Last June 24th, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg held its Ordinary General Assembly at the headquarters of the Instituto Cervantes in Brussels. The event gathered a large number of members and was attended by the Honorary President, the Ambassador of Spain in Belgium, Mr. Alberto Antón Cortés and the honorary Vice-President, the Economic and Commercial Counsellor, María Ortiz.

The event began with a brief speech by the President, Pablo López-Álvarez, welcoming and thanking all the members present and in particular the Ambassador for attending. He then gave the floor to the Ambassador, who thanked the Chamber for all the work done throughout the year, highlighting the work of the president, the two vice-presidents, the General Secretary and all the staff of the Chamber. He also thanked the members for their involvement.

Afterwards, and following the Agenda, the Secretary General informed about the activities carried out by the Chamber during the last financial year, included in the Annual Report of the Chamber for the year 2023. During the review, she highlighted the activity of last year as “extraordinary” and highlighted the positive trend in the increase of members. In the same line, the president pointed out that the last two financial years, 2022 and 2023, have marked a strong increase in the economic activity of the Chamber.

The report on the accounting situation of the Chamber as at 31 December 2023 was then presented. The Vice-President for Belgium, Abelardo García, took the floor on behalf of the Treasurer and made a detailed analysis of the balance sheet and the profit and loss account for the financial year 2023. In general terms, he described the financial situation of the Chamber as “very good”. He reported that the Chamber has a surplus of 315,000 euros thanks mainly to the large number of activities and dynamism of the Chamber obtained during the last year and which translates into a 7% economic growth in income.

The General Assembly approved the annual accounts for the financial year 2023, unanimously by those present and represented.

Renewal of the Board of Directors

The Secretary General announced the names of the members whose terms of office are coming to an end, as well as the candidatures received, which, in accordance with the provisions of the statutes, are standing for re-election.

This year, due to the limited number of candidates (7 candidates for 7 seats), all candidates are elected to serve as members of the Chamber’s Board of Directors for the next 3 years by popular acclaim.

The new members of the Board of Directors, as well as those revalidating their seats, are:
– Bert Dehandschutter, Modo Law (Member)
– Ruth Estrada, Schuman Associates (Member)
– Abelardo García González, BBVA (Member)
– Margarita González, Meteora (Member)
– Pablo López Alvarez, FTI Consulting (Member)
– Asier Marquina Sánchez, ArcelorMittal (Member)
– Manuel Menéndez Barrero, Santander Consulting Bank (Member)

To close the Assembly, the vice-president wanted to thank Álvaro Laorden for his great involvement and support in Luxembourg in the activities and the day to day of the Chamber and invited him to continue participating in the future. Likewise, the President also wanted to highlight the presence for the first time in the Assembly of the Councillor María Ortiz and to thank her for her collaboration throughout the 2023 financial year.