BWI: Their Royal Highnesses Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde along with Deputy Prime Minister Steven Vanackere of Belgium Lead Economic Mission into India from 22-27 March 2010

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: Belgium Embassy
Thursday, March 18, 2010 04:35 PM IST (11:05 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Economy, Politics, Social issues
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Their Royal Highnesses Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde along with Deputy Prime Minister Steven Vanackere of Belgium Lead Economic Mission into India from 22-27 March 2010
Economic Mission to broaden existing bilateral ties with the signing of 28 agreements in New Delhi, Pune, Mumbai and Bangalore

New Delhi, Delhi, India, Thursday, March 18, 2010 -- (Business Wire India) -- His Royal Highness Prince Philippe of Belgium will come to India from March 22nd to 27th on an official visit on the invitation of the Vice President of India, HE Mr. Hamid Ansari. HRH Prince Philippe will head a 340 person strong economic mission across four key cities - New Delhi, Pune, Mumbai and Bangalore. He is joined by Her Royal Highness Princess Mathilde and HE Mr. Steven Vanackere, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Belgium. This is HRH Prince Philippe's fourth economic mission to India.

Representatives from business and academic spheres are taking part in the mission, which aims to further existing ties between the two countries and foster and expand bilateral trade and investments.The Economic Mission is multi-sectoral with important clusters in logistics and infrastructure, automotive, ICT, biopharma, renewable energy and aerospace. Multiple companies from other sectors, such as gems & jewellery, financial services, agro-industry, electronics, chemical industry, and the audiovisual industry will also participate.

In New Delhi, the mission plan includes meetings with the President, the Vice-President, the Prime Minister, cabinet Ministers and highly ranked government officials as well as an Indo-Belgian Business forum and a Belgian Public Transport & Infrastructure Summit. In Pune HRH will amongst others visit the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries & Agriculture. In Mumbai, besides meetings with the State authorities, HRH will be opening the Cargo SHOP Exhibition, inaugurating a series of local offices of Belgian companies and attending a Charity Gala event organized by the Belgo-Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in favor of the National Domestic Workers' Movement. HRH will also pay tribute to the victims of 26/11.

In Bangalore HRH will meet the State authorities and be present at a series of signing ceremonies between Belgian and Indian companies.

In total the Economic Mission to India will witness the signing of 28 high-level business agreements between Belgian and Indian companies in all four visited cities as well as numerous B-2-B contacts.

Various issues of mutual interest will be discussed during the official contacts with Central and State authorities. Talks will include trade as well as other bilateral and international issues. The visit will also enable both countries to forge a closer rapport and provide opportunities to explore new areas of cooperation, thereby strengthening the existing relations.

"We expect this year to be a milestone in the Indo-Belgian relationship. This economic mission is the biggest from Belgium to date as we look to diversify trade with India. Towards that purpose, the mission is scheduled to have multi-sector engagements across the four cities," said Ambassador of Belgium to India, HE Jean M. Deboutte.

Trade and Economic links between India and Belgium

Belgium is currently India's third most important trading partner within the European Union (EU), preceded only by Germany and the United Kingdom (UK). Total bilateral import and export exceeded Euro 8.7 billion in 2008. There are close to 150 Belgian enterprises formally established in India and several of the most distinguished, international Indian companies are active in Belgium. These include Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HCL, NIIT, Jet Airways, Jubilant Organosys, Crompton Greaves and Raymond, among others.

Bilateral economic relations are framed by several agreements between India and Belgium. These include a double taxation treaty, a bilateral investment treaty, a cooperation agreement in the area of science and technology and various transport agreements.

A bilateral social security agreement between Belgium and India entered into force on September 1, 2009. Belgium is the first nation to have entered into such an agreement with India.


CONTACT DETAILS
Harmita Datt Mishra, Belgium Embassy, +91 (11) 42428002, Harmita.datt@diplobel.fed.be
Kruti Arora, Creativitzt, +91 9899671686, krutiarora@gmail.com

KEYWORDS
ECONOMY, POLITICS, SOCIAL

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