On 10 March a representation of the European Chambers that are part of the Federation of Spanish Chambers of Commerce in Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania (FEDECOM) travelled to Madrid for a meeting with the team in charge of the Integral Programme of Qualification and Employment (PICE) Management at the Spanish Chamber of Commerce.

The PICE is an initiative of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce. It is part of the Entrepreneur and Young Employment Strategy of the Spanish System of Youth Guarantee. It contains a series of measures offered to all the young people to which Youth Guarantee addresses. These measures are customized and deal with the improvement of education and qualification as well as with the promotion of job creation and self-employment.

Federation of Spanish Chambers of Commerce in Europe aims at cooperation with the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in some of the projects that integrate the Programme and that include actions abroad for young people.

María Catalán, Secretary General of FEDECOM and the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, Igor Urra, Secretary General of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain and José Manuel Escoín, Secretary General of the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in France, participated in the meeting.

The Federation of Spanish Chambers of Commerce in Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania (FEDECOM AISBL) organized on 9 December its Ordinary General Assembly in Madrid. The meeting took place at the premises of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce and included the participation of the Director General of Trade and Investment, Antonio José Fernández-Martos, the Director General of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, Immaculate Riera and representatives of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, the Spanish Chamber of Commerce and FEDECOM. The Chamber´s members of FEDECOM who couldn’t be present at the Assembly joined by call.

During the Assembly, among other discussed issues was the role currently played by the Secretary of State for Trade and Investment in CAMACOES network activity and the functional link between the Official Chambers outside and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce. The activity report and the annual accounts for the year 2014 were approved by the Federation as well.

Juan Rodríguez-Villa Matons (Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg) was reelected as Chairman of FEDECOM and José Miguel Garcia (Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in France) and Felix Bonmatí (Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Italy) were appointed Vice-Presidents.

On 24 November the Plenary session of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Madrid took place. Juan Rodríguez-Villa Matons, as President of FEDECOM Europe-Africa-Asia-Oceania, participated in the meeting, which was also attended by the President of FECECA, Rafael Roldán.

The Plenary session of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce appointed Adolfo Diaz-Ambrona as Secretary General of the institution. The new Secretary General, whose incorporation into the Chamber will take place in January 2016, has been selected by a public tender procedure.

The public tender to appoint the Secretary General of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce was launched on last October 5^th publishing the vacancy announcement in the largest daily newspaper in Spain and on the website of the institution, as established by the Chamber’s Internal Regime Regulations.

The President of FEDECOM, Juan Rodríguez-Villa Matons, participated in the last plenary of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Madrid on 29 September.

During the plenary the new organizational chart of the institution was approved. It aims to encourage internationalization and competitiveness of SME´s and to improve services for companies and coordination of the 88 territorial Chambers of commerce.

The highest governing organ of the Spanish Chamber has given green light for the appointment of Inmaculada Riera as the new managing director of the institution and for the launch of the public contest to fill the position of Secretary General, after the resignation of the current mandate holder, Carmen de Miguel.

Inmaculada Riera is a Law graduate who studied at the University of Barcelona; she completed postgraduate studies in International Politics and Economy at the University of Florencia (Italy); she has a degree in Comparative Law at the University of Strasbourg (France); PADE by the IESE, and Forex International Degree (A.C.I.) in financial markets.

Her professional career started in 1984 and was developed primarily in the private sector, within the economic-financial spheres, the field of international relations and innovation.

She occupied responsible positions at the Venecia Savings Bank (Italia), the Bank of Sanpaolo (Grupo Instituto Bancario Sanpaolo di Torino), Arthur Andersen and PwC. She was a teacher in economic and financial matters at ESADE and other Spanish universities and European Institutions and was a speaker on many occasions at various Seminars and Conferences at both national and international level for economic and financial matters.

She was member of the Italian Forex Club, of the Assotiation Cambiste Internacional and of the Spanish Forex Club. She is a permanent member of the Tribuna España-Italia, organized annually by the CIDOB and AREL, and is member and speaker at the Tribuna España-Corea. She actively participates in the Advisory Foundation Spain-India and she also participated in the forums of the Advisory Foundations Spain-Japan and Spain-China.

Inmaculada Riera has been deputy of the CiU at the Congress of Deputies during the seventh, ninth and tenth legislature. She has occupied the positions of vice-president at the Commission of Economy and Finances, the presidency of the Sub-Commission for Privatizations and she has been spokeswoman at the Commissions of the ´Pacto de Toledo´ agreement, Science and Innovation, Industry, Telecommunications and I+D+I, and deputy spokeswoman at the Economic Commission.

Furthermore, she was member of the Spanish Delegation at the interparliamentary meetings of the ESA (European Space Agency) and she was a permanent member of the interparliamentary meetings of the OECD.

Coordination with the network of the Chambers is done by María Teresa Gómez Condado, Director of Coordination of the Chambers. She is Technician at the Civil Administration of the State; she has a degree in Law and Political Sciences and Sociology at the Complutense University of Madrid; she holds a diploma in French Language and Civilization at the Sorbonne University of Paris; she has a master´s degree management development at the National Institute of Public Administration, a master´s degree in Corporate Management at the IESE and Executive Development Program at ESADE.

Teresa Gómez Condado worked in the private sector as director at the Banca Institucional, Banco Santander and the Banco Santander Central Hispano. At the public administration she fulfilled various positions: general director of MUFACE, director of the Centre for Institutional Cooperation, deputy secretary-general of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce and deputy secretary-general of the Ministry of Science and Innovation, among other things.

The President´s Office is headed by Mercedes Pizarro. As a graduate in Economic and Business Sciences, Mercedes Pizarro was incorporated in the Spanish Chamber of Commerce after she passed through ICEX Spain Export and Investments, an organization where she was Director of the Industrial Technology and Professional Services division between 2013 and 2015. Previously, she was manager of the Projects Division at the same organization, in the period 2012-2013.

Pizarro also has extensive experience in business organizations since she worked at the Fomento del Trabajo Nacional, the Catalan employers´ organization, for 11 years. At this organization her professional path started as Junior Technician of the Economic Department. Afterwards, in 2004, she was appointed director of this department. As an economic and financial analyst, she also rendered services at Catalunya Caixa as Senior Technician of the Research Department for six years (1998-2004).

Communication and Marketing management is done by María Jesús Luengo. She holds a degree in information sciences at the Complutense University of Madrid and arrived at the Spanish Chamber of Commerce since the foundation of the Savings Bank Foundation (Funcas), where she worked as Communication Manager. Previously, she occupied the position of Communication and Protocol Manager at AENA and Communication manager of the second vice-presidency of the Government and the Ministry of Economy and Finance. With an extensive experience in communications, she was responsible for the economic information at Canal+ and CNN+ for 14 years.

The management team of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce is completed by Alfredo Bonet, International director; José Luis Coll, director of Competitiveness; Mar Pérez, Financial director and director of General Services and Pedro Galán, director of Information Systems.

Alfredo Bonet occupies the position of International Director. As an economic and business sciences graduate, Bonet is Commercial Technician and State Economist. He occupied various administrative jobs: general director of Promotion of the ICEX, secretary general of foreign trade and secretary of state for Foreign Trade. Furthermore, he was economic and commercial advisor at the embassies of Spain in Miami and Milan, as well as at the Permanent Delegation of Spain to the OECD in Paris. In the private sector he has been general director of the consultancy firm Altair Asesores.

José Luis Coll is director of Competitiveness. As a Law graduate at the Complutense University of Madrid, he was incorporated in the former Higher Council of Chambers of Commerce in 2003, coming from the Regional Council of Chambers of Castilla and León. In the private sector he worked at Grupo Pfizer, at the Banco Español de Crédito and at Iberdealer, in addition to practicing law for various years.

Mar Pérez is director of the financial department. She studied economy at the Complutense University of Madrid and has a Master´s degree in Business Administration and Management at ICADE. She has about 20 years of experience in the field of finances of the institution and has an extensive record in the multinational private sector in both consultancy and restoration of luxury properties.

Pedro Galán is director of Computer Systems. As a technical engineer in Computer Systems, he has been responsible for the department of Information Systems of the former Higher Council of Chambers of Commerce since the year 2000. Previously, he has been system administrator, programmer and analyst programmer at Camerdata.

Finally, the Plenary has approved Felipe VI the concession of highest distinction of the Spanish Chamber, the Grand Cross of the Order of Congress of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, for his contribution to the development and internationalization of Spanish companies.

Source: Spanish Chamber of Commerce