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.

Breakfast-Conference: “Understand and promote the compliance”

Last 6th of February 2018, the Chamber organized a conference about the comprehension and the promotion of the compliance in collaboration with DS Avocats Law Firm. The event was attended by many representatives of Spanish and Belgian companies, as well as EU organization’s representatives, who were interested on the impact this topic could have on them, wanted to know which steps to follow in order to avoid the penalties their companies may suffer.  

First, Jean-Marie Salva, partner of DS Avocats, started by pronouncing some welcome words and by thanking the attendees for their participation before presenting the law office’s work around the world. Then, he presented Ángela López de Molina, partner of the law firm, who will set a headquarters office in Madrid on March 1st.

During her presentation, López Molina spoke about the current legislation in Spain, which since the change of the Penal Code in 2015 which allows to impute criminal responsibility to the legal persons, requires the companies to design a crime prevention plan.

The compliance was created in 1970, in response to the corruption experienced by the United States through the legal persons.

The crime prevention plan is set as a series of measures of surveillance and control implemented to prevent the commission of crimes or, at least, to try to reduce significantly the possibility of being committed. To do this, it is necessary to count on the “Compliance Officer”, that is a person in charge of preventing all the possible crime situations and trying to solve them.

Furthermore, it is necessary for all the employees to have access to that plan and to expressly accept it. As a conclusion, Ángela mentioned the prevention, detection, answer and supervision activities necessary to credit that the company acts according to the law.

Later, Michel Debroux, partner of DS Avocats, exposed the evolution of the compliance through the years in Europe, which changed from something voluntary to something mandatory.

Debroux pointed out the existence of cultural differences to show the difficulty in unifying the action criteria, even inside a same company with offices established in different places of the world. Thus, he underlined the necessity of taking into account the local specificities to suit in law.

In the case of a company with offices in different places of the world, it is necessary for all of them to apply to the rules of the headquarter office and to its owns, as they have to fit in the local customs.

Thus, the compliance is a process which requires the organization, integration and verification of the regulatory compliance.

As López Molina explained, the speaker described the main tasks that the “Compliance Officer” needs to accomplish. He needs to establish a list with the potential risks. Therefore, he will need to be totally integrated in the company and has to be able to deal with crisis.

Finally, to conclude, the partner of DS Avocats presented what they call “the 10 rules of the perfect compliance project” in which the main characteristics to respect in order to manage perfectly this project are summarized.

The conference took part in a participatory environment during which every attendee had the opportunity to express their doubts and talk with the speakers.

In collaboration with:

    

Conference about the new measures on labour law and tax law in 2018

The past 18th January 2018, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organized in their headquarters a breakfast-conference about the new measures on labour law and tax law in 2018. The event was organized in collaboration with  Group S Business portal & accredited payroll provider and the law firm van Cutsem Wittamer Marnef & Partners. 

The first speaker was  Hugues Thibault, head of Group S’ International Department, who spoke about the new measures related to the Belgian labour law for 2018. During his presentation, he explained different topics related to it such as:

  • Reduction of labour cost : reduced social security contributions
  • Posting of employees : obligation to appoint a liaison officer
  • Profit sharing bonus : possibility to grant bonus not heavily taxed
  • Mobility allowance : returning his company car against cash
  • New notice periods in case of dismissals
  • IT tools used for personnel purposes: new social and fiscal treatment

Afterwards, Alain Vanderstraeten, lawyer and tax partner at van Cutsem Wittamer Marnef & Partners, explained the agreement reached by the Belgian federal government about the 2018-2020 tax reform package. Various of those tax measures are related to corporate tax. He highlighted the following ideas:

  • Decrease of corporate income tax rate
  • Minimum corporate income tax
  • Capital gain on shares
  • Withholding tax on capital decrease
  • Notional interest deduction
  • Tax consolidation
  • La Cámara agradece la alta participación de asistentes y la colaboración de Group S y el bufete de abogados van Cutsem Wittamer Marnef & Partners, que contribuyeron a que el evento fuese todo un éxito.

The Chamber would like to thank the big participation of the attendees and the collaboration of Group S and an Cutsem Wittamer Marnef & Partners, who contributed to the great success of this event.

In collaboration with:

   

Students from Erasmus Hogeschool Brussels visit the Chamber

The past 7th of December, more than thirty students from the last year of the hospitality management degree at Erasmus Hogeschool Brussels visited the headquarters of the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg. During the visit, the students could learn more detailed information about how the Chamber work, the existing membership types, which tasks are developed on each department, as well as the different activities and projects developed at the Chamber in both Belgium and Luxembourg. Two good examples of this are the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs Program, of which the Chamber is local contact point, and the Spanish for business courses that are organized in collaboration with Instituto Cervantes.

The diaspora of Spanish professionals and their contribution to the internationalization of the Spanish economy

The past 28th of November, Leading Brands of Spain Forum, in collaboration with the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, Marca España and the Embassy of Spain in Belgium, organized in Brussels a meeting called “The diaspora of Spanish professionals and their contribution to the internationalization of the Spanish economy”. A diverse group of Spanish professionals established in the Belgian capital participated in this initiative, which aimed to debate about the asset that the Spanish professionals who are living abroad represented for the internationalization of the economy and the Spanish companies.

After the welcome words by Cecilia Yuste Rojas, Ambassador of Spain in Belgium, and José Luis Bonet, President of the Leading Brands of Spain Forum, the General Manager of the Leading Brands of Spain Forum and moderator of the event, Miguel Otero, introduced the subject and the speakers.

Right after, Enrique Fanjul, member of the Scientific Council of Elcano Royal Institute, took the floor. During his intervention, Fanjul explained that over the past few years, the number of Spanish professional established abroad had increased considerably. These professionals work in Spanish companies, in multinationals, in public organizations of the countries where they are, and in international organizations. He argued that it is necessary to make an effort and establish mechanisms to take advantage of this asset of great value.

Afterwards, some success stories about professional networks abroad were presented.

The first success story was done by Wim den Tuinder, Director of IESE Alumni Association & Institutional Development. During his intervention, Wim explained the expansion process of its alumni network and the different programs of development and expansion that are carried out from IESE.

The next success story was presented by Nicolás García, Director of the “Liga Global Network”. During his intervention, Nicolás talked about the strategy and the goals that are pursued through this initiative, which seeks to consolidate the positioning of LaLiga worldwide.

Then, Juan Rodríguez-Villa, president of the Federation of Spanish Chambers of Commerce in Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania (FEDECOM), described the importance of FEDECOM to create relations between Spain and other the countries around the world

Finally, a debate took place about the subject matter in which all the attendees could participate. Among the most important subjects, they discussed about the role of women in the business world, the emigration of the young Spanish talent and the role of the Spanish companies in the process of the internationalization of ‘Marca España’.

Gala Dinner & Awards Ceremony 2017

The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organized, last 27th November at the Hotel Le Plaza, their yearly Gala Dinner. The Embassy of Spain in Belgium, the Leading Brands of Spain Forum, Marca España and the Spanish Office for Patents and Brands (OEPM), collaborated specially on the event organization. During the dinner, the awards “Friends of Marca España” and “Friends of the Spanish Brands” were given. These awards aim to publicly acknowledge certain Belgian people, companies and institutions for their outstanding support and collaboration with Spain and/or Spanish brands within each of their respective professional spheres. This is the ninth edition of the awards and the first in Belgium, with previous ceremonies having taken place in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Moscow, London, Miami, Tokyo, Dubai, and Mexico.

After a welcome cocktail where the participants were delighted with cava offered by Freixenet, Institutional Wines D.O. Ca Rioja, Estrella Galicia beer, ibérico de bellota ham offered by the Regional Government of Extremadura and an appetizer elaborated by Marcos Morán, Gastronomic Director of the Restaurant Hispania Brussels, the Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony started.

First, Juan Rodríguez-Villa, President of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg took the stand. During his speech, he welcomed all the attendees to the Gala Dinner, went over all the activities that took place at the Chamber on 2017 and congratulated all the awardees of the night.

Afterwards, the masters of ceremonies, Sergi Ferré and Laura Martínez, Cultural and Political Counselors respectively, at the Spanish Embassy in Belgium, gave the word to José Luis Bonet, president of the Leading Brands of Spain Forum. During his speech, Bonet highlighted the important role of the Chambers of Commerce abroad, as well as the Friends of the Marca España and Friends of the Spanish Brands’, to make them stronger and more competitive internationally.

After the projection of a video-presentation about the Spanish Brands, the masters of ceremonies introduced the awards ceremony “Friends of the Spanish Brands in Belgium”. Several Spanish Brands, aim to recognize the hard work of Belgian citizens to internationalize and expand these brands in Belgium, through this award. The awardees were:

  • JEAN PIERRE PIRET as Friend of the Brand FERMAX in Belgium
  • LOUIS CULOT KEUKENWERKBLADEN as Friend of the Brand COSENTINO in Belgium.
  • ERIC LE PAIGE as Friend of the Brand ANDREU WORLD in Belgium.
  • JEAN-LUC MURI as Friend of the Brand LLADRÓ in Belgium.
  • KEEP IT QUIET as Friend of the Brand FREIXENET in Belgium.

After the awards ceremony, the attendees enjoyed a gourmet Spanish menu elaborated by Marcos Morán, who owns a Michelin Star and has been recognized with the National Gastronomy Award.

After the dinner, the Ambassador of Spain in Belgium, Cecilia Yuste Rojas, took the stand to congratulate the initiative of awarding the people who help to create closer ties between Spain and Belgium. Then, after the video presentation of Marca España, the masters of ceremonies presented the second awards ceremony “Friends of the Marca España” in Belgium. The awardees were:

  • Award to JAN DE CLERCK as Friend of the Marca España in Belgium, for being a pioneer of foreign tourism for the entire coast of Cádiz. He is currently Chairman of the hotel group Hoteles Andaluces Con Encanto (HACE) in the province of Cádiz.
  • Award to NICHETTE GHYOOT as Friend of the Marca España in Belgium. General Director of the tour operator Transeurope she collaborates with Spain’s Department of Tourism in the organization of activities with travel agencies, showcasing different destinations in Spain, such as Andalusia, Galicia, the Basque Country, and the Canary Islands.
  • Collective award to HISPANISTAS EN BÉLGICA as Friend of the Marca España in Belgium. The acknowledge of all Spanish language and literature professors from seven Belgian universities that have academic chairs dedicated to these subjects is recognized.
  • Award to ROLAND CRACCO as Friend of the Marca España in Belgium. CEO of the Belgian company INTERPARKING, one of the leading European groups with over 350,000 parking spaces. He loves Spain, its culture and its geography. Spain is one of the countries where INTERPARKING has invested the most, and the goal is to continue expanding throughout the country.
  • Award to CARMEN VAN DEN BOSSCHE as Friend of the Marca España in Belgium. She manages Caractère, a tour operator specializing in charming hotels and experiences that is looking to Spain for the launch of new products targeted at segments and destinations that play a part in achieving the objectives set by Spain’s tourism policy.
  • Award to OMMEGANG as Friend of the Marca España in Belgium.
  • Award to BERT DEHANDSCHUTTER as Friend of the Marca España in Belgium. He is a partner at Belgian law firm Racine. He is currently considered one of the most sought after lawyers for Spanish companies trading in Belgium.

After the awards ceremony, Bert Dehandschutter, in the name of all the awarded of the night, showed his appreciation for the awards given by Marca España and by the by the Spanish Brands for their relationship with Spain, both in the cultural and economic aspects.

Finally, Carlos Espinosa de los Monteros, High Commissioner for the Marca España closed the event by thanking  the Friends of the Marca España and Friends of the Spanish Brands their hard work for internationalize the Spanish Brands.

The Chamber thanks all the attendees their presence, and the Embassy of Spain in Belgium, the Leading Brands of Spain Forum, Marca España and the Spanish Office of Brands and Patents their collaboration in the organization of the event. Furthermore, we appreciate the collaboration of the sponsor companies and institutions: Freixenet, D.O.Ca Rioja, Estrella Galicia, Hispania Brussels, Quality Media Producciones, Junta de Extremadura, Indra and Santander Consumer Bank.   

   We invite you to watch the video of the event

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Companies and institutions from Navarra present in Brussels their activity in the biomedicine sector

The past 21st November 2017, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organized in Brussels, in collaboration with the Delegation of the Government of Navarra and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Navarra, a conference at the Hotel Sofitel Brussels about the business opportunities for collaboration in the biomedicine sector between Navarra and Belgium. During the conference numerous presentations from different representatives of universities, companies and institutions, both from Navarra and Belgium, took place.

Bert Dehandschutter, member of the Board of Directors at the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, and Manuel Ayerdi, Vice-president for Economic Development of the Government of Navarra, both said a welcome word.

Afterwards, Kathleen D’Hont, policy officer at the Government of Flanders, presented the biomedical sector in this region, highlighting the universities and active companies on this field, and the specialization of different Flemish organizations on this area.

On the other hand, Izaskun Goñi, Director General of Economy Policy at the Government of Navarra, explained the currently existing development areas in Navarra, focusing on health sector. She also presented the “International Plan of Navarra” which aims to increase, by 2020, the exports and the internationalization, as well as the companies from Navarra that usually export, specially to Belgium, but also to France, United Kingdom and Germany.

After that, Henk Joos, Managing Director at Flanders Bio, presented the organization, which is composed by life sciences clusters, and has its headquarters in Flanders. It counts on more than 355 members from 3 different regions in Belgium, and also from adjacent countries, such as the Netherlands. During his presentation, he underlined that Belgium manages the 18% of the European capital in biotechnology, highlighting that the reasons for this success are related to its excellency, the strong funding, the experience and its geographic location in Europe. It is convenient to point out the big concentration of biopharmaceutical institutions and companies existing in Belgium (Janssen Pharmaceutica, Pfizer, GSK vaccines, UCB, Roche Diagnostics, Novartis, Sanofi, Baxter, among others).

Elke Smits, Professor at the Antwerp University Hospital, attended as representative both from this University and from Flanders Bio. She explained the approach of biomedicine in Flanders, showing how the Research Center at the Antwerp Clinic operates, and emphasizing the importance of the correct use of data in order to achieve significant progresses.

She also mentioned the Biobanking and BioMolecular Resources Research Infrastructure, BBMRI, an organization which aims to create and maintain an infrastructure of Belgian biobank.

Begoña Vicente, Head of Business Development at Research Institutes, attended as a representative of the Public university of Navarra (UPNA), presenting the bachelor and masters degrees existing there, highlighting the ones taught in English in their totality, as well as the research activity that makes them outstand as an education center.

Elías Rodriguez-Toral, Director of the Research Management Department at CIMA (Centro de Investigación Médica Aplicada), presented how CIMA works and orientates its activities to the research of new diagnosis and therapeutic products, working together with pharmaceutical companies and other institutions.

Isabel Gil, Scientific Coordinator of NavarraBiomed Biobank and Clara Gahigiro, European Funding Project Manager at the same company, spoke about the Biomedical Research Centre of the Government of Navarra, highlighting the support and collaboration projects at the Spanish biobank network. It takes part of the Spanish Biobank network, an initiative from the Health Center Carlos III, which counts on 52 biobanks.

For her part, Ana Cañada, International Trade Manager at the Navarre Chamber of Commerce and Industry, explained briefly which are the main biomedicine companies in Navarra and the main objectives of each one of them (Cinfa, Palobiofarma, Albyn medical, 3pbiopharmaceuticals, geiser pharma, Lozy’s, Ojer Pharma, Tedcas, Pharmamodelling, making genetics, Innoup farma, eversens, movalsys).

Gert Verreth, Communication Advisor at Essenscia (Belgian Federation of Chemical Industries and for the Life Sciences), emphasized the fact that Belgium is on the world top 10 for pharmaceutical innovation, and the fact that 5 of the 100 essential medicines existing in the world, have been developed in Belgian labs. Thus, after presenting the key Belgian companies for this achievement, he explained the reasons why Belgium is a key country related to bio pharmacy: it is a unique academic and industrial network, it has a strong focus on the innovative research, a highly qualified and productive work power, and it is very well located and provided with excellent logistics infrastructure.

Afterwards, the companies from Navarra attending to the event were introduced. Javier Arnáez, representative of Idifarma, Francisco Fernández representative of Adacen, María Llorente Business Development Manager at Bionanoplus, and lastly, Iranzu Lamberto as Chief Operating Officer at IKan Biotech, did different presentations on behalf of their companies.

Finally, with the aim of turning this event into a productive meeting for both companies and organizations, and in order to create new business relationships, a matchmaking, consisting of B2B meetings between the companies and institutions took place after the presentations

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Conference: “Castilla y León: a region to invest in”

Last Tuesday 7th November, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg organized in collaboration with Junta de Castilla y León and Instituto para la Competitividad Empresarial (ICE) a conference under the topic “Castilla y León: a region to invest in”.

Juan Rodríguez-Villa Matons, President of the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg said a welcome word and thanked the participation of all the attendees.

Afterwards, David Martínez Hornillos, the Economic and Commercial Counselor at the Embassy of Spain in Belgium, provided an overview for foreign investment in Spain, highlighting the most relevant sectors in the economy of the country. He also underlined some examples of foreign companies with active investment projects in Spain.

Later on, Carlos Martín Tobalina, General Director of industry and competitiveness and Vice- President of Economy at the Government of Castilla y León, presented the region and the infrastructures that facilitate its accessibility and its potential investing. He highlighted the most important sectors of the region which are agri-food and viticulture, automotive and aeronautics, pharmaceutical, energy, ICTs, security, logistics and endogenous resources. In addition, he pointed out that the human capital is another strength in this region since there are highly qualified professionals who are specialized in those sectors.

On the other hand, another of the advantages that Castilla y León offers to potential investors is a very favorable work environment. Its main characteristics are: low staff rotation, high stability, low labor conflicts and high labor productivity index. In addition, he pointed out the high quality of life in the autonomous community, highlighting the wide cultural and gastronomic offer. Finally, the speaker wanted to remark all the support that Castilla y León provides to the international investors.

After the speeches, the attendees were able to ask their questions during a space dedicated to networking.

You can check David Martínez Hornillos’ presentation through the following link.
You can check Carlos Martín Tobalina’s presentation through the following link.

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Conference with Intertrust Luxembourg

Last October 18th, Intertrust Luxembourg organized the conference “Luxembourg vehicules: structures to invest in Spain; structures to invest from Spain” in collaboration with the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg. The event counted on the presence of a wide audience representing the financial and complementary services’ sector.

José Luis Rodríguez Álvarez, vicepresident of the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, welcomed the attendees, presented the conference’s program and introduced the speakers. Additionally, thanked Intertrust for their collaboration with the Chamber regarding the event’s organization.

Carlos Ferrer, Cuatrecasas’ member, explained the following financial tools to invest in and from Spain: FCPs, SIF, SICAR, RAIF, SOPARFI and SPF, detailing their characteristics as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each one of them. After that, he showed how the foreign investors invest their money in our country through the structures to invest in property and NPLs (Non Performing Loans).

Afterwards, Joel Cárdenas, Director General at Intertrust Luxembourg, presented the wide variety of services that his company offers and he highlighted the help that they provide to companies in order to solve administrative problems that show up when they decide to set up to another country,

Subsequently, there was a Q&A session where the attendees asked their questions to the two speakers.

Finally, Bram Eijsbouts, Commercial Director at Intertrust Luxembourg, started his speech by highlighting the professional career of Intertrust in the Grand Duchy since 1955 and underlined that it is the second local office with more professionals, in particular 450. He also explained the current situation of the company in Spain and pointed out its adaptability regarding the current challenges they are facing, guaranteeing a personalized service and adapted to each client.

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Industry leaders from the whole of Europe advocate in favor of the Mediterranean Corridor

The past October 3rd, the biggest Meeting for the Mediterranean Corridor (Corredor Mediterráneo), took place in Madrid (IFEMA). The Secretary General of the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, María Catalán, attended this event which counted on the support of more than 1,500 entrepreneurs and civil society from the whole Spanish territory.

The meeting started with an exhibition displaying by means of information panels the present situation of the development of the related public works, segment by segment, as well as the foreseen benefits stemming from the Mediterranean Corridor (Corredor Mediterráneo);job creation and a higher level of employment, an infrastructure connecting over 20 million people, with an increase of the affluence of tourism, as well as the overall boosting of the Spanish economy and an improved mobility.

Thereupon, took place two panels in which leading members of industrial organizations & business groups, Chambers of Commerce as well as renown sportsmen explained why undertaking the necessary works for the development of such infrastructure is an urgent need. In the first panel, José Mª Albarracín, President of CROEM (Confederation of Business Organizations of the Region of Murcia), Alejandro Blanco, President of the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE), Javier González de Lara, President of the CEA (Confederation of Business Organizations of Andalousia), Salvador Navarro, President of the CEV (Confederation of Business Organizations of the Valencian Community) and Alejandro Valverde, Professional cyclist, highlighted the positive impact of the Mediterranean Corridor on tourism as well as on the improved mobility of both passengers and goods.

During the second panel, Federico Félix, President of the Pro-AVE (Spanish High Speed Train) Foundation, Joaquim Gay de Montellà, President of Fomento del Trabajo Nacional (Advancement of National Employment), J. Pablo Lázaro, President of the CEIM (Business Confederation of Madrid), Diego Martínez Cano, President of Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Almeria and Agnès Noguera, CEO of Libertas 7, explained their point of view on Transport infrastructures and their impact as the backbone of the National Territory and the competitiveness of the industry and the economy.

Following those speeches, Vicente Boluda, President of the Valencian Association of Business (Asociación Valenciana de Empresarios – AVE), the driving force promoting the communication channel www.elcorredormediterraneo.com, aiming to inform on the state of the works of the different segments conforming the Mediterranean Corridor, opened the closing ceremony of the event, which was conducted by Macarena Berlín (Ser radio station) and Diego Lorente (AVE – Valencian Association of Business). During his speech, Vicente Boluda presented the project and announced that during next November will take place in La Encina the 2nd sixmonthly monitoring meeting, in which will be studied from a technical point of view, the progress made in all the segments of the Corridor.

During the Closing Ceremony of the event, both Civil Society and the world of Business & Industry joined forces to advocate for the need of a key infrastructure for the whole of Spain. Susanne Czech, Director General of the European Retail Round Table, emphasized the European vision on the importance of infrastructures for the Economy. Javier Vega de Seoane, President of Círculo de Empresarios (Business & Industry Round Table), highlighted the role of the Corridor as a backbone of the territory.


Moreover the President of the Spanish Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Cámaras de Comercio de España), José Luis Bonet, stressed on the fact that exports represent 33% of the Spanish GDP, therefore, the Mediterranean Corridor would not only boost the export sector, but it would also have a positive impact on employment and job creation.

Juan Rosell, President of the CEOE (Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations) also put forward his opinion, emphasizing the huge potential of the Corridor on one of Spain’s main sectors and a driving force of its economy – Tourism. A link connecting the whole of the Mediterranean region would improve and multiply the movement of people. The Leader of Círculo de Economía (Economy Circle), Juan José Brugera, added that the completion of this infrastructure should be an urgent priority, and a key factor as a backbone for the organization of the Territory to the profit of the whole of Spain.

The last speech of the event was that of the Minister of Development (Ministro de Fomento), Íñigo De la Serna, stating the commitment and the political will to complete this strategic infrastructure.

#QuieroCorredor (#IWantCorridor)

The campaign to collect signatures which started about a year ago to promote the awareness on the infrastructure among Civil Society, has already obtained 26.000 signatures of people supporting #QuieroCorredor (#IWantCorridor) .