Live the World Cup 2018 with the Chamber

The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg and the Chambre de Commerce Belgo-Portugaise, have the pleasure of inviting their members and network of contacts to watch the first game of Spain in the World Cup of Russia 2018 against Portugal. The appointment will take place next Friday 15th at 20:00 in La Tentation, Galician center in Brussels (Rue de Laeken 28, 1000 Brussels).

The match will be broadcasted on a giant screen and during the match it will be possible to taste typical Galician products  (drinks and food not included).

If you are interested in attending, you just have to send an email to info@e-camara.com including the names and surnames of the participants indicating “Spain-Portugal match” in the subject.

Sport means networking!
We will be waiting for you!

In collaboration with:

Five Spanish companies visited Brussels during the investment activity for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector

The Oficial Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organized, jointly with the public agency Brussels Invest & Export (BIE), an investment activity for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector in the Brussels-Capital Region.

This activity took place during the 28th and 31st of May gathering a total of five Spanish companies:  Biomedal, Kanteron, ValGenetics, Biopolis y DCN. The different meetings organized for the companies had the objective to showcase the general features of the biopharmaceutical ecosystem and the opportunities that this region offers to foreign companies willing to stablish a subsidiary in the Belgian capital.

The companies had the opportunity to meet with the cluster lifetech.brussels which presented the main figures of the health and life science sector in the Brussels-Capital Region. The companies had also the chance to deep into the research ecosystem and the potential partnerships between companies with a strong focus on R&D and Universities thanks to the meeting carried out with the Université Libre de Bruxelles.

The five companies also visited the BLSI incubator, launched by the Catholic University of Louvain, the Technology Transfer Office of Louvain (Sopartec) and the Brussels-Capital Region. The incubator focuses on the support of companies oriented to life science research.

Finally, BIE and the Chamber provided relevant information regarding the advantages that the region offers to companies and the support scheme for foreign investment. The companies also met with different relevant actors that provide guidance on foreign investment such us BECI, Group S, Actiris and Alter Domus.

The Association of Companies and Entities of the BIO Sector of the Region of Valencia (BIOVAL) provided special support in the dissemination of this activity.

Success in the 3rd edition of the Social Networking Night

Last Thursday May 31 took place in Brussels the 3rd 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.

The Secretary General of the Chamber, María Catalán, thanked all the attendees, speakers and sponsor BNP Paribas Fortis, and presented the program of the event and the website Empleo BeLux.

Then the first presentation took place, in which Marisa Jiménez Martín, Director EU Affairs and Deputy Head of Office of Facebook, explained how to make a career in public policy and regulatory affairs, focusing on the interviews. In a job interview, the interviewee is analyzed according to their leadership and the opinion creation they have, in addition to the training and experience acquired.

Subsequently, Luis Planas Herrera, Policy Assistant to the Director-General – DG ENV, presented the different possibilities and options available to work for the European Union. In the European Union there is a demand for all types of profiles, but applicants must be clear about their motivations, besides knowing that 95% of the jobs are between Brussels and Luxembourg.

Among the different interventions, the attendees had the opportunity to participate in three workshops. In the first one, Marta Cela, life coach, highlighted the importance of personal values ​​when looking for a job and when doing interviews. On the other hand, networking expert Ángel Rebollo, Senior European Affairs Consultant and director of the Atrevia office, gave very useful advices to make networking and explained some case studies. Finally, Noelia Cortés advised the participants on the writing of the CV and the motivation letter when looking for a job.

Mark de Smedt, Regional Head of The Adecco Group Northern Europe, explained how the labor market is and the main profiles currently demanded, emphasizing the employment opportunities in BeLux because of the low unemployment rate.

On the other hand, María Casado, director of the Associated Center of the UNED in Brussels, highlighted the importance of continuing education and presented the different opportunities to study that has the university at distance.

This year the success story was led by Marian Durá, from EasyBabyTrip. Marian is a Spaniard who moved to Brussels and for different reasons decided to start and create her own business. Marian, underscoring the difficulties and the advantages, encouraged the attendees to undertake and pursue their objectives, since it is very satisfying to be able to make all your business ideas come true.

María Catalán also presented a new project of the Chamber called “Emprende BeLux“, which is focused on entrepreneurs. This program offers the opportunity to develop the necessary skills to promote a business idea, while the entrepreneur exchanges ideas and collaborates with other entrepreneurs.

Next, Ángela Ustarroz, Country Manager in Belgium, presented the Integral Program of Qualification and Employment (PICE) which is designed to improve the employability of young people through transnational mobility in the territory of the European Union.

Finally, Arturo Ibáñez explained the main characteristics of the Erasmus Program for Young Entrepreneurs, 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

To finish, the attendees enjoyed a networking cocktail, in which they could interact with the speakers, the experts and other participants.

 

#NetworkingBeLux

[AFG_gallery id=’82’]

Collaboration of the Chamber in the b2fair of ICT Spring Europe

The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg has collaborated in the framework of the International b2fair matchmaking event  ICT Spring Europe, held on 15th & 16th May 2018 in Luxembourg. 80 companies registered from more than 13 different countries via different organizations and partners, such as our institution.

As an influential voice in the worldwide Tech community, the aim of ICT Spring is to encourage emulation and networking between business decisions makers, innovation managers, start-ups, researchers and venture capitalists on a European scale. The event represents an exciting array of fantastic opportunities with the participation over 5.000 key decision makers coming from 72 countries including leaders, innovators, investors, entrepreneurs, start-ups…

Picture by ICT Spring Europe

Workshop in Spanish taxes for individuals living abroad

Last 12nd of April, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organized, in collaboration with its member BLAW & TAX, a conference about the “Spanish Taxes for Individuals Living Abroad”. The event gathered representatives of different Spanish and Belgian companies, members of the Chamber, representatives of European Institutions and Spanish regional delegations.

The conference was run by Inmaculada Pineda, partner of BLAW & TAX, a firm specialized in international taxation and legal-tax consulting at national and international scope related to corporate aspects.

The conference focused on two main points: fiscal residency and its implications, regarding the taxation and fiscal benefits provided by the Spanish domestic legislation.

First, the speaker presented the alternative rules that determine that the tax residency is located in Spain. The right identification of the fiscal residency is fundamental when determining the tax obligations of the natural persons.

Thus, the Spanish regulation incorporates the criteria of residence, location of economic interests and the presumption of tax residency in case the spouse or the children are tax residents in Spain.

Inmaculada Pineda made a parenthesis to explain carefully the well-known model 720 which establishes the informative obligations on the assets located in the Spanish territory. This declaration must be about three blocks: the accounts in financial institutions, the accounts in financial assets in general and real right on real estate.

Then, Inmaculada Pineda referred to the situation of tax havens and the rule of “tax quarantine”, according to which the person continues to pay taxes in Spain during the transfer year and the following four years.

Afterwards, the conference focused on the OECD Conventions and, especially, on those established with the aim of avoiding double taxation. These conventions are of great importance because they have primacy over the Spanish domestic regulations.

In addition, particular cases were addressed on the maintenance and the change of residence and its related obligations.

Then, Pineda explained the tax benefits incorporated in the Spanish regulation. These are mainly developed in the articles 7.p) of the Spanish Income Tax (LIRPF) and 9 of the Spanish Income Tax Regulations (RIRPF). She emphasized the fact that they are incompatible with one another and that it is usually necessary to analyze each case to be able to choose correctly between the two options.

Among the attendees, this situation raised many questions about the various situations in which these exemptions might be eligible. Inmaculada Pineda answered all the raised questions and attended all those who wanted to obtain more information about the various situations previously exposed in the conference.

Definitely, the event organized with our member BLAW & TAX was a great success and helped to understand much better the tax situation in Spain for people who are displaced abroad.

Success of the 2nd Workshop on the VAT on Intra-Community and E-commerce Operations

On March 15th, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, in collaboration with its member Spanish VAT Services, organized a conference about the “VAT on intra- community and e-commerce operations”. The event gathered representatives of different Spanish and Belgian companies, members of the Chamber, representatives of European Institutions and Spanish regional delegations.

The speaker of the conference was Fernando Matesanz, Managing Director of Spanish VAT Services and member of the International VAT Association.

For the second year in a row, Fernando took part in this conference, and once again the attendees showed a lot of interest. This was evidenced by the great number of questions that were raised during the conference.

The application of VAT is a key factor for companies acting at an intra-community level  when defining their profit margin. Nevertheless, not all the companies are aware of the exemptions and tax advantages available to them within the EU.

First, Fernando Matesanz began his speech by explaining the current situation of the intra-community trading operations, which cannot be considered as exportations. Additionally, he exposed how the intra supplies of goods are VAT exempted, provided that they meet some requirements, such as having a VAT number (included in the VIES database) and being able to prove the transport of the goods outside the supplier’s country.

Sometimes, the deadline for getting this number changes between countries. This have put some recent created companies in difficulty in terms of trading within Europe.

Moreover, it is not always easy to prove both requirements, which have led to some controversies that were solved by the European Court of Justice.

Nowadays, we find different harmonisation proposals that aim to clarify the criteria to has to be followed when many chain transactions are done.

On the other hand, the speaker highlighted the usefulness of the M.O.S.S (Mino One Stop Shops), that aims to avoid companies to pay a different VAT within each country they operate. According to this system, the Company pays taxes to its National Authority, which is in charge of satisfying the debts acquired with the other EU country’s authorities. However, there are some countries which have a bigger commercial network than others, which led some Member States to reject this proposal.

Subsequently, Matesanz referred to the supply of services. The taxation for these exchanges is set out in article 44 of the European VAT Directive. According to this article, “the place of supplies of services to a taxable person acting as such shall be the place where that person has established his business”. But still, a supplier of a service must always check if the recipient of the service is a taxable person, if it is acting like one and the place where it is established. 

This point gave rise to a discussion among the attendees, who were deeply involved in the debate. Sometimes, the companies have headquarters in one country, but they also have some fixed establishments in other countries, that  are, in fact, the beneficiaries of the service. Therefore, they should be the ones receiving the invoice of the taxations.

Then, Matesanz briefly mentioned the characteristics of non-EU trade, that is the direct and indirect exportations.

To conclude, the speaker underlined the importance of e-commerce nowadays, given the high number of transactions that are carried out through the Internet daily. For this reason, he spent some time to differentiate  B2B e-commerce goods transactions (which work in the same way as EU supply of goods) from B2C goods transactions, more typical of Internet sales, in which companies must take  into account the VAT of all the countries included in the transaction.

At the end of the conference, the participants were able to openly raise their questions.

Again, this conference held together with our partners of Spanish VAT Services was a success and met the expectations of those present. From the Chamber, we hope to count on their presence in future editions.

In collaboration with:

Gastronomic Dinner with the Chef Marcos Morán in Luxembourg

Last 28th of February, the prestigious Cercle Munster of Luxembourg organized a gastronomic dinner prepared by the chef Marcos Morán with the participation of Hispania and the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg. This is the first event organized in this prestigious Luxembourgish private club that promotes Spanish gastronomy for the last few years.

The chef from Asturias delighted the 70 and more participants with an exceptionally gastronomic Spanish tasting menu. Among the participants, the ambassador of Spain in Luxembourg, members of the Chamber, representatives of European institutions, head directors of global companies and Luxembourgish members of the Cercle Munster were present.

The event is part of a programme called “Hispania around the world”. It consists of a series of trips during the year which gives the opportunity to know better the Spanish gastronomy and products in famous places.

About Marcos Morán:

Marcos Morán is the gastronomic director of Hispania in Brussels and London. He is also the chef and the property owner of the restaurant Casa Gerardo in Asturias, Spain.

Mr Morán is the fifth generation of professional chef in charge of Casa Gerardo; the restaurant which celebrates its 125th birthday and which was awarded a Michelin star and “Tres Soles” by Repsol Guide.

In 2008, Mr Móran was awarded with the prize of “Chef of the Year 2008”. During the principal gastronomic congresses in the world, he is a very scrupulous representative of Spain. In 2010, he received the “Chef Millesimé” award for the most promising Spanish chef. In 2016, he was honoured with the award “Chef de l’Avenir” by the International Academy of Gastronomy which awards talented young chefs in Europe.

The restaurant Hispania received important prizes such as “Alimentos de España” in 2014 awarded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment and a prize awarded by the Royal Spanish Academy of Gastronomy for the restaurant, with its chef Marcos Morán, which best promotes de Spanish gastronomy out of Spain.

 

 

 

 

[AFG_gallery id=’73’]

Young Professionals Network Night

The 28th of February, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg participated in the fifth edition of the Young Professionals Networking Night, an event supported by the Chamber and organized by different European chambers based in Belgium.

Jan Vermeiren, author of Let’s Connect! How to REALLY use LinkedIn and Life is a Game! explained how to improve our personal branding and the importance of having and updated and powerful LinkedIn profile for attracting potential customers and/or recruiters.

The keynote speaker Laurentine Van Landeghem presented her experience as an entrepreneur. With her company Clouds of Fashion, Laurentine has become an excellent example of how relevant has become social media in engaging costumers. She highlighted the importance of having a strong and well-defined personal brand. Clouds of Fashion is now a booming business with stores in Antwerp, Knokke and Gent.

The event was an opportunity to link up with other young professionals from no less than thirteen international and local Chambers of Commerce from across Belgium.

Conference “Data Protection: A New Challenge For Companies” With DBB Defenso

Last 27th February, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organized a conference, in collaboration with DBB Defenso about data protection as a new challenge for companies.

The next 25th May, the new regulation about data protection in the EU, also known as GDPR will come into effect. From that day on, all the organizations, companies, NGO’s or public companies will have to comply with this new regulation about data protection for EU citizens and residents.

This law is quite complex and introduces numerous changes that the companies must start to understand and implement. This is why Claude Englebert and Joris Roesems, respectively associate and partner at DBB Defenso, have explained, each, the latest developments that this law entails for companies and how to implement it correctly.

First, Nathalie Charpentier, partner at DBB Defenso and member of the Board of Directors at the Chamber, said a welcome word, introduced briefly the firm and thanked the attendees for their participation in the conference.

Afterwards, Claude Englebert presented the new regulation that will be put into effect on the 25th May. This law will affect all the companies that are established in the EU and those which work with data from the EU citizens. In order to explain this regulation, he highlighted the main principles of personal data processing: transparency, a specified, explicit and legitimate purpose, data minimization, storage limitation, integrity and confidentiality and accountability.

Then, Englebert mentioned that, in order to comply with all the data when processing, companies have to meet at least one of the following requirements: consent of the personal data subject; the existence of a contract among both parts and a legal obligation; the protection of vital interests; the task must be one of a public authority or the existence of legitimate interests.

The speaker also mentioned the rights of the data subject, as well as the new obligations for undertaking companies, organizations and public bodies. He also detailed the consequences in case a company doesn’t comply with the law.

On the other hand, Joris Roesems, explained the Data Protection Officer’s role: its conception inside the companies, its position and the different tasks associated to the role. These points are explained in detail in the articles 37-39 of this new law.

Lastly, Englebert explained the methodology to follow for the practical implementation of this new regulation, including the auditing, implementation and maintenance. (You can check the full presentation here).

Finally, during the question time the attendees representing numerous European companies were very active and participative, and expressed their doubts and questions in order to be able to implement correctly this new regulation about data protection in their enterprises.

In collaboration with:

Conference: Employment opportunities and permanent training in Belgium

The past 20th February, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg took part in a conference about employment opportunities and permanent training in Belgium, organized by the UNED centre in Brussels. It was an information session for UNED students and young professionals living in Belgium who are interested about permanent training offered by UNED, as well as job portals and support national employment offices.

Firstly, María Casado, Director at the associated center of UNED in Brussels, welcomed all the young professionals attending to the conference. Afterwards, she presented the services offered by UNED in Brussels, as well as the different employment and internship opportunities that are accessible for young residents in Belgium.

On the other hand, Concepción Gutiérrez del Castillo and José Luis Estébanez, Employment Counselor and head of citizen information respectively, at the Employment and Healthcare Counseling of the Embassy of Spain in Belgium detailed some information related to accommodation and health coverage in Belgium. They also presented the employment portal that the Counseling offers the Spanish citizens through their webpage.

Lastly, María Catalán, Secretary General of the Chamber presented the services that the institution offers to Spanish citizens. In addition to the organization of training events and workshops, the Chamber has an employment portal, which by the way, has just been redesigned (www.empleobelux.com). Through a virtual visit tour, the Secretary General showed which are the services offered by this portal for both people searching for a job in Belgium and Luxembourg and companies that are searching for new talents.

As services for candidates, this portal does not only inform about job offers for Spanish speaking people, it also provides the necessary information for a quick adaptation and integration in BeLux, administrative procedures, accommodation, etc.

Finally, María Catalán presented the Chamber as a local contact point in BeLux of the EYE Programme (Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs) for all those entrepreneurs that want to take part in the project.