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Belgium beckons businessmen

Special Correspondent

— Photo: V. Ganesan

TALKING TRADE: K. Suresh, Chairman, Chennai Port Trust, with Herman Merckx, Consul-General of Belgium (left), at a seminar organised by The Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Chennai on Tuesday. A. Sankarakrishnan, president, Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is in the picture.

CHENNAI: Belgium, India's seventh largest trading partner, offers a big opportunity for import and export. It occupies a unique place in the European Union. The bilateral relations are good and growing. Belgium boasts of an excellent road, rail and waterway network and warehousing facilities. The good business potential of the two countries should be exploited, speakers said at a seminar here on Tuesday.

In his presentation on the seminar's theme, "How to start business with Belgium: A gateway to Europe," Georges L C. Baekelmans, executive council member of the Indo-Belgian-Luxemborg Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IBLCCI), said the people of Belgium were entrepreneurs and were always looking for a good deal. The Belgian entrepreneurs were looking to expand their operations to Asia. They were misinformed by the Belgian media about what India was and how it worked.

India's rising middle class was looking for Western goods. There was a huge opportunity for Indian distributors because they had the first choice of suppliers and goods and they could demand first-class treatment and discounts because of the opening market. Belgium needed raw materials, semi-finished goods, cheaper labour and services. Belgians liked handmade material, Indian furniture and silk, authentic foreign products and India for its culture and spiritual heritage.

Consul-General of Belgium Herman Merckx said it had excellent road, rail and air connections. The Belgian inland waterways played a vital role in the transport network. The country had a multi-lingual population. In general, English was the business language. There was a social security system. The country had low crime rate. Sashidharan, treasurer, IBLCCI, said there was more than diamonds in Indo-Belgian trade, and the recent years of trade witnessed the greatest growth in the services sector with Indian companies.

Madras Port Trust Chairman K. Suresh and Raj Khalid, India Representative, Port of Antwerp, made presentations on the operations at the Chennai and Antwerp ports. The seminar was organised by the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the IBLCCI.

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