COMPANIES representing the Wallonia Foreign Trade and Investment Mission attended a briefing organised by the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB) at Sheraton Hotel yesterday.

The Belgian delegates are interested to forge partnerships and collaborations with prospective investors in a ten-day mission to Asean countries with Brunei being their last stop yesterday.

Belgian delegates are also looking to promote their products and services ,to local distributors while increasing their export potential and viability.

The Belgian delegates represent several companies involved in different markets such as photographic materials, airline pilot training and Islamic Halal finance and developments.

“The Muslim population in Belgium numbers around one million (and) together with the Belgian population has a growing appetite for high-quality Halal products,” said Marc Deschamps, a specialist in Islamic finance and Halal developments, in an interview with the Bulletin.

Brunei, said Deschamps, is an interesting country to look into because of its reputation for adhering strongly to Islamic values.

“Halal products are increasingly seen high quality products that satisfy strong safety and hygienic procedures, and because of that, Halal products enjoy demand not just among Muslims but also Non-muslims, even in Belgium.”

He said the European Halal market alone is around 20 million people – a huge market containing a population with high-disposable income.

“It is also an interesting market because of the nature of the European Halal market concentrating in major cities. Therefore, it is a niche market, and thus it is easy to market halal products and adhere to their own portfolios of specific tastes,” he added.

The Belgian, delegates were enlightened with the screening as video presentation in the briefing. The event proceeded with the opening remarks by the CEO of BEDB, Vincent Cheong.

Sheikh Rashid Salam, Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Marketing and Investment Division of BEDB, conducted a presentation on Brunei’s state of economy and its investment opportunities, highlighting the current projects.

Meanwhile, Philippe Delcourt, Trade Commissioner for Malaysia, Philippines and Brunei, introduced the Belgian delegates and gave an ,overview of their companies:

Belgian Flight Group, based in the Charleroi Airport, specialises in aviation services such as flight training and maintenance;

DPM Color specialises in photographic materials such as films, paper and chemicals, especially equipments stored in a photo laboratory;

Impexpharma manufactures and exports product cosmetics especially women’s wellness and skin care;

Success Granen produces pet foods, especially a range of products that influences pigeon competition;

Bioxtract SA is a research and development laboratory from Agronomical Sciences of Gembloux near Brussels. The laboratory activities include the production of innovatory dietary supplements whereas the efficacy and safety have been clinically proven; and

Lastly, Nomics is concerned with developing a magnetic-based distance sensor for the diagnosis of Sleep Disorder Breathing (SDB).

The Wallonia Export and Investment Agency runs a network of 105 economic and commercial representatives throughout the world. The agency is certified 1 SO 9001: 2000 since April 2002.

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