The Forum took place at a time where Ethiopia’s economic opportunities are attracting considerable interest in the European Union, as proven by the wide and diverse audience that attended the two-day event. During this high-level business forum, investors and businesspeople interested in doing business in Ethiopia learned practical information and were able to interact with top officials from the Ethiopian Investment Commission and other high-ranking officials from Ethiopia.

They also had the occasion to share the experiences of representatives of some of the largest European companies already active in Ethiopia during the panel sessions. Overall, around 200 participants (business companies from all over Europe and Ethiopia, members of the public and private sectors, journalists and EU and Ethiopian officials included) attended the Business Forum.

State Minister for Foreign affairs Dr. Markos Tekle noted that the government was working on new measures to improve doing business in Ethiopia. PM Abiy has set out a steering committee that solely works towards achieving successful results.

Head of the Ethiopian Investment Commission Abebe Abebayehu pointed out that Ethiopia government and agencies would be there every step of the way to support all investors & solve problems should they arise. He also noted that what we have seen in Ethiopia in the past year since Abiy Ahmed has taken over, is a real revolution, since so much has improved.

Mr. Dougie Brew, Corporate Affairs and Sustainable Business Director Africa of Unilever, highlighted the incredible market potential of Ethiopia, especially for local production, as the middle class is growing and consumers need more than just consumer goods. He also said that his industry had the potential to generate 100 indirect jobs for every direct job created.

Mr. Thomas Schaefer, Chairman and Managing Director of Volkswagen Group South Africa, for his part, said that it is the political will and the vision of the government that attracted Volkswagen to Ethiopia. He also encouraged investors to think out of the box. For instance, instead of paying significant amounts for imported oil, they could use Ethiopia’s national gas reserves, which would cut CO2 emissions by 50%.

The Second day of the EU-Ethiopia Business Forum was dedicated to a morning-long networking session. Participants who had registered the previous day were able to discuss in detail potential partnership projects with other interested parties. Participants expressed their satisfaction about the information provided and contacts made during these two days and hoped that such forums would become regular events in the coming years.

The post The first EU-Ethiopia Business Forum was successfully held in Brussels appeared first on Brussels Express.

In his remarks, Abraham Liu, Huawei’s Chief Representative to the EU Institutions, underlined two major points: Firstly, Huawei’s 5G has been co-developed by Europeans and is tailor-made for Europe’s needs and challenges. Secondly, the way Huawei is treated by the current US administration should worry everybody who cares for the respect of the rule-of-law.

“Huawei’s 5G solution is not just the best on the market. But it is to a large extent a European product; and it’s tailor-made for Europe’s needs. Huawei has been operating in Europe for nearly 20 years. We now have 12,200 employees in Europe, 70% hired locally. We are pleased that Europe is coming out with its coordinated approach to 5G. The European Union has proved its capacity of bringing European countries together to develop some of the most advanced and comprehensive laws like GDPR. Europe should continue to drive that agenda forward. The EU should make decisions for the benefit of Europe and its citizens”, said Abraham Liu.

“Huawei has been respecting all applicable laws and regulations. Now Huawei is becoming the victim of the bullying by the US administration. This is not just an attack against Huawei. It is an attack on the liberal, rules-based order. This is dangerous. Now it is happening to Huawei. Tomorrow it can happen to any other international company. Can we shut the eyes to such behaviour?” added Abraham Liu.

The post 5G, the European Way? appeared first on Brussels Express.

Now it’s time to welcome the year of the Pig. Traditionally this marks a period of 10 days of festivities and is a time that Chinese families organise reunions and social gatherings. Multiple festivities will also take place in Brussels in order to welcome the Dog’s year.

People born in the Year of the Pig are said to be bon vivants, cheerful, optimistic, generous, kind and tolerant people

According to the legend, the 12-year cycle of the animals of Chinese astrology arose when the heavenly Jade Emperor announced that the fastest animals to reach him would be chosen and ranked accordingly.  The clever Rat was the first to arrive, but the Pig came last, having stopped to take a nap on the way.  Nevertheless, although he took his time, the more relaxed Pig still got a year named after him, the last in the 12-year cycle.

« People born in the Year of the Pig are said to be bon vivants, cheerful, optimistic, generous, kind and tolerant people » explains Linda Sansbury from the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels. « They know how to enjoy life and make faithful friends, hard-working colleagues and passionate, caring lovers.  Some of these good qualities should infuse this Year of the Pig, with the family and loved ones at the centre of attention.   It is said to be an auspicious year to find a soul mate, get married or have a child.  A year to recharge one’s batteries before the new 12-year cycle that starts on 25 January 2020 with the more energetic Year of the Rat » she concludes.

Celebrations and wishes from Brussels

The Mission of China to the European Union, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels, Huawei, and Tangla Hotel are organising multiple events in order to welcome the Pig’s year in Brussels. As of tonight, Huawei is taking over the festivities at Concert Noble. Tangla Hotel also expects a lot from this new year: « The Year of the Pig, is expected to be a good one at Tangla Hotel Brussels. So many new projects and partnerships will bloom to enhance our guests’ experience this year. In fact, this year, we expect to fully open our second restaurant, Tang Dynasty. » says Cassie Fréquelin from Tangla Hotel Brussels.

The post Brussels welcomes the year of the Pig 豬年 appeared first on Brussels Express.

This was Abiy Ahmed’s first official visit to Brussels and to the European Union institutions. He met with Jean Claude Juncker, Donald Tusk and Federica Mogherini. The full package. On this occasion, Ethiopia and the European Union signed a 130 million euros cooperation agreement divided in three pillars: job creation (50 million euros), sustainable energy (35 million euros), and the establishment of agro-industrial parks in Ethiopia (45 million euros).

It was in this overloaded week that I met the new Ambassador of Ethiopia to the Kingdom of Belgium and to the European Union: Ambassador Grum Abay. 

I was waiting, at the charming conference room of the Embassy, for the Ambassador, when suddenly, I heard a friendly voice saying “Buongiorno Antonio!” I did not want to disappoint him and immediately replied “Buongiorno Signor Ambasciatore!”. 

“You know” he continued “I’ve served as a diplomat and as an ambassador in Rome for several years! I love your country!”

“Well thank you” I replied, “but I only have Italian origins…in fact, I’m Portuguese”. 

“Even better! Now you really must visit Ethiopia because both Portugal and Italy are old countries in the relationship between Ethiopia and Europe”.

This is how my conversation with the Ambassador started. 

Can you tell me an anecdote about the luso-ethiopian relationship? 

Of course! There are many, but I’ll tell you this one. The Portuguese came in the 16th century to Ethiopia. Funny enough, they came and told us that they were there to Christianise us and we explained to them that we were already Christians before they became one. Ethiopia accepted Christianity in 330 AD. We were in fact the second country in the world to accept Christianity after Armenia.

Ambassador Abay, you were appointed Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium in 2018. You also are the representative of Ethiopia to the European Union, and also the other Benelux countries. It’s quite a challenging position.

I’ve been serving as a diplomat for 33 years now. Since the beginning of my career,  I’ve been mostly dealing with European affairs. In fact, my first foreign position was here in Brussels back in 1992. At the time, I was working as a Counsellor in this same Embassy, so I’m not new to Brussels. Between my first time in Brussels and this new chapter, I was the Ambassador of Ethiopia to Italy and most recently to Russia. I was transferred directly from Moscow to Brussels, where I presented my credentials last September 25th. Obviously, most of the job here concerns the European institutions. On a bilateral basis, it’s Belgium and Luxembourg that we are covering. We used to cover the Netherlands but since we opened an Embassy there last April 2018, we longer cover it. 

How do you describe the relationship between Belgium and Ethiopia?

We have a strong and old relationship with Belgium. In fact, our diplomatic relations started in 1906! You are the 5th country that opened an official diplomatic representation in our land. The order is Italy (1896), France (1898), United Kingdom (1899), 1900 (The United States) and 1906 (Belgium).  So, as you can see, we have long history…way before the European project. During the Italian invasion, Belgians were the ones who helped establish the Ethiopian body guard unit, which was responsible for the security of the Imperial Palace.

How do you describe diplomatically Belgium? 

Belgium respects the sovereignty of other countries. I think Belgium is a soft power country. It doesn’t engage on issues that are not critical to its own interest, and that’s why you don’t hear that much about Belgium on some of the global crisis situations. But Belgium’s voice is heard through the EU.

But in Africa you hear about Belgium. What about Congo?

The problem about colonialism in Africa, for us Ethiopians, it really doesn’t figure. Therefore, I don’t have the authority to comment. Luckily, we have not suffered under colonialism. 

I assume there were many attempts…

Yes, many. Starting with your fellow countrymen, the Portuguese, but none of them succeeded. That is why there is a very strong sense of patriotism in Ethiopia. We might argue or fight with each other time to time, but whenever there were attempts of external aggression, we always find a way to come together. When our African brothers and sisters tell us what they went through under colonialism, it is difficult to understand them because that was not our experience. I’m not saying that they didn’t suffer. I’m just saying that we haven’t gone through that experience. Nonetheless, we Ethiopians were at the forefront of the anti-colonial struggle in Africa. Coming back to the Belgian colonization, let’s not forget that Congo was the property of King Leopold and not really Belgium, as a State. I think other European States have more responsibility. What about the British, French and Portuguese? They had almost the entire continent. 

Do you think colonialism in Africa is over?

Yes, I feel that the story of colonialism in Africa is long over. Many in Africa still talk about colonialism as the cause of their lack of development. I categorically disagree with that because as far as I’m concerned, 70 years already passed. You cannot always go back to the past and blame colonialism for your own shortfalls. Frankly speaking: always blaming colonialism for the lack of good governance, for the lack of economic development, for the lack of political stability, for the lack of security is not intellectually honest. You have been independent for the last 70 years, that it is a long time to do things right.

You are sending the message that Ethiopia doesn’t behave like its continental neighbours. 

I would put like this: we are very proud of our history and that gives us a psychological predisposition in feeling that we are equal to anybody. We don’t have any inferiority complex. We don’t feel that the Europeans or Americans – because they are rich, white, blue or yellow – are superior to the Ethiopians. Our job consists in trying our best to develop our country without using any past, external or psychological excuses. 

I understand the European Union is your main developing partner. What’s your strategy?

We feel that the economic development of Ethiopia is much linked with Europe and whatever assistance we get from the European Institutions, Ethiopia is renowned for implementing projects partly or fully financed by the Europeans. You don’t find in Ethiopia any European budget being stolen or put to use for other purposes. 

Can you share an example of a successful project?

Well, for instance our national road development program. The amount allocated from the European institutions was exclusively used for this project. You know, everything is monitored. We have a very strict mechanism. The money is released on tranches so our partners can check the implementation of the project. 

How much has the European Union allocated so far to Ethiopia? 

About 745 million Euros from 2014 to 2020. Ending in fact this year in 2019. 

How do you describe your economy in 2019?

Multiple international experts are being testimony to the incredible growth of the Ethiopian economy. We have been growing by 10% on average for 12 years. We are among the top 5 countries with the most impressive economic growth in the world. In Africa, we are number 1. Our economy is based on agriculture. Our challenge is to modernise Ethiopia’s agriculture in order to be more efficient and productive. Lately, we have focused our attention on the manufacturing sector by building industrial parks where we can attract foreign investors to create job opportunities for our youth. This is an important concern for us: to create jobs for our future generation. Our government believes that job creation will flourish in the manufacturing sector with input from an efficient, productive and technically-advanced agriculture.

And what about coffee? What is the weight of this sector on your economy? 

Agriculture as a whole used to represent nearly half of our GDP and nowadays is around a third. Nevertheless, coffee still remains as the main export item from Ethiopia. Coffee exports are 40% of exported items, which represents about 10 % of our GDP.

40%?! Almost half of the economy?

Yes, 40%. Well, it used to more than 60%.

Most of coffee producers in Ethiopia are local farmers. How do they deal with the multinationals? 

The farmers do not sell directly to the multinationals. There are two ways of selling coffee from Ethiopia. The first one, the farmer will sell the product to Ethiopian national companies that are exporting coffee. We have several of them by the way. Those Ethiopian coffee exporting companies are registered into the Ethiopian commodities exchange and through that they have market links with multinational companies who buy coffee. The second one is the farmer sells the product to Ethiopian coffee distributors. 

Who are the main clients?

Starbucks for example. But the Starbuck coffee you drink in America is not really pure Ethiopian coffee. 

What do you mean?

They buy Ethiopian coffee – aroma and taste – but they mix it with the robusta they buy Nicaragua, Honduras or Brazil. So in the end it’s doesn’t give you the real Ethiopian coffee taste.  

But who are the big importers? 

The Japanese, Germans, Saudis, and the Americans. 

Could you share the coffee ranking worldwide?

First of all, I want to clarify that there are two types of coffee: robusta and arabica. Robusta type of coffee is cultivated widely in the world. Most of the countries who are coffee exporters produce robusta coffee. Namely, the Latin American countries and some countries in Africa. Arabica coffee is produced in very low amount, but it’s the best coffee. And that is the real Ethiopian coffee. You can also find it in Ivory Coast, or in Uganda. The rankings don’t reflect the difference in quality between robusta and arabica. But to reply to your question, Brazil is leading the ranking and we are number 7 worldwide.

I asked you this question because one can be surprised to see countries like Germany, Italy or Portugal as main coffee producers worldwide when they exclusively import coffee. As the Ambassador of Ethiopia to the European Union how do you analyse this situation?

That’s why when I told you we want to create jobs for our youth, it’s also about creating added value. We are actuality doing good in that process of adding value to Ethiopian goods that are being exported. We have been engaging with foreign companies, including Italian companies, to cooperate with Ethiopian exporters in value adding processes inside Ethiopia. The results are still very low, frankly speaking, because the companies in Italy, Portugal or Germany who buy the coffee, process it, package it, have their market networks already in place and get more money for Ethiopian coffee than any Ethiopian farmer. That is one of the reasons we are disappointed with European multinationals in this sector. We are demanding more money for our farmers. Starbucks buys a kilo of Ethiopian coffee for 6 dollars and they sell it for more than 17 dollars. This is unacceptable. 

I’m curious to know how did you defend Ethiopian coffee in Italy. For us, Italy is home of quality expresso.

Well, let me tell you a story. One time I was in Luigi’s café, just a few meters from the Ethiopian Embassy in Rome, and  I heard an Italian guy asking Luigi “fammi un bel caffè italiano!” – make me a good Italian coffee – and then I just laughed. This guy looked at me and asked me “why are your laughing”?  I replied saying that this was the first time I heard about Italian coffee. And he says “yes, we have good Italian coffee” and I replied, “you don’t even have one coffee tree here!” And once again, we come back to the main issue: to add value. We are trying to add value to our coffee production and we have started to move in that direction; value-addition to our primary products. We will soon start to sell the whole package from the farms to the shops. 

The post « Colonialism in Africa is long over » Interview with Grum Abay, Ethiopia’s Ambassador to Belgium appeared first on Brussels Express.

As the world’s first airport to be awarded the CEIV quality certificate for its cargo division in 2014, Brussels Airport is internationally regarded as the standard for the carriage of temperature-sensitive products, such as medicines and vaccines.

Belgium is a leading hub in Europe and the world at large for medicine and vaccine exports. In 2017, proprietary medicinal products worth 40.3 billion EUR were exported from our country. Which accounts for 10.6 percent of total Belgian exports. This places Belgium second in Europe in terms of absolute volume, right after Germany, and number two after Ireland if exports are correlated to the size of the population. 12.3 percent of all European pharmaceutical exports ship from Belgium.

“Nearly half (48.9 percent) of these exports are intended for countries outside the European Union”, explains Catherine Rutten, the CEO of pharma.be, the umbrella organisation which represents 130 innovative pharmaceutical companies in Belgium. “In part, it is thanks to the investments of the logistical partners, such as Brussels Airport Company, that Belgium is a preferred country for pharma exports to overseas countries. Doing so also sees our country play its part in the pursuit of the global health objectives”.

“Belgium plays an outsized role in the biopharmaceutical industry, accounting for 13% of all European exports,” said Tom Van Wesemael, Life Sciences leader at Deloitte. “The significant amount of biopharma exports and infrastructure, paired with Belgium’s high level of connectivity, make the country an attractive place for companies to invest and expand.”

An airport tailored to the pharmaceutical industry

Over the years, the airport devised various products and services specifically geared to serve the pharmaceutical industry. As such, there is now worldwide interest in the Airside Pharma Transporter, as it ensures a measurable constant temperature on the tarmac for the cargo on board.

The unique thing about Brussels Airport is also the way in which the various logistics service providers work together. Combined with a healthy dose of entrepreneurial spirit, a few years ago BRUcloud was launched as an open data sharing platform where the companies involved in the scheme gather information by way of apps. Moreover, the recent integration of new technologies such as blockchain has made part of the work paperless. An ecological decision which also makes for substantial time and efficiency gains.

In the years ahead, the airport will maintain a strategic focus on the pharmaceutical industry. Brussels Airport is investing 100 million euros in the construction of ultramodern logistic buildings of 100,000 m² in the cargo area. Half of this infrastructure will be specifically designed to handle high-quality and temperature-sensitive goods, such as pharmaceutical products.

An airport working in tandem with the pharmaceutical industry

Under the aegis of the international cross-industry interest group Pharma.aero, of which Brussels Airport is one of the founding members alongside the airports of Miami and Singapore, two so-called pharma corridors were recently put in place on the major trade routes Brussels – Montevideo and Brussels – Hong Kong. All logistic chain players within the corridor comply with imposed quality requirements to ensure an uninterrupted cold chain.

“The quality parameters for a pharma corridor were established in association with the pharma companies. Brussels Airport is keen to step up the number of pharma corridors even further in times to come to facilitate the global quality carriage of pharmaceutical products from our country”, Feist concludes.

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New Year’s Resolutions. They’re a great idea in principle – a chance to re-focus on our goals and commit to our wellbeing. But let’s be honest: how often have you stuck to your New Year’s Resolutions for more than a couple of weeks?

Here’s the thing: we tend to see New Year as a time to set life-changing goals for ourselves: going to the gym every day, giving up alcohol, losing 20 kilos… And the problem with setting life-changing goals is that it takes serious, sustained commitment to stand any chance of achieving them. That isn’t always much fun, so we struggle through a few weeks and then, inevitably, end up right back where we started.

So, what’s the answer?

One thing all the experts agree on is the importance of setting realistic goals. If you tell yourself you’ll come to the club five times a week, you’re setting the bar very high – possibly too high. If (when) you don’t make it five times – even if you manage three visits – you’ll feel as though you’ve failed and will lose your motivation, in spite of the fact that three club visits a week is still more than many (even most) people achieve. If you feel you’ve lost your mojo, by all means use January 1 as the catalyst to re-start your wellbeing journey.

Do you agree with the quote:  « something is better than nothing »?

US-based behavioural change expert Michelle Segar PhD published a book a few years ago called No Sweat: How the Simple Science of Motivation Can Bring You a Lifetime of Fitness. In it, she very rightly maintained that the 10 minutes’ exercise you do is far better than the hour’s exercise you promise yourself you’ll do but don’t get round to. So indeed,  doing something is better than doing nothing. Equally, it’s important to recognise that lower intensity exercise also counts. You don’t have to sweat on the treadmill all the time: activities such as walking on the treadmill, yoga, pilates and stretching play their part too.

And if I can’t make it to the club?

So, on the days when you can’t make it into the club, just get moving somehow – even if it’s just a 10-minute walk at lunchtime. Building activity into your life in manageable chunks will eventually lead to what Segar calls “a lifelong partnership with exercise”, both at Aspria and elsewhere in your daily life; punishing yourself for not making it to the club will just reinforce a sense of failure and hold you back from being active at all. As Segar says: “Fitness is a lifelong learning process, not a target you have to hit.”

The overall learning? Don’t try and change the world in one day. Starting small is just fine – and that’s the advice I’ll follow in 2019.

The post New Year’s Resolutions: It’s OK to think small appeared first on Brussels Express.

From February 1, 2019, the following countries will be able to enter Uzbekistan visa free for up to 30 days: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Cyprus, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Vatican City. Nationals of France, Israel, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and Turkey were granted visa free access in 2018. Germans will have visa free access from 15 January, 2019.

This decision follows  the implementation of an e-visa scheme last July 2018.

More and more Belgians visit Uzbekistan thanks to the e-visa introduction

The post Belgians no longer need a visa to visit Uzbekistan appeared first on Brussels Express.

Creating Brussels Express was an incredible journey. The idea started growing in my mind one week after my wedding back in September 2016. While enjoying our Italian honeymoon in Puglia, I shared with my wife that I would like to create an English-speaking news platform in Brussels in order to help expats, like us, to get to know the city of Brussels. During my first three years in Brussels I spent my time in the European bubble, sadly, between Schuman, Place Luxembourg and home. I was so focused on my job that I never felt the need to get to know the city I was living in. And I knew I was not alone. This phenomenon happens to the majority of expats. Through Brussels Express I wanted to discover Brussels. That was the first selfish reason to launch this project.

The real bread and butter

Back to Brussels, and to reality, I tried to figure out the best way to move forward. I gathered two former colleagues from the Assembly of European Regions and explained to them my vision. If Brussels Express is alive today it is exclusively thanks to these two persons: Alain Fritsch and Lucas Tripoteau. Alain took care of designing and creating the website and Lucas was the first support to get sources, ideas, information, pieces and interviews. The logo was the most difficult part. In the end, I decided to delegate this responsability to both my mother and mother-in-law. It was a wise decision if I may say so.

After 3 months of hard work – and ignoring all the naysayers that predicted the death of this project within two months – we decided that the website would be online on January 9, 2017. Precisely 2 years ago.

The first challenge was to announce the happening. The birth! It was very important for me to transmit the right spirit. I wanted to make clear that we were not a boring traditional media, enslaved by sponsors. Thanks to the famous Belgian cartoonist Sondron we created a lively banner for the website and a 30-second video teaser announcing our arrival.

2017: Growing, growing, growing!

The first 12 months were so challenging. Hard work. Incredible schedules. I was working from 05:00 to 00:00 every day. Saturdays and Sundays. Lucky for me we started gaining brilliant, competent and hardworking colleagues. The first one was Laura Franceschin. Brussels Express’ first intern. A brilliant colleague whom unfortunately we couldn’t hire at the time. She came with me to Tunis for Brussels Express’ first mission abroad. It was also with Laura that we released our first magazine in 2017. We spent days and days doing the distribution.

James Wilson started writing for our Diplomatic Bag and still covers multiple political issues. Thanks to James, we got high level exclusive interviews – such as with the President of Albania. It was also during this period that he obtained the Belgian citizenship and shared his joy with our readers. Potverdekke!

Boro Milovic, WeLoveBrussels founder, became a true friend. It was thanks to Boro that we grew so fast on social media. With Boro’s help, we reached 1 million visitors to our website in a record time. Every week, Boro inspires – his favourite word – our readers with his Best Brussels Moments.

Kaja Hengstenberg became our food expert. Brussels has 179 nationalities and obviously multiple restaurants from all origins. Kaja has so far written more than 100 reviews. Always concrete and punctual. Thanks to her I got to discover lovely restaurants.

Mauricio Ruiz was in charge of Cult’Art, a section that we pay a lot of attention to. We announced cultural events, happenings in bookshops (particularly at Librebook), art centers, embassies etc.  and always conducted fair reviews. Thanks to Mauricio we increased our visibility with multiple relevant stakeholders in the Brussels arena. I’m happy to see that Mauricio is now deeply engaged with Brussels Express thanks to his new position as Executive Editor.

Rosetti Rivera was responsible for covering the communal elections in 2018. We were the first media to pay attention to this issue. Together with VoteBrussels and 1bru1Vote, we worked hard in trying to convince expats to register and vote for the October 14, 2018 election. Rosetti prepared a bible for this election: Brussels Express’ 2018 magazine. She reviewed all the 19 communes and listed its candidates. Furthermore, she is the author of multiple stories about Brussels’ heritage, history and fun facts. Those pieces were precisely what I was looking for when I decided to launch Brussels Express.

2018: « Hey! this is going well! »

It was in early 2018 that I understood: « hey, this is going well! ». We started to be invited to important events and international trips, to work with Brussels’ communes, multiple Embassies, the Press Club Brussels Europe, more partners, more contributors, and more readers! One fun thing to do was to explain to our competitors from BRUZZ who we were. Fair game from their side.

2018 was also the year we organised the first festival dedicated to the Portuguese expats in Ixelles: I love Portugal. The festival took place at Place Sainte-Croix with more than 40 000 visitors.

I’m retiring as Editor-in-Chief of Brussels Express in order to pursue my career as a Television Director. It was very challenging to combine both jobs. Plus, now that I’m a dad there isn’t room for more adventures such as this one.

The new Editor-in-Chief, Pascal Goergen. I trust he will deliver, and take good care of Brussels Express.

Muito obrigado to all that contributed to the success of Brussels Express.

Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank you, Lieke, my wife, for the incommensurable support and patience.

The post Farewell message from António Buscardini: Obrigado Brussels Express! appeared first on Brussels Express.

« This year we have raised the number of visa free countries to 17, set eased visa procedures for 51 countries, visa-free transit for the citizens of 101 countries and created an online e-visa system, where it takes about 3 minutes to fill out the forms and get a visa within 48 hours, delivered straight to your personal email » explained Dilyor Khakimov, Ambassador of Uzbekistan to the Kingdom of Belgium.

According to the Uzbekistan Consulate in Brussels, thanks to the e-visas more and more Belgians are visiting the country of Amir Temur. In this framework, Aziz Abdukhakimov, Deputy Prime Minister, visited Belgium in order to attract more tourism operators and hotels to invest in the country. « For the businesses in the tourism industry, we have created important benefits and privileges, including a reduction from many taxes for foreign direct investments, release of custom duties for the equipment and machinery, exclusive tax regimes for foreign specialists and many more » stressed Abdukhakimov.

How does it work?

An electronic visa is issued for a period of stay in the territory of Uzbekistan for up to 30 days with a single entry and is valid for 90 days from the date of issue.

Foreigners must send an application for a visa at least three working days before the planned date of travel to Uzbekistan. Authorized bodies of Uzbekistan will consider the appeal within two working days without taking into account the day of submission of the appeal.

Foreign citizens must pay a consular fee for processing and issuing an electronic entry visa in the amount of 20€. The consular fee is paid electronically through international payment systems.

Good to know:

• In order to apply you should visit this website
• For more information: Consulate of Uzbekistan in Brussels: Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 99, 1000 Brussels

The post More and more Belgians visit Uzbekistan thanks to the e-visa introduction appeared first on Brussels Express.

Akaso,  from the Italian ‘a caso’ – meaning « by coincidence » – refers to the many coincidences that led to its creation. It is the story of an improbable meeting between Belgian designers and Ethiopian artists.

An improbable meeting

The label was born from the encounter of founder Philippe Vertriest with a book on African body painting art containing striking pictures of the Kara people, a small group of about 1,500 people living in South-Western Ethiopia and renowned for their distinctive body painting art using the skin as a canvas. He managed to connect with this closed community with the support of an Ethiopian anthropologist and invited the Kara community to give a new dimension to Kara body painting art. 

From there, Philippe Vertriest, who hates cultural appropriation, developed the idea of a collaborative design label. Each collection grows from a co-creation workshop between Ethiopian artists and Belgian designers from Akaso. Artists from the Kara tribe design drawings themselves, for which they receive a fair payment, and Belgian designers then use the drawings as a basis to design clothes in consultation with the artists. Together, they collaborated on a collection that mixed their art with knit pieces in cotton and silk.

Rapid expansion

The young brand (Akaso was founded in 2016) has managed to expand its range considerably in only a short time. Starting with T-shirts and sweatshirts, Akaso has since developed a full-fledged accessories line and fine knitwear. The first handbag range celebrates Kara tribe skin scarification culture, for which Akaso developed and patented a unique technique to visualise a three-dimensional print on supple Italian calf leather. The entire collection, which is made in Europe with eco-friendly fabrics, stand out for its unique print and pattern techniques. In November 2017, Akaso opened its first flagship store in Brussels and inaugurated a second store in Antwerp in mid-September. In addition, the brand has now fifteen sales outlets in Belgium. In the Netherlands, Akaso can be found at Avalon in Goes, Nivoo in Venlo and Anne-Belle Mode in Weert.

Originality without sacrificing quality

Akaso works exclusively with suppliers in line with their human and ethical values. Respect for the environment and workers are amongst the brand’s priorities. These high standards and attention to detail are reflected in products of exceptionally high quality. The handbags are especially eye-catching, with patterns looking like the scars that the tribe members use as body decorations. 

Too often, luxury brands find inspiration in other cultures without acknowledging their sources or giving back to these communities. The only alternative for lovers of unusual patterns is to turn cheap exotic clothes or accessories whose quality leaves a bit to be desired. That Akaso managed to unite luxury and authenticity while paying an hommage the culture of the Kara people is probably the brand’s greatest feat.

Good to know:

Address:  Galerie du Roi – 1000 – Brussels
Website: http://www.akaso.eu
Contact: +32 (0)2 513 20 07 ; info@akaso.eu

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