2007 (PDF, 2.81 MB) - Belgium

Minister Karel De Gucht,
Prime Minister
Verhofstadt and Japan’s
Prime Minister Abe,
Brussels, 11 January 2007
© BELGA
China
2007 was another particularly good year for our relations
with China.
A Joint Committee meeting and a series of high-level
political discussions were held in preparation for a
new economic mission headed by Prince Philippe. In
view of the large number of companies and participants
involved in the ten-day mission, which visited a
number of big provincial cities such as Shenyang and
Chengdu and focused on attracting Chinese investments
in Belgium, the mission can be considered a
major success.
The forthcoming Olympic Games (2008), Europalia
China (2009) and Shanghai World Expo (2010) will
guide the continued development of relations between
Belgium and China.
Japan
Belgium enjoys excellent relations with Japan, as witnessed
by the successful and much remarked-upon
visit to Belgium of Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
in January 2007. This was the perfect occasion to put
Japanese investments and the large and much valued
Japanese community in Belgium in the limelight.
The interest the two countries have in each other
was reflected by the numerous cultural events and
high-class, image-boosting activities in both Japan and
Belgium. High-tech cooperation projects continue to
yield good results. A final point to mention is that the
historic Belgian diplomatic compound in the heart of
Tokyo was demolished in 2007, to be replaced by a
prestigious building project which mirrors the closeness
and importance of the ties between the two countries.
South-East Asia
Belgium has had close relations down the decades
with most of the countries in South-East Asia.
Belgium took part in the activities in November 2007
in Singapore to celebrate ASEAN and thirty years of
cooperation between the EU and ASEAN.
Generally speaking, the development cooperation
aspect of the two countries’ relations is gradually
making way for forms of economic cooperation – a
result, of course, of the strong development of most
of the countries.
Australia and New Zealand
The 90th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele
was commemorated in 2007. During the battle thousands
of soldiers from Australia and New Zealand
died fighting for Belgium’s freedom.
Tribute was paid, in the presence of Australia and
New Zealand’s heads of government, to these brave
soldiers who ensured that Belgium will have a perpetual
bond with these far-away countries.
Latin America and
the Caribbean
For many years relations between Belgium and Latin
America were fairly low profile. These days, though,
the region has great potential, thanks to the (now
irreversible) restoration of democracy in the 1980s
in almost all the countries of the region and the economic
recovery process since then.
Renewed attention for the area
Belgium, conscious of the growing political and economic
role being played by the Latin American and
Caribbean countries (LAC), decided to inject fresh
energy into its relations with the region.
This involved the FPS first setting out a blueprint of
what our new policy regarding Latin America and
the Caribbean might look like. After putting the
working paper to the Belgian Council of Ministers,
the minister presented it to the heads of missions
of the countries concerned at a round table on 29
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