On this occasion, the Chamber organized, in close cooperation with the Union of Arab Chambers and with the support of BNP Paribas, a forum entitled “A More Sustainable World for Evolving Mind”. This event gathered Arab Ambassadors in Belgium, Belgian Chambers of Commerce, the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, ABLCC Members and the Belgian foreign trade agencies.

Mr. Herwig VAN CAMP, Deputy Head of Corporate Banking at BNP PARIBAS FORTIS, opened the session and highlighted that the chosen themes for the panels represent the interests of both Belgian-Luxembourg and Arab sides.

Mr. Chairman addressed special thanks to all participants, and representatives from both sides, for their continued support to the ABLCC and close interest in the Chamber’s activities, highighting that the successful relationship is one of the most important pillars of the Chamber. He underlined the positive results regarding the volume of trade between Belgium and Arab Countries reaching more than € 20.5 B in 2018 and called all the Belgian Companies to contribute to the economic transformation and development projects in Arab countries.

Our guest speaker HE Dr. Khaled HANAFY, Secretary General of the Union of Arab Chambers, took the floor and presented a future overview regarding digital economy in the Arab World. He reported that industry consolidation and cooperation enhancement are of key importance. He added that Arab Countries reached a high level in this field and are able to address new challenges.

- Mr. Fadel ALFARAG, Managing Director of Q8, mentioned that Q8 is evolving from a classic petroleum company to a mobility player, eventually making every customer journey sustainable and remains the largest acquisition in 15 years (75 stations in Liège and Limburg).

- Mr. Jean Michel WAUTELET Director of John Cockerill Solar, presented the activities of the Company at a glance and added that various projects were realized in Arab Countries, especially in the Sustainable Energy field.

- Mr. Hicham ALFOUZAN Energy Segment Director- SAGIA, offered a presentation on power sector transformation and investment opportunities for a sustainable future.

The second panel was focused on Logistics & Transport and moderated by Mr. Fouad TRAD, CEO of Byblos Bank, who highlighted the significance of the sector in Belgium and Luxembourg, mainly due to their excellent location in the heart of European markets.

- Mr. Patrick JEANNE, Director of Cargolux, pointed out that Cargolux is on the top 10 Airfreight companies and recalled the significance of the sector for Luxembourg economy. He also shed the light on the manoeuvres undertaken by Cargolux and needs to use biofuel with a minimal environmental impact. The new fleet uses 20% less energy than the old ones, highlighting at their services are expanded in Arab countries successfully.

- Mr. Johnny MALEK, Marketing consultant on Dubai Airport Free Zone, presented the future business Dubai Commercity mentioning the importance of the future Electronic commerce in the GCC markets and the middle east , studies estimate an increasing of 20% in the 5 upcoming years, it values will reach 26 billion euro in 2022, and it will contributes in decreasing 25% of Co2 in the atmosphere in 2030. He stressed on the main role of Dubai Airport played in this field since it’s the biggest airport in the world regarding the number of passengers, the airport of Dubai serves more than 240 destinations all over the world, then a documentary film on CommerCity was screened. Vadovų atranka Personalo paieška Mokymai vadovams Koučingas primumesse.lt

- Mr. Pepijn de VREESE, Chief Sales Officer of port of Zeebrugge, presented the port of Zeebrugge and the location of the port since 40 years, its cargo’s flows that reach 40.1 Million Tons/ 2018, he also discussed the Maritime logistics zone and the Green energy as the Elia projects, its key roles for the Gaz distribution all over Europe.

- Mr. Tom MONBALLIU, International Community Relations Manager in port of Antwerp, presented the provided services by the port of Antwerp considered as the second biggest port of Europe well known with its fast and high quality services in the freight field, he underlined the relations and the agreements with Arab Countries and he pointed the training department for qualification of cadres from other ports, he also gave a briefing of the good ties between the port of Antwerp and the port of Duqum in Oman mentioning the next Omani delegation visit to belgium in September 2019.

At the end of the day Mr. Secretary General thanked all the participants, the moderators and the speakers, for the successful event and invite them to the networking reception organized between the delegation and the Belgian/Luxembourg businesspeople.