The President of the Chamber participates at the award ceremony of the XXV Premio Marqués de Villalobar

On 28th October, the Chamber of Commerce of Belgium and Luxembourg in Spain and the Spanish-Dutch Business Forum awarded their XXV Premio Marqués de Villalobar to the Prado National Museum during a gala dinner in the Muses room of the Madrid art gallery.

This Award is a recognition to the professional excellence that is given to a personality or institution that has stood out remarkably contributing to a better understanding between the nations that the association represents, promoting and deepening the economic, political, scientific and cultural relations, always with the idea of a united Europe.

This year the Jury unanimously considered that the Prado National Museum, which today celebrates the Bicentennial of its foundation, was the ideal candidate with whom to celebrate the silver jubilee of the Award for several important reasons: the museum houses the best collection of Flemish painting in the world; in these two hundred years, the Madrid art gallery has fostered the cultural ties that have united our societies throughout history; and finally, each time a painting from the Prado travels to another country to participate in an exhibition, it is also an ambassador of the best that our countries have: their rich culture, alien to political ups and downs. This is the extraordinary thing about Art, its universal essence and its capacity to transcend borders and languages.

The event was chaired by Mr. Yves Verhamme, President of the Chamber of Commerce of Belgium and Luxembourg in Spain and the Hispano-Netherlands Business Forum, and was attended by the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium, H.E. Mr. Marc Calcoen; the Ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, H.E. Mrs. Michèle Pranchère-Tomassini; the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain in Belgium, H.E. Mrs. Beatriz Larrotcha Palma; the former Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain in Belgium, H.E. Mrs. Cecilia Yuste Rojas; and the Illustrious Sir José Saavdera Ligne, Marquess of Villalobar. The President of the Chamber, Mr Juan Rodríguez-Villa Matons also participated in the event.

Before dinner, attendees enjoyed a private guided tour of the Museum’s fabulous Flemish painting rooms.

The President’s welcome speech, accompanied by a glass of crémant de Luxembourg, offered by the Grand Duchy Embassy, opened the award ceremony.

The award was collected by Mr. Miguel Falomir Faus, Director of the Prado National Museum.

Presentation of JobYourself: become a freelancer without risks in Brussels Region

Within the framework of the program EmprendeBeLux, The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, in collaboration with JobYourself, a cooperative of activities of the Brussels-Capital Region, organized last 21st of November a presentation of said institution mainly aimed at unemployed people who have a business idea and complementary freelancers. The attendees had the chance to learn about this cooperative, which offers assistance in the development and testing of entrepreneurial projects in the market, as well as the other services that it offers.

Through the EmprendeBeLux Program the Chamber aims to support Spanish people in BeLux on their long way to becoming an entrepreneur and accompany them through the consolidation of their business.

 

Programme sponsored by:

Casa Valonia, an initiative to strengthen the relations between Spain and Wallonia

On November 6th and 7th, the Representation of the Wallon Region of the Belgian Embassy in Madrid organized the event “Casa Valonia” at the prestigious Carlos de Antwerp Foundation in Madrid. This initiative, with an extensive program of activities, had as its main objective to strengthen the relations between the Wallon Region and Spain in the cultural, social and business areas.

Among the planned activities, the General Secretary of the Offical Chamber of Commerce of Spain in Belgium and Luxembourg, María Catalán, participated in the seminar “Investing in Wallonia” and in the 2019 Wallonia Awards, both organized on November 7th.

Through the seminar “Investing in Wallonia” the region was presented as an investment destination in the logistic sector. The event, which had a high audience of representatives of Spanish companies was held by Pascale Delcomminette, General Administrator of AWEX, and Elsa Salvadores Janssen, Deputy Managing Director of the Official Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services of Madrid. The program was attended by Karelle Lambert, Director of the European area at AWEX, Franck Toussaint, Logistic Expert at AWEX and Rafael Álvarez Campa, Legal Partner of Everest Law. Rafael Álvarez Campa presented the tax incentives for direct investment and innovative entrepreneurship. Finally, the Commercial and Operations Director of CACESA. Rodrigo Peñas, presented his case of success in the establishment of his company in Wallonia.

During the dinner organized on November 7th, the 2019 Wallonia Awards were celebrated. Among the winners in the different categories, there were awarded El Corte Inglés, the Association of Former Students in Belgium and Belgian Friends and the company CACESA.

Second meeting of the EURES network

Last October 15th and 16th the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg participated in the second meeting of the EURES network that took place in Brussels.

Several European national employment agencies, different representatives of the European Commission and the recently incorporated partners of the network attended the event. Attendees had the chance to get to know cases of success and celebrate the 25th anniversary of EURES.

Moreover, through the workshops, attendees were able to discover the good practices of other organizations and propose their suggestions to improve the services that EURES offers.

The Chamber, as new partner of the network in Belgium, presented its employment platform, EmpleoBeLux, which is aimed at Spanish people in search of employment opportunities in BeLux.

10/03 Conference “Energy for Europe: Shaping future EU industry”

Repsol, member of the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, has the pleasure to invite you to the 5th edition of the annual conference “Energy for Europe”. The event will take place the next Thursday October 3rd from 4pm to 8pm at the Solvay Library (Parc Léopold, Rue Belliard 137, Brussels).

Several issues will be covered in the “Energy for Europe: Shaping future EU industry” conference, for instance, the protection of the competitiveness of the European industry, the potential risks and opportunities for a transitioning industry or the guarantee of social equitability during this transition.

The keynote speech will be delivered by a high-level European Commission representative. Hereafter, multiple experts in the topic will take part in a panel discussion.

Should you wish to register, please reply through this link.

We are looking forward to your participation.

21-22/09 Spain, guest country in the 19th edition of Folklorissimo festival in Brussels

Spain has been designated the guest of honour country in the 19th edition of the popular Folklorissimo Festival, based on the intellectual dialogue between folklore and traditions of Belgium and Spain. During the weekend of September 21 and 22, more than 100 artists and members of Spanish folkloric groups, as well as associations, autonomous communities and Spanish and Belgian companies, will offer a wide and diverse representation of folklore, gastronomy and traditions of Spain at the Grand Place of Brussels.

Attendees will enjoy a folklore of contemporary interpretation, which reflects the advanced social and cultural values ​​that Belgium and Spain share in matters of gender, sexual identity, youth or environmental sensitivity, with performances by Ball de Pastorets (Catalonia), Agrupación de Danzas de la Virgen de las Nieves (Cantabria), Centro Asturiano de Bruselas (Asturias), Fetén Fetén (Castile and León), Iñaki Plaza (Basque Country – Galicia), Cant d’Estil Valencià (Valencia), Sara Calero (Andalusia), Loockingback (Extremadura and Castile-La Mancha) and Fernando López (Andalusia).

The Spanish programme is organized by the  Spanish Embassy in Belgium. The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg collaborates in this initiative coordinating the participation of Spanish companies. The gastronomy offer will be guaranteed by Mediterranea Food and Events, Wine Tales Restaurant and Pintxos Bar, Churros Valyser and Alma Envero (extra virgin olive oil). Moreover, the brand Lolitos, which is specialized in bags and espadrilles, will also be present in the event. The Autonomous Community of Cantabria will have a stand where they will exhibit their turistic offer, their culture and some of their typical products, such as anchovies.

Collaborating companies:

                                                           

                                                    

 

 

Workshop on “Digitalize your Business”

Last 18 June, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, in collaboration with Senda Consulting, organized the workshop “Digitalize your Business”. The purpose of the workshop was to provide an insight into the functioning and the utility of the digitalization for SMEs. The course, given by the entrepreneur of the Chamber, David Sánchez from Senda Consulting, was of great interest to the attendees, who were able to deepen their knowledge in the area. Sánchez began with an introduction to the term digitalization, its meaning and the reasons why it is presented as a point of interest for every business.

During the workshop, the necessary concepts to guarantee the security of the servers as well as the different online programs and platforms available for the management were tackled. The basic structure of the digital communication was also exposed and the mode of use and the characteristics of MailChimp, Google Analytics or Yoast, among others, were mentioned. To finish, Sánchez explained the benefits of digitalization for any business and resolved the doubts of the attendees.

 

 

1st Edition doubles paddle tennis tournament

 Last 15th June the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organized, in collaboration with La Casa del Padel, its first doubles paddle tennis tournament for the expat community in Belgium and Luxembourg with the aim of promoting professional networking among its contact network.

The event started with an introduction to paddle rules for all participants. After that, the division by groups was structured and the matches started. Among the 18 doubles teams, the winners of the absolute category were Ladislao Checa and Carles Giner, in the same way, Alberto Orsi and Stefano Delfino won in in the amateur group.

The participants enjoyed a nice evening of paddle followed by a networking cocktail and the awards ceremony, in which a Spanish food basked was given to the winners on both categories, and a raffle among the participants was made.

 

Sponsored by:

In collaboration with:

 

IV edition of the Social Networking Night

Last 13th of June took place in Brussels the IV edition of the Social Networking Night, an activity organized by the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg in the framework of its program Empleo BeLux. The main objective of this activity is to optimize the tools available in BeLux for the job search. The event took place at the BNP Paribas Fortis facilities in Brussels.

First of all, the Secretary General of the Chamber, María Catalán, thanked all the attendees, speakers and sponsors BNP Paribas Fortis and Esade Business School for their presence, and presented the program of the event and the website Empleo BeLux.

Then Salvatore Orlando, Expat Manager of BNP Paribas Fortis, addressed some tips for expats in Brussels, emphasizing how to develop and where to expand their contact network.

The first presentation of the event was in charge of Andrés Álvarez, Project Officer at the European Commission, who presented the different possibilities and options that exist to work in the European Union. Álvarez explained the range of possibilities for having access to institutions, emphasizing the different options available without the need to access through EPSO competitions, such as contractual contracts.

For her part, Ursi Van der Herten, Associate Director International Executive Programs at ESADE, made a presentation on how to study an Executive MBA can help accelerate your professional career, highlighting the importance of the business school choice. Among the advices, she remarked to seek information through the alumni network for the choice of the school.

Francesc Cots, Financial Director at Eurofirms, underlined the importance of the Personal Branding to finding employment and placed particular emphasis on Personal Branding on social media and specifically on LinkedIn. Cots advised to share activities carried out by the company that you work through your personal profile.

In this edition, the success story of “Emprende Belux” was led by Paloma Cantero, CEO of YouthProAktiv and CWC Consulting. Cantero shared her experience as an entrepreneur in Belgium and explained the difficulties she had to face, as well as the satisfactions and motivation to undertake in a foreign country. Likewise, the entrepreneur participates in the Erasmus Program for Young Entrepreneurs of the Chamber, which Arturo Ibáñez subsequently explained.

Arturo Ibáñez and Soraya Bravo, Project Managers of the Chamber, explained the main features of two Chamber’s programs related to entrepreneurship: the Erasmus Program for Young Entrepreneurs (EYE), a European program of transnational exchanges that offers new entrepreneurs and people who want to create a business the opportunity to learn from experienced entrepreneurs who run small businesses in other participating countries, which the Chamber is a local point of contact, and the Emprende BeLux, a program to support Spanish residents in Belgium and Luxembourg on the long road to entrepreneurship and business consolidation.

Among the different interventions, the attendees had the opportunity to participate in three workshops. In the first one, Asier Marquina, from Arcelomittal, highlighted the techniques to enhance networking and contact network, through a dynamic and participate intervention. In the second one, the life coach Marta Cela gave the keys to successfully answer the cheating questions in a job interview and she outlined the self-confidence and attitude when facing the interview as a candidate. In the last workshop, Victoria Martinez, HR Talent Acquisition Consultant in Everis, developed the importance of social networks as a jobs search tool and provided useful advices for making an attractive curriculum for the employer.

Finally, the attendees enjoyed a networking cocktail, in which they could interact with the speakers and other participants in a relaxed atmosphere.

Conference about “new Companies and Associations Code”

The Chamber, in collaboration with Estudio Legal Muñoz Gonzalo SLP and Philippe & Partners, organized next Tuesday June 11th  a conference in Brussels about “new Companies and Associations Code”.

To the event attended different entrepreneurs form the EmprendeBelux program, an initiative which aim is supporting Spanish entrepreneurs in Belgium and Luxembourg, serving as a platform for ongoing training and generating new contacts.

Among the main novelties of the new Companies and Associations Code that came into force last 1st May 2019 and were presented at the conference we can highlight:

  • The replacement of the «Société Privée à Responsabilité Limitée» (SPRL) by the «Société à Responsabilité Limitée» (SRL). 
  • The requirement of a minimum capital disappears.
  • The requirements for the financial plan are reinforced.
  • Limitation of the administrator’s responsibility.
  • English is allowed to be used in different statutory documents.
  • The rule of the distribution of dividends is linked to a dabble test:

      Balance test: The distribution of dividends will not be allowed if the net equity is negative.

      Liquidity test: The distribution of dividends will not be allowed if the company can not comply with its actual and future debts.

This new modification will imply a simplify and give greater flexibility to the new societies, with a diminution of the societal form; the Belgian code reduce from 17 to 9 the total amount of societies.

The companies have now until 1st January 2024 to adapt their statutes to the new regulation. However, since 1st January 2020 the new changes will apply to all companies.