10 The King and Queen of Belgium visit Oman and the UAE From the 2nd unti l the 5th of February 2022 , the King of Belgium; King Philippe, accompanied by his wife; Queen Mathilde, and the official Belgian delegat ion, vi s i ted both the Sultanate of Oman and the United Arab Emirates. F i r s t l y , t he roya l couple visited Oman, where they held stops in the cities of Muscat and Duqm. This visit was focused on the renewable energy transition happening i n Oman and on promoting Belgian-Omani economic and investment cooperation, particularly in the area of green and clean energy. It was the first visit outside of Europe for the Belgian King since the beginning of the Corona pandemic. King Philippe was also the first European leader to be received by the Sultan of Oman; Sultan Haitham. One of the first activities in Oman included the inauguration of the Port of Duqm, which was completed in collaboration with the Port of Antwerp. The new port was built to accommodate imports and exports to and from Oman to an ever growing international market. Another aim of the “Hyport Duqm” project is to produce green hydrogen, which is implemented by Oker in partnershipwith the Belgian company DEME (a member of the Board of Directors of the ABLCC). In addition, a second visit was made to Hyport, a newly built power plant capable of producing hydrogen; a valid, sustainable, and green alternative to traditional energy sources. The Port of Duqm and Hyport are both projects aiming to transform the Duqm Special Economic Zone into a global center for the production of green and environmentally friendly hydrogen. After Oman, the Belgian royalties and delegation visited the United Arab Emirates. One of their stops there was the Belgian pavilion at World Expo in Dubai. Picture from left to right: the Belgian Queen Mathilde, the Belgian King Philippe, and the Omani Sultan Haitham.
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