The Official Chamber of Commerce of Spain in Belgium and Luxembourg has renewed for the next 3 years its collaboration agreement with StepStone, a leading digital employment platform with more than 20 years of experience in the search of online workers, with the aim of helping all the users of the portal Empleobelux.com to find a job.
This collaboration will facilitate the job search for all users of the website managed by the Chamber as the number of offers published daily in which Spanish is in demand will be increased.
With this extension of the collaboration agreement, the Chamber seeks to provide a wider and more beneficial service for the users of EmpleoBelux, facilitating the recruitment processes in Belgium and/or Luxembourg thanks to a recognised company such as Stepstone.

 

I receive the news that Carmen Bernad passed away.

Along with sadness, a feeling of admiration and gratitude arises on me for all that Carmen Bernad has meant for the image of Spain in Belgium.

She was our Vice-President for decades, more than deserving the presidency, which she did not reach because of statutory reasons. Her dedication to the Chamber has no other explanation than her love to Spain.

Her services to Spain are countless. Her relationship with the Antwerp City Council and its Port Authority paved the way for Spanish business interested in the economic capital of Flanders.

Carmen’s father, born in Burriana, importer of orange, ended up opening a grocery store in 1919, which he named El Valenciano. Over the time, El Valenciano moved its headquarters to an old mansion near the city’s Grote Markt. Carmen and her brothers gave the business a cultural dimension, or even made of it a cosy public relations centre. I remember the wonderful sunset on the terrace of that building, surrounded by friends, listening to the concert of the carillon of the nearby cathedral. I also remember that, among the tourist attractions, El Valenciano was a postcard image. Carmen boasted of having a fig tree in her house, perhaps, she said, the only one in that latitude. During the winter she use to cover it with paper to “shelter” it. In the winery of El Valenciano you could be transported to La Rioja, to Ribera del Duero, to Jerez… Carmen was proud of the fact that “her wine” was tasted at the French Consulate in Antwerp, Marqués de Riscal. No doubt she ‘put a spike in Flanders’.

In 2013, aware of Carmen’s support, I suggested to Miguel de la Quadra Salcedo that the RUTA QUETZAL expedition should visit Flanders. Carmen, then Honorary Consul in Antwerp, opened the doors of the city to the young expeditionaries. A success in which her successor, Barbara Moreels, had a lot to do. Because of her age, this was the last service that the Chamber requested from her.

Carmen was awarded by King Albert II, as a member of the Order of Leopold I and, distinguished by King Juan Carlos I, with the Lady’s Bond of the Order of Civil Merit.

Carmen is a very important part of the history of our Chamber. A role model for all of us.

From here I express to her brother Luciano, the condolences in the mane of our Board of Directors.

May she rest in peace.

Juan Rodriguez-Villa Matons

President

Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg

On September 3^rd , the Forum Committee, a working group whose aim is to offer, organize and follow the events of the Chamber, organized a meeting in the headquarters of the Chamber of Brussels.

During the meeting, chaired by Pablo López Álvarez (Vicepresident of the Chamber), the last events organized by the “Business circle” platform were discussed and new initiatives at the local level and with the European institutions for the next few months were submitted. Moreover, the Forum Committe discussed the possible speakers for the workshop on “Public advisory strategies and dialogue with the European institutions” organized by the Chamber the next October 2nd and 3rd.

About the Committees

The Committees are composed by some of our members as well as the responsible of the Chamber in the corresponding area.

These Committees have several responsibilities: to analyse thoroughly the proposals, problematic, projects and activities. Through them, the members influence daily the Chamber in order to better adapt the Chamber´s activities to their needs.

At all time, a member can ask the President of a Committee to be part of the Committee and ask the Secretary General to create a new group.

The bank ING Belgium becomes the new sponsor of the programme EmprendeBeLux, an initiative of the Chamber aimed at Spanish entrepreneurs living in BeLux to help them starting up and consolidating their business.

With well-stablished experience on the Belgian entrepreneurial ecosystem, ING Belgium offers a full range of services particularly aimed at those who are starting up their business in the country as well as to those who are on a more advanced stage. The bank offers, among other services, comprehensive advice to open a bank account and personalized guidance on the financing possibilities for new projects.

On the other hand, the EmprendeBeLux programme has launched a new website, where users can find different free tools to start their project in BeLux. It gathers also the next events and relevant news for entrepreneurs in BeLux.

For more information about the services provided by ING Belgium we invite you to visit their website.

The Yearbook 2019 of the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce of Spain in Belgium and Luxembourg is already available.

All members will receive a copy in the next few days by mail.

You can also read it through the Intranet by clicking on this link. 

This publication includes information on the services available to our members, the report of the activities organized by the Chamber during 2018, a description of the employment and entrepreneurship programs in which we are involved, as well as a directory of members by activity sector.

The Chamber wants to thank the support of all the member companies, which allow it to continue improving and responding to the needs of our members.

The Yearbook is available in English and Spanish.

In addition, we would like to thank the advertisers their collaboration in the Yearbook 2019, which have helped funding this publication: