Belgian Economic Mission to the Arab Republic of Egypt 24-28 May 2008 Organised by the regional institutions for Foreign Trade (Brussels Export, Flanders Investment & Trade - FIT, the Wallonia Foreign Trade and Investment Agency - AWEX) and the Belgian Foreign Trade Agency 1 His Royal Highness Prince Philippe of Belgium HRH Prince Philippe was born on April 15, 1960 in Brussels, Belgium, as first Board of the Foreign Trade Agency, replacing the BFTB. child of HM King Albert II and HM Queen Paola. He is first in the line of succession to the throne of Belgium and, as such, he bears the title of Duke On June 21, 1994 he became a member of the Senate. of Brabant. In addition to his various official duties, Prince Philippe concentrates on On December 4, 1999 the Prince married Miss Mathilde d’Udekem d’Acoz. gaining more in-depth knowledge of his country, its role and its image in the world and in international relations. Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde have 4 children: Elisabeth (2001), Gabriel (2003), Emmanuel (2005) and Eléonore (2008). The Prince is keenly interested in the situation of young people and their integration in the society of tomorrow. He therefore visits schools and At the end of secondary school, which he attended both in French and in universities, but also follows closely various social issues such as Dutch, the Prince continued his education at the Royal Military Academy from unemployment and the struggle against poverty and exclusion. which he graduated in 1981. He then subsequently qualified as fighter pilot (1982) and as a paratrooper- and commando officer before assuming In May 1997, Prince Philippe was appointed Honorary Chairman of the command over a paratrooper platoon. He now holds the rank of Major- Belgian Federal Council for Sustainable Development, created after the General in the Armed Forces (2001). Conference of Rio. Prince Philippe completed his academic training at Trinity College, University In 1998 the Prince Philippe Fund was created, with the aim of fostering of Oxford (UK) and at the Graduate School of Stanford University (USA) where exchanges between citizens or organisations from all three Communities of he took a “Master of Arts Degree” in political science in 1985. our country. The Prince holds an Honorary Doctorate of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven In 2003, Prince Philippe became Honorary Chairman of BIO (Belgian (conferred in 2002). Investment Company for Developing Countries). As a result of the increasing number of commitments, the “Household of Since 2004, Prince Philippe is also Honorary Chairman of the European Chapter Prince Philippe” was created in 1992. of the Club of Rome and of the International Polar Foundation. On August 6, 1993 by Government decision, Prince Philippe was appointed In May 2004, Prince Philippe obtained his licence as a civilian helicopter pilot. Honorary Chairman of the Belgian Foreign Trade Board (BFTB). He succeeded He spends his rare leisure moments at home with his family and also likes to his father, who had been Honorary Chairman of the BFTB since 1962. In this to read, especially on subjects related to the problems and challenges capacity, Prince Philippe has headed more than forty important economic confronting men and women in today's society. He practises sports regularly missions, of which the most recent are India, Japan and Brazil (2005), South and is keen to maintain a healthy physical condition. Africa, the Federation of Russia, Canada (East coast) and Bulgaria & Romania (2006), China and Bahrain & Qatar (2007), USA (Seattle) & Canada (Vancouver) (2008). On May 3, 2003 Prince Philippe was appointed Honorary Chairman of the 2 His Royal Highness Prince PHILIPPE of Belgium 3 Born in Liège, 22 November 1964 Political career Deputy Speaker, Chamber of Representatives : July 2004 - Education and professional activities March 2008 Industrial pharmacist and test-laboratories expert-consultant 1st Alderman, City Council of Charleroi : December 2006 - MA (Pharmacy), Free University of Brussels/Université Libre May 2007 de Bruxelles Royal Atheneum of Charleroi Minister for the Arts, Literary culture and the Audiovisual of the Government of the French Community Wallonia-Brussels : February 2004 - July 2004 Current political mandates Chairman of the united Federation of PRL Charleroi -Thuin : State Secretary for Foreign Affairs : since March 2008 2000 - 2002 Chairman, MR federation of Hainaut province : since Federal Member of Parliament : 1999 - June 2003 and July November 2004 2004 - March 2008 Member, National council of MR : since 2002 Walloon and French Community Deputy : 1998 - 1999 Member, National Bureau of PRL : 1990 - 1992 and since 1997 Other responsibilities Councillor, City Council of Charleroi : since 1993 Chairman of Delipro Jeunesse : since March 2004 National Chairman of the Jeunes Mutualistes Libéraux (J.M.L.) : 1997 - 2000 4 HE Olivier CHASTEL State Secretary for Foreign Affairs 5 Patricia Ceysens is born in Maaseik. She lives in Leuven since 1988 and has three sons. Patricia Ceysens graduated from law school in 1988 at the Catholic University of Leuven . She also obtained a degree in Marketing Management from CMO (now Syntra) in 1991. Patricia Ceysens has been a barrister in Leuven from 1988 till 1999. From 1990 onwards she practiced law in Brussels at Loeff, Claeys, Verbeke (now Allen & Overy Belgium) where she specialised in intellectual property rights. From 1989 until 1990 she also acted as an academic assistant at the law school of the KU Leuven. Patricia Ceysens started her political career as a city councillor in 1995. In the same year she also became provincial councillor and was elected as a member of the Flemish Parliament. In 1999 Patricia Ceysens became the president of the Health Commission in parliament. In June 2003 she became the Flemish Minister of Economy, Foreign Affairs and E-government. Since 2004 she was President of the Open Vld group in the Flemish Parliament and Vice-President of her party. From October 2007 she is the Flemish Minister for Economy, Enterprise, Science, Innovation and Foreign Trade. 6 HE Patricia CEYSENS Flemish Minister for Economy, Enterprise, Science, Innovation and Foreign Trade 7 Summary PAGES Private Public Organisations, Chambers & of Commerce and Federations 11 Financial Sector 25 Industrial Service Companies & 29 Public Sector 83 9 Private & Public Organisations, Chambers of Commerce and Federations 11 AGORIA AGORIA is Belgium's largest employers' organisation and trade association representing more than 1,500 members active in the technology industry in Diamant Building Belgium, more specifically in following markets: aerospace - automotive - Boulevard A. Reyers 80 construction products - contracting & maintenance - electrical engineering - industrial automation - information and communication technologies (ICT) - B - 1030 Brussels mechatronical engineering - metals & materials - metal processing - mounting +32 2 706 81 47 & cranes - plastics - security & defence. +32 2 706 79 43 AGORIA’s member companies supply goods and provide services for many [email protected] international projects abroad: equipment for large-scale infrastructure works, www.agoria.be oil, gas and petrochemical plants, international sports events, environmental infrastructure, construction, renewable energy, ICT solutions for the financial sector, equipment & services for the medical and paramedical sectors, textile machinery, etc. A substantial number of companies with world-leading know- how and experience in a particular market are joining forces in AGORiA's international business development clubs. 12 Pieter-Jan PROVOOST Area Manager Middle East & Africa AGORIA / BOG (Belgian Oil & Gas Group) The B.O.G brings together Belgian companies which supply highly specialized technology equipment and services to the oil, gas and energy market. Sectors include field development, midstream projects, refineries and petrochemical Diamant Building plants and conventional energy production. B.O.G currently counts 105 Boulevard A. Reyers 80 members, spread over small, medium-sized and large companies of the B - 1030 Brussels technological level required to succeed in these demanding markets. +32 2 706 81 47 +32 2 706 79 43 Main types of fabrication and services include: electrical, mechanical and electronic equipment, plant automation and software, contracting, marine [email protected] works, inspection services. www.agoria.be/bog Together these companies represent more then 90 % of the know-how and added value of the oil & gas equipment & services industry in Belgium. Pieter-Jan PROVOOST 13 Director ARAB-BELGIUM-LUXEMBOURG CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Created in 1961 and member of the General Union of the Chambers of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture for the Arab Countries since 1978, the Chamber plays an active role in the development & consolidation of the Rue Mignot Delstanche 60 economic relations between Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the B - 1050 Brussels Arab countries. +32 2 344 82 04 The Chamber has a range of activities available to its members: - economic and commercial information +32 2 347 57 64 - promotion of imports & exports between the Arab countries and Belgium and Luxembourg [email protected] - transmission of tender offers and business proposals www.ccbla.org - settlement of litigations - economic missions to the Arab countries - colloquia, seminars, conferences, Arab days - edition of a tri-monthly magazine and a monthly bulletin - certification of documents