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Official delegation

Princess Astrid will be accompanied by the following ministerial delegation :

• Kris Peeters, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Employment, Economy and Consumer Affairs, in charge of Foreign Trade, Combating Poverty, Equal Opportunities, and Disabled People, Federal Government;
• Pierre-Yves Jeholet, Vice-President and Minister of Economy, Industry, Research, Innovation, Digital Technology, Employment and Training, Walloon Government;
• Philippe Muyters, Minister for Work, Economy, Innovation and Sport, Flemish Government;
• Cécile Jodogne, Secretary of State of the Brussels Government responsible for Foreign Trade and Investment, and Minister of the French-speaking Government of Brussels in charge of the Civil Service and Health, Government of Brussels.

Organization

Princely Economic Missions are jointly organized by the three regional trade and investment promotion agencies (Flanders Investment & Trade, Brussels Invest & Export /hub.brussels; Agence Wallonne à l’Exportation), the Foreign Trade Agency and the Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation.

General framework

Belgium and Mexico are already strong commercial partners, in terms of trade of goods as much as in trade in services. With a population of 125 million, a strategic localization between North America and Latin America, and one of the most open economy in the world, business opportunities remain very significant.

In terms of investments, Belgian companies are already well established in Mexico. Partly thanks to the acquisition of “Grupo Modelo” by AB InBev in 2013, our country features among the most important European investors. In the other direction, several important Mexican investment projects in Belgium last year show that the assets of Belgium as a host country on the European continent continue to attract investors.

The calendar of the mission also coincides with the recent arrival of a new Government in Mexico, which announced its intention to open a new chapter of the political and socio-economical history of the country. In this respect, the princely mission, which will be the first incoming economic visit for the new administration, will be an opportunity to take the pulse of the announced reforms.

Political meetings

Princess Astrid and the ministerial delegation will be received by the President of the Republic Andrés Manuel López Obrador. During the week, they will also meet with several members of the Federal Government as well as with the Governor of Nuevo Leon.

Trade relations between Belgium and Mexico

In 2017, Belgium accounted for 3.3% of European exports to Mexico (8th place), for an amount of nearly 1.265 billion euros. The main categories of products exported by our country to Mexico are chemicals, machinery and equipment, which account for more than half of our exports. On the import side, Belgium represents 15.2% of Mexico’s imports from the European Union (€3.633 billion, 3rd position), underlining the role of our country as the gateway to the European market for Mexican exports. In 2017, the main products imported by Belgium from Mexico were transport equipment, minerals and optical instruments.

Sectoral forums

Besides a large number of B2B and B2G meetings organized for the participants, the program of the week is built around a number of events set up by the regional trade and investment promotion agencies in order to highlight some specific sectors of activity. The Belgian expertise in ports, in sports equipment and technology, the excellence of our local produce and food & beverage industry, the key position of Belgium in the diamond sector, but also our advanced healthcare or the solutions that we can offer in terms of constructions and “smart” buildings, will be presented during different sectoral forums.

Business & Human Rights

In collaboration with the Mexican authorities and as part of the commitments under the Belgian National Action Plan « Business & Human Rights », a seminar will be organized on best practices on responsible business conduct.

Image activities

One can’t mention Mexico in Belgium without bringing back to memory the World Cup of 1986. A sporting event will be the opportunity to put forward the potential of integration and development offered by sport.

During a gala concert, to which the participants in the mission will have the opportunity to invite their Mexican partners, talented Belgian and Mexican musicians will present a program mixing the melodies and rhythms from here and there.

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The Bruegel Cultural Center organizes a festival of the dead in the Mexican in collaboration with the inhabitants, schools, associations and traders of the district of Marolles.

The activities will end on November 3rd with a big party.

More information here

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To shed light over those tumultuous times, the Cinematek has organized a cycle of movies that invite the public to know more about the student movement, its context and subsequent repression, and the traces it all left in Mexican society.

A brief description of the program is shown below.

The cycle is made possible in collaboration with Instituto Cervantes Bruselas, UNAM Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ambassade du Mexique en Belgique – UE, Cinea & Centro de Estudios Mexicanos – Centrum voor Mexicaanse Studies

02.10.2018 19:00

Memorial del 68 is a documentary about the events occurred on October 2, 1968 in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Tlatelolco, Mexico, its background, its development, its culminating moments, its outcome; about what was gained and what was lost and, above all, what future generations obtained from it, perhaps the most important social movement that took place in Mexico after the Mexican Revolution. After 50 years, the film brings an extensive account of the movement that marked the country and laid the foundations of many changes in Mexican society.

With this documentary, funded by the UNAM Film Library, we introduce the documentary cycle dedicated to the events of October 2, 1968, exactly 50 years ago. The film by director Nicolás Echeverría includes a large number of testimonies by key figures of the events.

Introduction in English by Sarah Stokes (author of Paris and Mexico City: 1968 Student Activism)
All films are subtitled in English only.

07.10.2018 21:00

As part of the Special Showings that commemorate the Anniversary of 1968, we present a selection of short films by renowned Mexican filmmaker Óscar Menéndez. Dos de Octubre: Aquí México, Historia de un Documento: Los Presos Políticos del 68 en la Cárcel de Lecumberri and Únete Pueblo.

15.10.2018 21:00

In the summer of revolt, student Leobardo López Aretche captured the protests in Mexico City, and the state’s brutal response, up close – and like many of his subjects and fellow comrades, would pay a high price for his audacity. Fifty years later, his movie is no longer a secret.

El Grito is frequently listed as one of the most important Mexican films, and the influential Mexican film critic Jorge Ayala Blanco called it “the most complete and coherent filmic testimony that exists of the Movement, seen from the inside and in contrast to the calumnies put out by the rest of the mass media.” If the end of that quote sounds a little overblown, it’s worth remembering the stranglehold that the PRI had on the media back then, and for years afterwards – the day after perhaps as many as 400 innocent people had been shot in a public square, almost every Mexican newspaper without fail reported the government’s line that student “sharpshooters” had fired on the authorities in Tlatelolco, and that just 27 people had been killed in the ensuing shoot-out. At the time Aretche was virtually the only filmmaker providing a real riposte to the government’s official history, at great personal risk.

18.10.2015 19:00

Three more documentaries

Details of the cycle can be found here

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It happened by accident when I was walking from the Metro Station Porte de Hal up to the Parvis for a beer or two. The place looks rather uninteresting from outside with a few wooden furniture in the front. When you enter the place it is neither overly decorated. A big colourful wall painting is on the opposite side of the entrance, but that’s about it. On the left is the “kitchen”, which is basically a small space with everything you need to prepare great tacos, quesadillas, chilaquiles and of course, guacamole.

I went here twice since I discovered the place and plan to go again tomorrow. Both times, we started the evening off with a very generous glass of Margarita, one time the classic one and the other time with raspberries. I can definitely recommend both.

Food-wise, I tried different things both times. Of course to start off we shared some guacamole, the good one where you can still see some avocado and tomato pieces, and mashed frijoles, black beans. I even ordered another portion of the guac for myself after finishing, ‘cause it was so good.

Then, the first time we had tacos with beef, chorizo and never missing on my plate full of the Mexican dish, tinga de pollo, slow cooked chicken with tomatoes and spices. The second time we went for the “Al Pastor” tacos, which are filled with pork and pineapple. But different than pineapple on Pizza being a big sin, the pineapple here actually fits very well and gives the spicy filling some sweetness. We also tried the quesadillas made from blue corn, packed with loads of cheese that melts down the corners of the delicious tortilla. I can also recommend their fresh juices or the chia water!

The place is family run and if you want to practice your Spanish, this is the place. They’re very kind and patient and most importantly, make good, non-pretentious, simple and authentic Mexican food – exactly what I was looking for.

Good to know:

• Prices: 3,5E for a portion of guacamole, 7E for three tacos, 7E for a Margarita
•  Avenue Jean Volders 4A, 1060 Saint-Gilles

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“The festival was actually planned for September,” said Atenea Patiño, festival designer and coordinator. “The opening was scheduled for the nineteenth of September but after the earthquake hit the city, everything had to be postponed. We’re so happy that all these wonderful films are being shown to the people living in Mexico.”

Organized by the Universidad de la Comunicación, the festival aims to bring contemporary cinema to people who would otherwise have difficult access to such films, which are often not widely distributed. The festival included a section of Mexican short films, plus over forty full feature films from thirty five different countries. In its first edition, the festival’s main theme was Darkness.

“There was of course darkness in its literal meaning, but we also wanted to explore darkness and the subjectivity,” said José Carlos Castillo, festival designer and coordinator. “You could see it in the program’s design and festival leaflets. Darkness can also be the feeling you get when a film is not that easy to decipher. A shadow is cast over you and your emotions as you exit the cinema. Which is what a lot of contemporary film directors want to explore.”

Insyriated plunges the viewer into the horrors of the Syrian civil war. Set in an old apartment building in Damascus, the film conveys a feeling of claustrophobia from the first moment. Nine tenants try to survive not only the war, but the tensions that stem from living in such confinement. In charge is Oum Yazan, played splendidly by Hiam Abbas, a matriarch who’s not afraid to stand her ground but who’s also caring. She takes care of her aging father, young children and a maid, as well as a neighbor, Halima, and her baby.

Halima, played by Diamand Bou Abboud, comes into the crowded apartment after her husband has left the building in the hopes of talking to the fixer who’s promised to take them to Lebanon. Halima is quiet and reserved, a stark contrast to Yazan’s mercurial temper; blonde and blue-eyed, Halima resembles a Persian princess from The Thousand and One Nights, though her anguish and distress, we learn, have been lying under the surface.

As war rages on, both will have to find the strength to fight stay alive. “This is my home. No one will force me out of it,” says Yazan. The film has some difficult sequences to watch, but Philippe Van Leeuw succeeds in capturing the damage that war can bring to the human psyche, and its attempts to survive in the midst of chaos and violence nonetheless.

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