Business in Belgium, Brussels

The objectives of the subject “International Trade and Business in” Belgium” are the following:

1. To analyse the Belgian Economy and Foreign Trade (Import, Export, FDI)
2. To know the business opportunities in the Belgian Market
3. To analyse the Belgian trade relations with the country of the student
4. To know the Belgian free trade agreements as a member of the European Union (EU)
5. To develop a business plan for the Belgian Market

Preferential Access and Free Trade Agreements of Belgium

1. Belgium and the European Economic Area
2. European Union
   1. European Single Market
   2. EU Services Directive
   3. European Digital Single Market
   4. Economic and Monetary Union
   5. European Customs Union
   6. As a member of the European Union, Belgium is a beneficiary of the EU Free trade agreements with Chile, South Africa, South Korea, India, Mexico, MERCOSUR, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia etc
3. Group of States of the European Council Convention against Corruption (GRECO)

Trade Facilitation Programs

1. World Trade Organisation (WTO)
   1. WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)
   2. WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS)
   3. WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)
   4. WTO Agreement on Preshipment Inspection (PSI)
   5. WTO Agreement on Safeguards (SG)
   6. WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA)
2. World Customs Organisation (WCO)
   1. Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC)
3. Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail (COTIF)
4. International Bureau of Containers and Intermodal Transport (BIC)
5. International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO, Chicago Convention)
6. International Maritime Organisation (IMO)
   1. International Convention for Safe Containers (CSC)
   2. Convention Relating to Temporary Admission (Istanbul Convention)
7. International Chamber of Shipping (ICS)
8. Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR, UN)
9. International Road Transport Union (IRU)
   1. TIR Convention
   2. Guidelines on Safe Load Securing for Road Transport
10. Uniform Rules concerning the Contract of International Carriage of Goods by Rail (CIM, CIT)
11. Customs Convention on Containers (CCC, UN) - not a member
12. International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)

European Trade and Economic Organisations of Belgium

1. European Union
   1. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
   2. European Investment Bank (EIB)
   3. European Central Bank
   4. EU-CELAC Summit
2. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
   1. OECD anti-corruption measures
3. Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
4. Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM)
5. Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)

Global Organisations

1. United Nations (UN)
   1. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
   2. International Trade Centre (INTRACEN)
   3. World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)
2. World Bank (WB)
3. World Trade Organisation (WTO)
4. International Monetary Fund (IMF)
5. Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
6. Asian Development Bank (ADB)
7. African Development Bank (AfDB)

The Kingdom of Belgium (Europe)

1. Capital of Belgium: Brussels
2. Belgian Official Languages: French, Dutch and German
3. Area of Belgium: 30,528 square kilometres
4. Belgian Population: 11.2 million people
5. Type of Government: Federal parliamentary monarchy
6. Borders of Belgium: Germany, France‎, Luxembourg and the Netherlands
7. Belgium became independent of the Netherlands (Spain in the past) in 1830
8. The Democratic Republic of the Congo became independent from Belgium in 1960
9. The Republic of Burundi and Rwanda became independent from Belgium in 1962

Religion: Catholicism (Christianity)

Belgium belongs to the Western Civilisation (European Economic Area)

Economy of Belgium.

1. The headquarters of the European Union are in Brussels, one of the largest lobbies in the world
2. Belgian GDP (nominal): 338,000 million EUR
3. GDP per capita: 42,793 dollars
4. Economic recession in 2009
5. Belgian Currency: Euro (1999)
6. Belgium joined the European Union in 1958
7. Industry is mainly located in Flanders (northern Belgium)
8. The company "Unitel International Holdings BV" of the Angolan businesswoman Isabel dos Santos is in Brussels

Belgian Foreign Trade

1. 75% of the Belgian foreign trade is made with the countries of the European Union
2. The main suppliers of Belgium are Germany, the Netherlands and France (and also the main export destination)
3. The main export products are diamonds, machinery, chemical products, food products
4. The Port of Antwerp is the second largest in Europe
5. Headquarters of the International Road Transport Union (IRU) and the International Union for Road-Rail Combined Transport (UIRR): Brussels