spanish public bodies and civil servants from the European institutions.

The event started with the speech of the director of KBC Sablon, Pascal Bogaert, who welcomed the attendees. After him, the president of the Chamber, Juan Rodríguez-Villa Matons, expressed his good wishes for this year and address a word of thanks to the entire team of the Chamber. He also praised the good work of the guest of honor heading the Belgian team. Later he gave the floor to Roberto Martínez, who thanked all the attendees for their participation in the cocktail and wished them the best for 2019.

The event was held in a relaxed atmosphere where attendees had the opportunity to expand their network of contacts while enjoying a varied menu of Spanish snacks prepared by the Spanish catering company, Mediterranea.

The Chamber thanks the sponsorship of KBC Sablon, La Liga and Group S, as well as Bodegas Enate, Freixenet, Leonidas Chocolates and Moritz beers.

 

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With the sponsorship of:

                                                    

Food ans drink sponsors:

                                                                                            

 

The Chamber supports the Three Wise Men Day celebration in Belgium

With the sponsorship of Santander Consumer Bank and the support of the Board of Directors and the General Secretary of the Chamber, on Saturday, January 12, the traditional Three Wise Men Day took place, which we annually organize in the Boudewijn Seapark (Dolphinarium) of the city of Bruges.

The initiative of this event responds, certainly, to our interpretation of corporate social responsibility, as a voluntary contribution to the welfare of families who, because of emigration, run the risk of abandoning the tradition of the beloved Three Wise Men Day.

Over the past few years, the event is also aimed at families of refugees, hosted by the OCMW institution of the City Council of Bruges.

This year King Baltasar did not make the appointment and the Mayor of Bruges, Dirk De Fauw, represented him.

Baltasar De Fauw explained to the children the story lived more than two thousand years ago. Likewise, he justified the reason why the Three Wise Men, St Nicolas and Santa Claus shared the task of offering gifts to children during the Christmas season.

From the Chamber we would like thank to the Mayor De Fauw and Councilman Franky Demon for their support.

Elena Julve, new entrepreneur to join EmprendeBelux

Elena Julve, or LexTynGou if we refer to her artistic name, has recently joined the Chamber through the programme EmprendeBelux, an initiative that aims at supporting Spanish entrepreneurs in Belgium and Luxembourg.

Elena took her first steps as an artist in Belgium, becoming a versatile artist combining different painting techniques in her works. She has already taken part in several exhibitions in Belgium and her objective is now to continue participating in different events that will allow her to broaden her network and become renowned in this sector.

The Chamber has designed a work plan to support this ambitious entrepreneur. In particular, the Chamber is working in the design of a website where she will publish her works and parallelly the organization will also help her identifying exhibitions where Elena can publish her collections in which she is currently working.

We kindly invite you to read the full interview.