Pierre Vaesen, Ambassador of Belgium, addressed the students and faculty of Jaipuria Institute of Management, Lucknow. He was accompanied by Christopher Van Overstraeten, Trade Commissioner, Embassy of Belgium.

Born in Brussels, Pierre Vaesen served as the Ambassador of Belgium to India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka since February 2011.

Talking about Belgium’s efforts to strengthen ties with India, Vaesen began his interaction with the students by giving a brief account about Belgium and said that Belgium is a small country , it is ranked high in the world economy .He said 83% of Belgium’s GDP is generated from foreign trade and it is the second most active European trade-partner of India. It organized festivals and trade fairs like BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), and festivals on economics and trade. He said that ties between India and Belgium could be further improved with exchange of students of academic institutions and universities and in the education system. The Ambassador said that education was decisive for social progress. Highlighting that global world was the reality today; He said that short programmes could be worked out with the universities for the students.

While interacting with the students he talked in great detail about the Euro Zone, the European Union, Euro currency, challenges of recession and the demographic shift. He highlighted the fact that Belgium was centrally located in Europe and had three official languages9 French, Dutch, English)

He further said that it was an open-minded country and the quality of life there was good. He added that with Brussels being the capital of the European Union, it housed the headquarters of various MNCs and international institutions. He said that India and Belgium should further strengthen their bilateral ties.

Christopher Van Overstraeten, Trade Commissioner, Embassy of Belgium, while addressing the students said that Belgium was a federal country and the economic capital of the world. He informed the students about tax and fiscal revenue system prevalent in Belgium. He also informed them about the time-frame to start a business venture in Belgium and said that promoting festivals was a good opportunity to explore business environment.

He said that Indian companies were doing business in the field of aviation, engineering, life sciences, pharmaceuticals and renewable energy. He said that about 80 Indian companies were in Belgium while 160 Belgian companies were doing business in India.

Dr. Pankaj Gupta, Director General, Jaipuria Institute of Management while welcoming the guests talked about the global reality of today and advised the students to always keep this in mind making a decision.

He added that good cross-cultural ties lay at the root of a growing economy. Prof. SR Musanna, Director, Jaipuria Institute of Management, Lucknow, said that India had a good bilateral relationship with Belgium, the roots of which could be traced back to 1948 soon after it attained independence. He expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the guests and pledged to further strengthen the bilateral ties between India and Belgium.