A delegation from the Federation of Belgian Chambers of Commerce, headed by René Branders, the President and in the presence of Qaisar Hijazin, the Secretary General of the Arab-Belgian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, visited the UAC headquarters, where they met Dr. Khaled Hanafy, the Secretary General of the Union and discussed with him the mechanisms of enhancing the cooperation between the Arab and Belgian sides in various fields and all the promising sectors.
Dr. Hanafy spoke about the areas of cooperation between the Arab world and Belgium and stressed that "there are many sectors in which cooperation can be made between the Arab and Belgian sides, whether in the logistics sector or in the technology sector and other vital sectors, especially in the financial sector and banking services, in addition to the commercial sector."
He also said: "there is also a possibility of experience exchanging in the field of “Nanotechnology” as Belgium is a pioneer in this field. There is also a need to strengthen the cooperation in the field of health and medical technology, which will deepen the relationship between the Arab and Belgian sides."
Hanafy stressed that "the world today under the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the second digital revolution, is witnessing a tremendous leap in the field of technology, which necessitates the strengthening of cooperation in the digital economy, so that cooperation between the Arab and Belgian sides should not remain only based on trade, which would raise the economic relations to the desired level."
Mr. René Branders, the President of the Federation of Belgian Chambers of Commerce, pointed to the depth of the relations that tie the Arab world and Belgium, stressing that "there is a real opportunity today to explore the different ways to expand Belgian business with the Arab countries and to offer the best opportunities for investment, cooperation and partnership."
He also said, "we are living nowadays in a new trading environment that necessitates the establishment of a fruitful and strong partnership between the Arab countries and Belgium because it is an important center of finance in general and Islamic in particular, in view of the boom achieved by the economies of the Arab countries, especially the GCC economies, which are important sources of funding in Belgium, Luxembourg and the entire European Union Countries".
Mr. Branders ensured that "the private sector of the Arab and Belgian sides are required to play a bigger role in the next phase in order to change the current pattern of cooperation, so as not to remain limited to the government level. I believe that the investment opportunities are great and the Belgian companies have considerable experience in many sectors and it can implement huge projects in the Arab world, and can also play a major role in the reconstruction phase in both Syria and Iraq as well as in Libya and Yemen."
In turn, Qaisar Hijazin, the Secretary General of the Arab-Belgian Chamber, spoke about the reality of economic relations between the Arab and Belgian sides, and he pointed out that "the value of Belgian trade has improved significantly in 2018, especially the Belgian imports from the Arab world, where the value of trade between the two parties exceeded 20 billion euros for the first time and amounted to 20.5 billion euros."
Mr. Hijazin added "the Belgian imports increased from 7.9 billion euros in 2017 to 9.8 billion euros in 2018, or 29.9 percent, while the Belgian exports to the Arab countries fell from 11.4 billion euros in 2017 to 10.6 billion euros in 2018, representing a -6.6 percent, while the Belgian exports to the Arab countries in 2018 accounted for 2.7% of the total Belgian exports, and the Belgian imports from the Arab countries accounted for 2.6% of the total Belgian imports.
