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The Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, in close partnership with hub.brussels and BECI, the Embassy of Luxembourg in Belgium and the Enterprise Europe Network, organised a “GET2Know Your Neighbours” trade mission to Brussels from October 18th to 20th, 2022. The mission focused on data economy, healthtech and sustainable construction.
The trade mission began in the evening of Tuesday October 18th, when the delegation of 30+ representatives from Luxembourg was welcomed by H.E. Mr. Stephan Müller, Ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to the Kingdom of Belgium, at his official residence for a mission briefing followed by a dinner offered by the Embassy and the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce.
This mission briefing also served as a platform to showcase the growing ties between Belgium and Luxembourg, and the major role the business community and the Business Club Belgium-Luxembourg played in the recent years in fostering the economic ties.
However, as was stated by Mrs. Cindy Tereba, Director International Affairs of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, “we can always do better which is why we decided to launch our Business Club in the first place: to offer companies of both countries a platform for exchange of best practices, networking, and potentially new business opportunities”.
On October 19th, the sectoral trade mission aimed at discovering Brussels officially begun, when participating companies enjoyed the visits of healthtech company SimLabS & the digital health startup studio eHealth Venture. Simlabs is a laboratory for learning health professions through simulation based in the Erasmus Campus of the Free University of Brussels, whilst eHealth Venture focuses on creating, supporting, and scaling new and existing ventures which offer solutions in smart and digital health.
Following these visits, the delegation was hosted by hub.brussels for a working lunch discussion on emerging digital sectors, Brussels sectorial cluster initiatives and showcased Luxembourg-Brussels success stories such as the Brussels-based online CRM provider Efficy, who has been present in the Grand Duchy for years.
The highlight of the trade mission to Brussels was certainly the “Resilient Brussels & Luxembourg” economic forum organized in the afternoon. H.E. The Ambassador of Luxembourg to Belgium opened the floor before Mrs. Sabrina Aksil, International Affairs Markets Coordinator at the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, presented the Luxembourg economy to the audience of 60+ company representatives at the event. Following her presentation, hub.brussels CEO Mrs. Isabelle Grippa welcomed the Luxembourg Delegation before Mrs. Daphne Haegheman, Economic Attaché at the Brussels agency for business support went into the details of the fabric that makes up the Brussels economy.
A roundtable on “Luxembourg and Brussels resilience through digitalization and sustainability” followed the plenary session. It was animated by Mr Van Hullebus from hub.brussels and included interesting perspectives and testimonials from Ms. Véronique Pevtschin, CEO at TheGreenShot, Mr. Andrea Scammacca, COO at B Medical Systems, Mr. Georges Schaaf, Sustainability Manager at Luxinnovation, and Mr. Stefaan Sonck Thiebaut, CEO at Innoviris. Subsequently, participants from both countries could engage in numerous tailor-made b2b discussions before heading to the closing networking business dinner reception with the members of the Business Club Belgium-Luxembourg.
On the last day of the trade mission, October 20th, the delegation enjoyed visits of interesting sites and companies that focus on sustainability in the construction sector, starting with BC Materials, a company that transforms excavated earth of construction sites into building materials, before heading to PermaFungi, who uses the residue from their oyster mushroom farms to create a biodegradable material fully capable of replacing plastic.
Last but certainly not least, the delegation was introduced to the greenbizz.brussels incubator, one of its tenants, namely WeSmart (a collective energy community) as well the urban development agency citydev.brussels, before being given a guided tour of the “Tivoli” eco-district and its very own public fabrication laboratory, the “CityFab1”. This concluded the mission as the delegation headed back to Luxembourg after an intensive 48 hours of discovering our neighboring capital.
