Karel Van Eetvelt

Speaker
Dutch
French
English
Photo of Karel Van Eetvelt

Who is Karel Van Eetvelt?

Since October 2017, Karel has been CEO of Febelfin, which is the umbrella organisation for the banking sector. In addition, he is chairman of the public employment service of Flanders, the VDAB. He spent 13 years as managing director of UNIZO, which represents the interests of over 85,000 Flemish entrepreneurs. This involved acting as a spokesperson for the thousands of SMEs and self-employed people who help to keep our economy running. However, he does not come from a family of entrepreneurs. When he was young, he dreamed of becoming a professional sportsman, but discovered his first professional challenge elsewhere. Since 2004, he has been a passionate advocate of future-oriented enterprise. And his sports background has also resulted in another area of focus: the need for an effective health policy, also in the world of business.

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    Entrepreneurship in turbulent times

    We are not living in an era of change, but in a ‘change of era’. Our world is evolving extremely quickly. Society is undergoing a disruptive phase. This is having an impact on entrepreneurial activity.

    During this lecture, Karel Van Eetvelt highlights current and future trends and evolutions, and tells how entrepreneurs can and must respond to them. Instead of doom scenarios, expect a story with an open and optimistic view of the future. It is the result of thousands of business stories that Karel Van Eetvelt has heard over the years.

    Laws and regulations in a disruptive world: looking for new avenues

    This keynote focuses on the rapid change that our society is currently experiencing. But instead of addressing entrepreneurs, Karel focuses on lawmakers. Are our laws and regulations still futureproof? Are they able to resist the turbulence that is reshaping our society? How can we make sure that our laws and regulations are more in line with today's real world, so that we can quickly and efficiently exploit the opportunities we encounter?

    Health@work

    In this keynote, Karel explains why it is so important to implement a health policy and how entrepreneurs can adopt a very practical approach to creating a healthier society.

    The number of people that exercise for at least 30 minutes a day is decreasing year on year. In the meantime, the population is ageing rapidly and the number of obese people continues to increase, as does the number chronic illnesses. By 2040, costs associated with our healthcare will sky-rocket to over 40 billion euros. The situation is unsustainable.

    Entrepreneurs today: a portrait

    How many entrepreneurs are there in Flanders and Belgium at the moment? In which sectors are they mainly located? Why are some of them successful and others aren't? Where do they find the courage to start and the determination to keep going? In short, who is your typical entrepreneur at the moment?

    Karel paints a very varied portrait of contemporary entrepreneurs. But also clearly highlights the added value of entrepreneurs: for our economy, employment opportunities, standard of living and society in general.