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A business delegation from Belgium has arrived in Armenia as the Belgian-Armenian Chamber of Commerce is celebrating its 20th anniversary of founding.
The businessmen have arrived with both concrete business ideas, as well as for an exploratory visit.
Ambassador of Belgium to Armenia, Eric De Muynck, said at a press conference that there is great potential to strengthen the economic ties between Armenia and Belgium.
“I have already served as Belgium’s Ambassador to Armenia for two years. As you know, the role of an embassy is to build bridges between two countries. I believe that economic diplomacy is an important tool for strengthening ties. During this time, we have identified several sectors of interest and are working to attract the attention of Belgian investors to Armenia. I would like to highlight education and innovation.
In this context, I’d like to mention that a TUMO Center will be opened in the Belgian city of Liège, which is a very important step. In addition, there are several other interesting initiatives—for example, the Armath engineering lab program. We are also interested in the semiconductor industry. We know that Armenia trains high-quality engineers, and I see great potential here as well,” the ambassador said, adding that significant work has also been done in food industry over the past two years.
The Belgian business delegation represents various areas such as insurance, healthcare, IT, construction and others.
Valéry Safarian, the President of the Belgian-Armenian Chamber of Commerce, said that some of the businessmen have already found cooperation opportunities in Armenia and are actively working in that direction.
“Thanks to years of work, we have gradually reached the point where Belgian entrepreneurs are now showing interest in investing in Armenia. There is still serious work to be done, especially in terms of marketing and raising awareness. The ambassador also plays an important role in promoting Armenia in the Belgian market, carrying out extensive informational efforts. Armenia has great economic potential, and raising awareness in that direction is truly important,” said Safarian.
The Chamber has succeeded in involving Bimex, one of the world’s leading suppliers of spare parts for the mining industry, in Armenia.
“Years ago, it would have been hard to imagine such companies taking an interest in Armenia. Today, many of them approach us on their own initiative, asking for support in finding suitable partners in Armenia,” Safaryan added.
Pluritech founder Eric Wyns is among the visiting businessmen. This is his third visit to Armenia.
“My interest is in the field of IT. I realized that, in fact, there are more opportunities here than I had imagined. With the support of the Embassy of Belgium in Armenia and the Belgium-Armenia Chamber of Commerce, we found partners and are already developing a concrete business project,” he said.
The businessmen also plan to attend the DigiTec Armenia Expo.
At the initiative of Bana Angels, the partner of the Chamber, the investors will visit the offices of major companies such as PicsArt, TUMO and ServiceTitan.
The Belgian-Armenian Chamber of Commerce was founded by Valéry Safarian in 2005 with a mission to bolster economic cooperation.