Diplomatic World_nummer 56.

56 

INTERLINKING POLITICS, DIPLOMACY, BUSINESS & FINANCE 

ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY, CULTURAL DIPLOMACY & HEALTH 

H.E. 

ZHANG MING 

Ambassador 

of China to the 

European Union 

HERMAN 

DE CROO 

Minister 

of State 

Former President 

of the Chamber 

H.E. 

LEO D'AESE 

Ambassador 

of Belgium 

to Serbia 

H.E. 

ABDULRAHMAN 

BIN SULEIMAN 

AL AHMED 

Ambassador of 

Saudi Arabia 

H.E. 

PATRICK 

VAN GHEEL 

Ambassador 

of Belgium 

to Cuba 

H.E. 

ELENA BASILE 

Ambassador 

of Italy 

H.E. 

ELEFTHERIA 

GALATHIANAKI 

Ambassador 

of Greece 

SOPHIE 

WILMÈS 

Federal Minister 

of Budget 

of Belgium 

H.E. 

ERKINKHON 

RAHMATULLOZODA 

Ambassador 

of Tajikistan 

PHILIPPE 

DE BACKER 

Secretary 

of State 

Belgian Federal 

Government 

Spring 2018 www.diplomatic-world.com Quarterly edition 

P409937 - v.u. Barbara Dietrich, Beiaardlaan 25b, 1850 Grimbergen, Afgiftekantoor Mechelen X 

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BMD1800215 - Diplomatic sales_2017 - Serie 5_270x210_BEUK.indd 1 14/02/18 16:55

THE NATURE OF VALUE 



DIPLOMATIC WORLD IS A QUARTERLY EDITION 

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©2018 Diplomatic World Magazine 

As the Europe 2025 strategy makes clear, to overcome the current crisis 

we need to stimulate a more creative and smarter Europe, a greener 

economy, where our prosperity will come from research, innovation, 

creativity and a better (mental) health. Science is a basis for a better 

future and the bedrock of a knowledge-based society and a strong 

economy, but if we talk about science we must also talk about art simply 

because art predates science (i.e. the prehistoric cave drawings in 

Lascaux). Both science and art propose models of the world that, when 

refracted through the medium of technology, can reveal amazing new 

vistas. We are now entering a new world where art, science and technology 

collide. This new vista will be an open door to the unimaginable. 

Knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing. 

Types of values include ethical and moral values, doctrinal and 

ideological (religious, political) values, social values, aesthetic values, 

cultural and economic values, the value of time, et.al. 

Thinking about the “Nature of Value” raises more questions than 

answers. Is value solely based on the relationship between satisfying 

needs and expectations and the resources required to achieve? Maybe all 

forms of value are socially constructed? 

Value seems to be a hybrid, something hovering between the real and 

the virtual, the actual and potential, it’s objective and subjective at the 

same time. Value and economy, and the role that art can play therein, is 

the nexus of the exhibition proposition. In the aftermath of the global 

economic crisis increasingly urgent questions arise that are related 

to neoliberal values seeping into almost every aspect of our lives. In 

addition to the known financial and economic criteria, can we articulate 

different ideas about the concept of value? What are other possible 

forms of (economic) exchange? And what do these alternatives mean for 

how value manifests itself? 

Art and Culture 

Art and culture reinforce divergent thinking, playfulness, taking risk, 

tolerating ambiguity, art surprises us, it tells us something about ourself 

and what we are/where doing at a particular time. Art has the ability 

to provoke us, poke us, to say things that a normal citizen or politician 

can’t say and it helps us not to be afraid to fail, if you try to think outof-the-box. 

The arts help us to converse across countries, political lines, 

language barriers; it unifies. Nevertheless, the public value of the arts 

has been a topic of debate since the culture wars of the early 1990s. 

Today’s prevailing view is that the arts have public value because they 

promote broad social and economic goals, such as economic growth and 

better academic performance. These benefits are called “instrumental” 

because the arts are seen as an instrument for achieving them. 

The intrinsic benefits of the arts experience, such as aesthetic pleasure 

and captivation, are viewed as having strictly private — some of them 

also contribute to the public welfare — and personal value. They are 

primarily qualitative and thus less amenable than the instrumental 

benefits to the increasingly results-oriented, quantitative approach that 

characterizes public policy analysis. 

As individuals we mainly participate in the arts for the intrinsic benefits 

of the art or cultural experience, not to improve our test scores or to 

stimulate our economy but rather to create meaning, to be stimulated, 

to be surprised or inspired. On the other hand; the value derived from 

an appreciation of intrinsic characteristics of art is not to be deemed as 

strictly individual, as they can indeed contribute to the creation of social 

bonds and the expression of communal meaning. 


1

INDEX DIPLOMATIC WORLD 56 

KINGDOM OF 

SAUDI ARABIA 

PHILIPPE 

DE BACKER 

SECRETARY 

OF STATE 

BELGIAN FEDERAL 

4 

VISION 2030 

42 

GOVERNMENT 

72 

SOCIAL AND 

ECONOMIC 

PROSPECTS 

OF BLOCKCHAIN 

APPLICATIONS 

Prince Michael 

of Liechtenstein 

CHINA-EU 

TOURISM YEAR 

18 

HERMAN DE CROO 

MINISTER OF STATE 

FORMER PRESIDENT 

OF THE CHAMBER 

46 

FÉLIX ANTOINE 

TSHILOMBO 

TSHISEKEDI 

74 

DIALOGUE WITH 

EMPEROR QIN: 

H.E. LEO D’AESE 

AMBASSADOR 

OF BELGIUM 

20 

CHINA – EU 

54 

TO SERBIA 

80 

MARTIN PALMER 

SECRETARY 

GENERAL ARC 

H.E. ELENA BASILE 

AMBASSADOR 

OF ITALY 

28 

ECSA NEW YEAR’S 

SECURITY 

CONFERENCE 

58 

EUROPEANS AND 

THE CHINESE 

NEW SILK ROAD 

INITIATIVE 

Dr Pierre-Emmanuel 

Thomann 

84 

H.E. ELEFTHERIA 

GALATHIANAKI 

AMBASSADOR 

OF THE REPUBLIC 

THE NEXT CHAPTER 

OF WESTERN 

ECONOMY STARTS 

IN BRUSSELS 

32 

OF GREECE 

60 

Michel de Kemmeter 

90 

A BELGIAN 

ENTREPRENEUR IN 

LITHUANIA 

CHINA’S SILK ROAD 

ENTREPRENEUR 

Freddy Opsomer 

H.E. ERKINKHON 

RAHMATULLOZODA 

AMBASSADOR 

OF THE REPUBLIC 

OF TA JIKISTAN 

36 

DECENTRALIZED 

DAVOS AND 

DECENTRALISTES 

TRANSFORM DAVOS 

Alexander Shulgin 

64 

THE PROMISE 

OF THE 2018 

EU-CHINA 

TOURISM YEAR 

Alexander Alles 

Irma Orlandi 

94 

2 

40 

SOPHIE WILMÈS 

WORLD ECONOMIC 

FEDERAL MINISTER 

FORUM DAVOS 

OF BUDGET BELGIUM 

70 

Dorin Deelen 

98 

THE BELT AND 

ROAD INITIATIVE. 

A SOLUTION FOR 

BREXIT? 

Billiet & Co Lawyers

21 

katerns Margins of Excess 192x246_01.indd 21 08/01/2018 16:33 

Sheba 

International 

Sheba 

International 

Sheba 

International 

Sheba 

International 

Sheba 

International 

Sheba 

International 

Sheba 

International 

Sheba 

International 

Sheba 

International 

Sheba 

International 

SPRING 2018 

EU/CHINA/USA 

THE ARTIFICIAL 

INTELLIGENCE 

104 

(R)EVOLUTION 

148 

THE HEART OF 

BRUSSELS BEATS 

AT THE MUSIC 

CONSERVATORY 

168 

DIPLOMATIC 

DINNER 

AT THE CERCLE 

GAULOIS 

Sheba International 

Impacting healthcare worldwide 

Russia 

Ukraine 

Kazakhstan 

CULTURAL NOMAD 

CONNECTING 

PEOPLE, 

CHANGING MINDS 

Hans Maria De Wolf 

THE EUROPEAN INSTITUTE 

FOR ASIAN STUDIES 

NEGOTIATION 

STRATEGIES FOR 

ACHIEVING 

OUTCOMES 

THAT WORK 

Tim Cullen 

118 

108 

120 

UNDERSTANDING 

BETWEEN THE 

EUROPEAN UNION 

AND ASIA 

GLOBAL MEDIA 

INNOVATOR 

GABRIELE MÜNTER 

PAINTING TO 

THE POINT 

154 

152 

156 

TOGETHER IN 

LIGHT @ DARK 2.0 

ART EXPO 

PRESENTED BY 

LIVING TOMORROW 

& PSYCART 

SHEBA 

INTERNATIONAL 

IMPACTING 

HEALTHCARE 

WORLDWIDE 

SHEBA MEDICAL 

CENTER’S 

70th ANNIVERSARY 

CELEBRATION 

170 

Ghana 

Equatorial 

Guinea 

Congo 

177 

178 

Zambia 

Georgia 

Israel 

International Consultation Division 

International Training Center 

ROLF SACHS 

FOR DIPLOMATIC 

WORLD 

China 

128 

DIPLOMATIC WORLD 

GLOBAL ART FORUM 

MAX PINCKERS 

MARGINS OF EXCESS 

160 

IMAGINATION 

OIL PAINTING 

STUDIES 

BY RUBENS AND 

VAN DYCK 

182 

THE FABULOUS 

HISTORY OF THE 

ORDER OF SAINT 

STANISLAS 



JEROEN R. KRAMER 

UNE FEMME 

142 

141 

INSPIRED BY 

PLANTIN-MORETUS 

STOCKMANS 

ART BOOKS 

Bruno Devos 

H.E. PATRICK 

VAN GHEEL 

BELGIAN CULTURAL 

WEEK IN HAVANA 

166 

162 

CIDIC 

THE EUROPEAN 

CENTRE FOR 

ECONOMIC, 

ACADEMIC AND 

CULTURAL 

DIPLOMACY & 


IDEOLOGY AND 

ARTISTIC 

FREEDOM IN CHINA 

Prof. Dr. Jan De Maere 

186 

3

INTERVIEW WITH HIS EXCELLENCY THE AMBASSADOR 

ABDULRAHMAN BIN SULEIMAN AL AHMED, 

AMBASSADOR OF THE CUSTODIAN OF THE TWO 

HOLY MOSQUES TO THE KINGDOM OF BELGIUM AND 

THE GRAND DUCHY OF LUXEMBOURG 

KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA’S 

VISION 2030 

Any developed economy that wants to remain 

dynamic and vibrant must be flexible and innovative 

to adapt to the ever-changing conditions of the 

global economy. Vision 2030 is Saudi Arabia’s 

ambitious agenda, which will diversify and 

restructure the Kingdom’s economy, improve the 

governance of Saudi resources, and improve quality 

of life for all Saudi citizens. This socio-economic 

roadmap, master-minded by the Crown Prince 

Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud and approved 

by the Saudi government and King Salman bin 

Abdulaziz, is already under implementation. 

In April 2016, the Saudi Cabinet, led by Custodian of the 

Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz, approved 

the country’s Vision 2030, an economic roadmap which will 

end the Kingdom’s dependence on oil revenue. 

The historic vision was developed by the Council of 

Economic and Development Affairs, which is chaired by 

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. It includes 

a number of goals and reform strategies for the Kingdom’s 

long-term economic success, including reductions in 

subsidies, the creation of a sovereign wealth fund, opening 

4

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud: 

© Embassy of Saudi Arabia 

“Our country is rich in its natural resources. We are not dependent solely on oil for our 

energy needs. Gold, phosphate, uranium, and many other valuable minerals are found beneath 

our land. But our real wealth lies in the ambition of our people and the potential of our 

younger generation. They are our nation’s pride and the architects of our future ... Our people 

will amaze the world again.” 

Saudi Aramco to private investment through a partial IPO, 

and reforms to several industries including tourism and 

defence. 

“We are determined to reinforce and diversify the 

capabilities of our economy, turning our key strengths into 

enabling tools for a fully diversified future,” said Prince 

Mohammed. “We are determined to build a thriving country 

in which all citizens can fulfill their dreams, hopes and 

ambitions.” 

The vision is built around three primary themes: a vibrant 

society, a thriving economy and an ambitious nation. 

In order to achieve a vibrant society, Saudi Arabia will focus 

on its people and the Islamic faith. This will happen through 

a series of commitments, including: 

• Increasing the number of Umrah visitors from 8 million to 

30 million annually. 

We have been given the privilege to serve the Two Holy 

Mosques, the pilgrims and all visitors to the blessed holy 

sites. In the last decade, the number of Umrah visitors 

entering the country from abroad has tripled, reaching 

8 million people. This is a noble responsibility. It requires 

us to spare no effort in seeking to offer pilgrims with all 

they need, so we fulfil our duty to provide good hospitality 

to our brothers and sisters. In this context, we have 

begun a third expansion to the Two Holy Mosques, as 

well as modernizing and increasing the capacities of our 

airports. We have launched the Makkah Metro project 

to complement the railroad and train projects that will 

serve visitors to the Holy Mosques and holy sites. We have 

reinforced the network of our transport system to facilitate 

access and help pilgrims perform their visits with greater 

ease and convenience. At the same time, we will enrich 

pilgrims’ spiritual journeys and cultural experiences while 

in the Kingdom. We will establish more museums, prepare 

new tourist and historical sites and cultural venues, and 

improve the pilgrimage experience within the Kingdom. 

5

6

By increasing the capacity and by improving the quality 

of the services offered to Umrah visitors, we will, by 

2020, make it possible for over 15 million Muslims per 

year to perform Umrah and be completely satisfied with 

their pilgrimage experience. We will achieve this by 

improving visa application procedures which will smooth 

the visa process with the aim of full automation. We 

will also further integrate e-services into the pilgrims’ 

journey, which will enrich the religious and cultural 

experience. Both the public and private sectors will 

play a crucial role in this project as we work to upgrade 

accommodation, improve hospitality and launch new 

services for pilgrims. 

• Establishing the largest Islamic museum in the world. 

We have always taken — and will continue to take — great 

pride in our heritage. Mohammad, the Last of Prophets, 

Peace Be Upon Him, was from Makkah, the birthplace 

of Islam. Medina is where the first Islamic society was 

born. We will build an Islamic museum in accordance 

with the highest global standards, equipped with the 

latest methods in collection, preservation, presentation 

and documentation. It will be a major landmark for 

our citizens and visitors, where they will learn about 

the history of Islam, enjoy interactive experiences and 

participate in cultural events. Using modern technology, 

visitors to the museum will take an immersive journey 

through the different ages of Islamic civilization, as well 

as its science, scholars and culture. It will also be an 

international hub for erudition and include a world-class 

library and research center. 

• Doubling the number of Saudi heritage sites registered 

with UNESCO. 

• Promoting the growth of cultural and entertainment 

opportunities within the Kingdom. 

Vision 2030 is not a tactical quick-win for Saudi Arabia 

to boost its economy in the short-term; it goes beyond 

the question of oil. It is an ambitious long-term strategy 

that is set to bring about important lasting change to 

our country and a positive future for the population. 

Culture and entertainment are indispensable to a 

high quality of life. We shall acknowledge that the 

cultural opportunities currently available in the 

kingdom do not reflect the rising aspirations of our 

citizens and residents. To reflect this aspiration, 

government funds and partnerships with local and 

international investors will be harnessed to make land 

available for cultural and entertainment projects, and 

talented writers, authors and directors will be better 

supported. Ultimately, this too will also contribute 

to our economy and will result in the creation of 

many job opportunities. To ensure that the richness 

of Saudi history and culture is recognized, we aim to 

double the number of Saudi heritage sites registered 

with UNESCO — process has already begun with the 

recognition by UNESCO of ancient rock art in the 

Hail region. Most recently, the Kingdom has allocated 

around €0.9 billion to preserving its cultural heritage 

and is investing in tourism, aiming to increase spending 

by Saudis at home. 

• Encouraging healthy lifestyles so that the number of 

citizens who exercise once a week increases from 13 

to 40 percent. 

A healthy nation needs a healthy population and so 

the Saudi government has committed to encouraging 

healthier lifestyles so that the number of citizens who 

exercise once a week increases from 13 to 40 percent, 

through widespread and regular participation in sports 

and athletic activities, working in partnership with the 

private sector to establish additional dedicated facilities 

and programs. 

7

8

• Developing Saudi cities so that three are recognized in the 

100 top-ranked cities in the world. 

Our cities already enjoy high levels of security and 

development. Despite the current turmoil in the region 

and the wide expanse of our territories, our country and 

citizens are safe and secure. Our cities are among the 

safest in the world with annual crime rates that are less 

than 0.8 per 100.000 people, far below the international 

rate of 7.6. We will maintain our safety and security 

by supporting ongoing efforts to fight drugs abuse, as 

well as by adopting further measures to ensure traffic 

safety, reduce traffic accidents and minimize their tragic 

consequences. 

Our cities have grown significantly in recent decades; 

a growth which has been accompanied by the steady 

development of their infrastructure. To ensure we can 

continue to enhance the quality of life for all and meet 

the needs and requirements of our citizens, we will 

continue to ensure high quality services such as water, 

electricity, public transport and roads are properly 

provided. Open and landscaped areas will also be 

developed further, to meet the recreational needs of 

individuals and families. 

• Diversifying the Kingdom’s economy through the ongoing 

privatization of state-owned assets, including establishing 

a sovereign wealth fund that will be financed through the 

partial IPO of Saudi Aramco. 

The ongoing privatization of state-owned assets, including 

leading companies, property and other assets, will bring in 

new and more diverse revenues for the Saudi government. 

This will further enhance our financial resources and 

economic stability, which will be reinvested for long-term 

impact. We will develop further the sophistication of our 

investment vehicles, particularly after transferring the 

ownership of Aramco to the Public Investment Fund, 

which will become the largest sovereign wealth fund in 

the world. We will increase the efficiency of the fund’s 

management and improve its return on investment, 

with the aim of diversifying our government resources 

and our economy. The Public Investment Fund will not 

compete with the private sector, but instead help unlock 

strategic sectors requiring intensive capital inputs. This 

will contribute towards developing entirely new economic 

sectors and establishing durable national corporations. 

• Unlocking underdeveloped industries such as 

manufacturing, renewable energy and tourism. 

In order to achieve a thriving economy, Saudi Arabia will 

diversify its economy and create dynamic job opportunities 

for its citizens. This will happen through commitments to 

education, entrepreneurship and innovation, including: 

We will support promising sectors and foster their 

success so that they become new pillars of our economy. 

In the manufacturing sector, we will work towards 

localizing renewable energy and industrial equipment 

Aqua desert of Saudi Arabia 

© Shutterstock 

9

sectors. In the tourism and leisure sectors, we will create 

attractions that are of the highest international standards, 

improve visa issuance procedures for visitors, and 

prepare and develop our historical and heritage sites. In 

technology, we will increase our investments in, and lead, 

the digital economy. In mining, we will furnish incentives 

for and benefit from the exploration of the Kingdom’s 

mineral resources. At the same time as diversifying 

our economy, we will continue to localize the oil and 

gas sector. As well as creating a new city dedicated to 

energy, we will double our gas production, and construct 

a national gas distribution network. We will also make 

use of our global leadership and expertise in oil and 

petrochemicals to invest in the development of adjacent 

and supporting sectors. 

• Modernising the curriculum and standards of Saudi 

educational institutions from childhood to higher learning. 

We will close the gap between the outputs of higher 

education and the requirements of the job market. We 

will also help our students make careful career decisions, 

while at the same time training them and facilitating their 

transition between different educational pathways. In the 

year 2030, we aim to have at least five Saudi universities 

among the top 200 universities in international rankings. 

We shall help our students achieve results above 

international averages in global education indicators. 

To this end, we will prepare a modern curriculum 

focused on rigorous standards in literacy, numeracy, 

skills and character development. We will track 

progress and publish a sophisticated range of education 

outcomes, showing year-on-year improvements. We will 

work closely with the private sector to ensure higher 

education outcomes are in line with the requirements 

of job market. We will invest in strategic partnerships 

with apprenticeship providers, new skills councils from 

industry, and large private companies. We will also 

work towards developing the job specifications of every 

education field. Furthermore, we will build a centralized 

student database tracking students from early childhood 

through to K-12 and beyond into tertiary education 

(higher and vocational) in order to improve education 

planning, monitoring, evaluation, and outcomes. We will 

also expand vocational training in order to drive forward 

economic development. Our scholarship opportunities 

will be steered towards prestigious international 

universities and be awarded in the fields that serve our 

national priorities. We will also focus on innovation in 

advanced technologies and entrepreneurship. 

10 

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Outside distance skyline view on Riyadh Kingdom tower, Al Faisaliah and other business skyscrapers, full wide panorama



11

• Refocusing on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) 

by encouraging financial assistance. Increasing the 

contribution of SMEs to GDP from 20 to 35 percent by 

2030. 

To make the country less dependent on its oil reserves 

and secure a thriving economy, Saudi Arabia will 

diversify to create more dynamic job opportunities for 

its citizens. This will happen through commitments to 

entrepreneurship, innovation and education. Concretely 

we are striving to lower the rate of unemployment from 

11.6% to 7%; increase SME contribution to GDP from 

20% to 35%, and increase women’s participation in the 

workforce from 22% to 30%. By privatising state-owned 

assets such as Saudi Aramco and also refocusing on small 

and medium-sized enterprises through enhanced financial 

assistance, the kingdom will unlock underdeveloped 

industries such as manufacturing, renewable energy 

and tourism and make our economy more robust. 

Furthermore, by modernising the curriculum and 

standards of Saudi educational institutions, the aim is to 

propel at least five Saudi universities into the top 200 in 

the world, delivering a well-equipped workforce. Beyond 

these reforms, achieving our desired rate of economic 

growth will require an environment that attracts the 

necessary skills and capabilities from beyond our national 

borders. To attract and retain the finest foreign minds, 

the government plans to improve living and working 

conditions for non-Saudis by extending their ability to 

own property in certain areas, improving the quality of 

life, permitting the establishment of more private schools 

and adopting an effective and simple system for issuing 

visas and residence permits. 

Opening up the kingdom in this way will contribute to 

economic development and attract foreign investors who 

can be confident in the resilience and potential of our 

national economy. By easing restrictions on ownership 

and foreign investment and creating a smoother flow of 

goods, people and capital, we aim to increase foreign 

direct investment from 3.8% to the international level 

of 5.7% of GDP. This is of course a great opportunity 

12 

Kaaba in Masjid Al Haram in Mecca Saudi Arabia 

© Shutterstock

Makkah Clock Tower 


for European entrepreneurs eager to benefit from Saudi 

Arabia’s potential as a strategic location that links 

Europe to Asia and Africa. 

In order to be an ambitious nation, Saudi Arabia will focus on 

accountability, transparency and effectiveness in its governing 

strategy. Sustainable success can only be achieved with solid 

foundations. In order to realize this potential, the Kingdom 

will: 

• Boost transparency by expanding online services and 

improving governance standards. 

In order to sharpen the ambition of our nation, Saudi 

Arabia will focus on accountability, transparency and 

effectiveness in its governing strategy. We shall have 

zero tolerance for all levels of corruption, whether 

administrative or financial. We will adopt leading 

international standards and administrative practices, 

helping us reach the highest levels of transparency 

and governance in all sectors. We will set and uphold 

high standards of accountability. Our goals, plans and 

performance indicators will be published so that progress 

and delivery can be publicly monitored. Transparency 

will be boosted and delays reduced by expanding online 

services and improving their governance standards, with 

the aim of becoming a global leader in e-government. 

• Establish the King Salman Program for Human Capital 

Development in order to train more than 500.000 

government employees in best practices. 

We have yet to identify and put into effect the best 

practices that would ensure that public sector employees 

have the right skills for the future. However, by 2020, we 

aim to have trained, through distance learning, 500.000 

government employees. All ministries and government 

institutions will be required to adopt best practices in 

human capital development. We will continue to hire 

individuals according to merit and work towards building 

a broad talent base, so they may become leaders of the 

future. The King Salman Program for Human Capital 

13

Development will establish HR centers of excellence in 

every government agency, and provide training. We will 

work to raise the productivity of employees to the highest 

levels possible, by implementing proper performance 

management standards, providing continuous training for 

professional development, and sharing knowledge. We 

will develop targeted policies to identify and empower 

future leaders, and will furnish a stimulating environment 

that provides equal opportunities and rewards for 

excellence. 

careers. We will encourage the businesses that follow 

through on this commitment to participate in our 

country and to address national challenges. 

• Being responsible to society 

The values of giving, compassion, cooperation and 

empathy are firmly entrenched in our society. We have 

already played an influential role in providing social aid 

locally, regionally and globally. 

• Bolster the non-profit sector through increased efficiency 

and impact. 

We aspire to have businesses that contribute to 

developing our society and our country, not be geared 

solely towards generating profits. We expect our 

companies to observe their social responsibilities and 

contribute to creating a sustainable economy, including 

by creating the stimulating opportunities for young men 

and women that can help them build their professional 

In the future, we will formalize and strengthen the 

organization of our social and compassionate work 

so that our efforts have the maximum results and 

impact. Today, we have fewer than 1.000 non-profit 

foundations and associations. In order to increase the 

resilience and impact of this sector, we will continue 

to develop regulations necessary to empower nonprofit 

organizations. We will review our regulations to 

encourage endowments to sustainably fund the sector and 

to encourage corporations and high net worth families to 

14 

Saudi Arabia, Sakaka, sunset on the Qasr Za’abel fortress 

© Shutterstock

His Excellency Ambassador Abdulrahman bin Suleiman Al Ahmed and Barbara Dietrich 

© Embassy of Saudi Arabia 

establish non-profit organizations. Government support 

will be directed to the programs with highest social 

impact and we will support training workers to encourage 

volunteering and careers in the non-profit sector. 

Enabling non-profit organizations to attract the best 

talents in order to ensure best management practices and 

the transfer of knowledge, which will strengthen these 

institutions over the long term. This will ensure that the 

non-profit sector plays an enhanced and more efficient 

role in critical sectors such as health care, education, 

housing, research, and cultural and social programs. 

lives of citizens. But it’s an important departure to overhaul 

its all-oil economic model and open the kingdom to bolder 

investment flows and international cooperation. 

Our commitment to achieving the goals of these pivotal 

programs and our collective contribution shall be the first 

step towards achieving Saudi Arabia’s vision for 2030. We 

will continue to launch new programs in the upcoming years 

as required, and we will continuously review and assess our 

performance in achieving this vision. 

The Vision 2030 plan is the first step towards achieving 

Saudi Arabia’s economic aspirations and transforming the 

For more details on Vision 2030, please visit the official 

website www.vision2030.gov.sa 

15

16 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, KSA, New buildings being constructed in the new King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh © Shutterstock

17

H.E. AMBASSADOR 

ZHANG MING 

GALA SHOW STAGED IN 

BRUSSELS IN CELEBRATION OF THE 

CHINA-EU TOURISM YEAR AND THE 

CHINESE SPRING FESTIVAL 

On 15 February 2018, the Chinese New Year’s Eve, arts 

performances were staged at BOZAR, Center for Fine 

Arts in Brussels, to celebrate the 2018 China-EU Tourism 

Year and the Chinese Spring Festival. The event was cohosted 

by the Chinese Mission to the EU and the Chinese 

Embassy to Belgium with the support of the Chinese 

Ministry of Culture and the Shenzhen Municipal People’s 

Government. Nearly 2.000 people attended the event, 

including Chinese Ambassador to the EU Mr. Zhang 

Ming, Chinese Ambassador to Belgium Mr. Qu Xing, 

Commissioner Tibor Navracsics for Education, Culture, 

Youth and Sport of the European Commission, General 

Mikhail Kostarakos, President of the EU Military 

Committee, other EU and Belgian representatives, 

diplomats to the EU and Belgium, Chinese entrepreneurs, 

the Chinese community in Belgium, as well as Chinese 

and foreign journalists. 

18 

H.E. Ambassador Zhang Ming 

Ambassador Zhang sent his New Year’s greetings and 

said to the guests that it is of special significance to 

ring in the Chinese New Year with them like a family. 

Ambassador Zhang pointed out that throughout the 

2018 China-EU Tourism Year, the two sides will hold 

various activities to enhance mutual understanding, 

strengthen existing cooperation and look for new areas of 

cooperation that benefit people of both sides, and bring 

more certainty to the world. The year 2018 is the Year 

of Dog. Like President Juncker, Ambassador Zhang also 

hopes that this year will be a year of loyalty, sincerity 

and harmonious relationship between China and the EU, 

and looks forward to greater prosperity in China-EU 

relations.

Commissioner Navracsics said that spring is the time to 

plan for the whole year and that it is a great delight to 

get together with Chinese and European friends on the 

eve of the Chinese New Year. The year 2018 is the EU- 

China Tourism Year and the European Year of Cultural 

Heritage. This will be a good opportunity for both 

China and the EU to showcase their cultural treasures. 

Commissioner Navracsics hopes that the EU and China 

will continue growing their relations in the coming year 

and bring cooperation and friendship to a new level. 

After the reception, guests watched the gala show 

themed “China Impression” presented by an art troupe 

from Shenzhen. The show, featuring traditional Chinese 

folk music, dances, fascinating acrobatics and martial 

arts, brought out the beauty of traditional Chinese 

culture, the vigor of Chinese young people, as well as 

the openness and diversity of Shenzhen as a frontrunner 

in China’s reform and opening-up. The show resonated 

strongly with the audience and left with them a deep 

impression. 

© Mission of China to the EU 

19

DIALOGUE WITH EMPEROR QIN: CHINA - EU 

A STORY OF AN INTERNATIONAL 

EXHIBITION, A PRIVATE 

PHILANTHROPIC INITIATIVE 

BRIDGING DIFFERENT CULTURES 

ANTWERP, THE “WORLD DIAMOND CAPITAL” 

FOR THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN CHINA AND 

EUROPE 

the staging of the exhibition at the Diamond Vessel of Zaha 

Hadid, Head Quarters of The Antwerp Port Authority. 

We feel blessed by their great support. 

We were happy to present Dialogue with Emperor Qin: 

China-EU, an ambitious and philanthropic exhibition. It aims 

at generating exchanges and conversations around the theme 

of international cultural dialogue. Dedicated to all art lovers 

and to all those who want to build peace through cultural 

exchange; this event answers a long-lasting need and raises an 

artistic bridge between China and Europe. 

We arrived at the end of our epic journey with Dialogue with 

Emperor Qin and we were able to truly close the circle with 

Antwerp has a long and outstanding tradition regarding 

the ancient Silk Road. In 1722 the company “Generale 

Keizerlijke Indische Compagnie” also called the Oostendse 

Compagnie was founded. This company was owned by 

several famous shareholders and due to the influence of 

Emperor Charles VI had a monopoly of the commerce 

between Southern Netherlands and Asia. Today Antwerp 

is, in addition to this maritime tradition, very active on the 

new rail land-bridge that connects the Atlantic and Pacific 

Oceans. 

20 

5 warriors like a troop of Alexander the Great when he conquered his Empire © Inspiring Culture

Marc Van Peel (Chairman Antwerp Port Authority) giving his speech at opening 

© Inspiring Culture 

In 2010, as we were creating this China-EU sculpture 

exhibition, the Port of Antwerp, the second largest port in 

Europe, was embarking on establishing further links with 

China through the twinning of its port with the port of 

Guangzhou. Guangzhou, one of the most important ports 

along the historic Maritime Silk Road also boasts of having 

China’s largest repeat-flowering rose garden. 

In Summer 2011, a container was shipped from Antwerp 

port to Tianjin, filled with 27 sculptures from European 

artists (one from each European country). From there they 

were transported to Xi’an, home of the original Terracotta 

Warriors and starting point of the ancient Silk Road, where 

3 sculptures from 3 Chinese artists were waiting. The 30 

soldiers, each almost two metres high, represent an army 

that neither threatens, nor looks to conquer. It erases 

frontiers and cherishes freedom. It embraces the universal 

theme of “Messengers of Peace and Generosity”. 

With this exhibition, our ambition is to present and to 

demonstrate the many cultures which form a collective 

humanity. 

Tsinandali (Georgia), Lisbon, Bucharest, Sofia, London, 

Edinburgh, Brussels and now Antwerp. A sculpture was 

added when Croatia joined the EU and we were happy to 

finish this long journey in two Kingdoms, with both the UK 

and Belgium each staging the exhibition in two cities. 

The army that accompanied the Emperor in his everlasting 

sleep has come to life again in Antwerp, “The Diamond 

Capital,” of the world! The city and Antwerp Port continue 

to build upon their historic links with China through 

contemporary trade relations and through sustained 

diplomatic projects with recent highlights including the visit 

of China’s former vice-president now President Xi Jinping 

in 2009 and the establishment of the “One Belt One Road 

taskforce”. Dialogue With Emperor Qin, with its focus 

on international collaboration is uniquely positioned to 

compliment and to build upon these diplomatic projects. 

The exhibition, a physical manifestation of the continued and 

sustained relationship between Antwerp, the rest of Europe 

and China must therefore be seen amongst these other forms 

of diplomacy. 

In 2012, the exhibition was awarded the “EU-China 

Intercultural Dialogue” label by the European Union and 

after touring in eight Chinese museums between 2011 and 

early 2013, it entered its European phase travelling to Tallinn, 

A NOTE ABOUT THE “MILITARY” CURATION 

In the very pristine Zaha Hadid designed Port House, 

the curation using “hard power” and “soft power” gently 

21

introduces the shock of two civilisations allowing the general 

public to familiarize themselves and to value both of the two 

worlds which inspired the curation of the works in Antwerp. 

It is noticeable in the scenography of the exhibition that 

the Founder of Inspiring Culture and International Curator 

of the exhibition Dr Pick Keobandith, wishes to invoke the 

rich past of two Empires; the Imperium Romanum and the 

ancient Chinese Empire of the Qin and Han dynasty who 

were in contemporary existence. As leading world powers, 

the two empires controlled half of the entire population of 

the world. But they had minimal interaction and developed 

independently of each other. 

It would be 100 years later, after Alexander’s conquest 

that the unification of China under its first Emperor Qin 

Shihuang laid the development of long distance trade routes 

commonly known as the “Silk Road”. The curation which 

combines elements from both civilisations is an original way 

to make the parallel between the two worlds in this exhibition 

“Dialogue with Emperor Qin”. 

For Keobandith: “The idea for the placement and curation 

of the works at The Port House came from my studies. In 

order to improve my French, I studied Latin at the end of 

secondary school for which I had to translate lots of texts 

about the Roman army and their leadership. It was very 

strange for me, someone who loves Proust and Musil. 

I very much enjoyed reading about their strategy and tactics 

however the vocabulary was very poor concerning the army. 

It was also interesting to note that in the Emperor Qin’s army 

and the Roman Army there were no female soldiers. 

I discovered the word strategist has its origins in the Greek 

“stratgos” meaning “Chief of Army”. A closer look at the 

definition of strategist included the word Victori - Strategy & 

Tactics. Victori is the Latin word for “The conquerors”. 

With all of this in mind, I based my scenography on the 

formation of the Roman Army as if they were preparing 

their troops to fight. They were the best army at that time 

and most of the soldiers in the Roman Empire came from 

countries outside Italy: from Africa, France, Germany, the 

Balkans, Spain and the Middle East. 

The structure of the Roman Army before the battle had 

the ambition focusing and keeping its troops in order. They 

believed that one could fight more effectively and generally in 

a staggered arrangement (en quinconce in French), from the 

Latin quincunx, by five. 

And so, placed in rows each consisting of five sculptures, 

the works in the exhibition prepare for their mission. Their 

ambition however is not to conquer but instead to bring a 

message of peace, to effectively and strategically bring their 

unique dialogue of cultural exchange to as many different 

audiences as possible. 

22 

‘Veteran’ — Shao Jun Wang — One of 3 artists representing China 

‘Amazone en Armes’ — Félix Roulin — Artist representing Belgium

H.E. Zhang Ming (Head of China Mission to EU) giving his speech at the opening of the exhibition 


Let’s say I am a Fine Strategist. Leading my troupe of 31 

artists of Peace Builders and their sculptures through China 

and Europe with a stop in Tsinandali helped by the Silk Road 

Group in Georgia.” 

AN EXAMPLE OF CULTURAL DIPLOMACY 

The exhibition “Dialogue with Emperor Qin” seeks to 

redefine and to shape the image of China and the EU in a 

different way. It is an initiative which allows for and actively 

encourages a positive dialogue between the two powers as 

well as providing a rewarding project for the private sector 

actors to be a part of and to help to strengthen cultural 

diplomacy. 

This travelling exhibition instigated in 2011 by Dr Pick 

Keobandith has taken a long and complex route before 

arriving at its final destination in the Port of Antwerp. This 

inter-cultural exchange is of particular relevance in today’s 

shifting and often dangerous political landscape, helping as it 

does to promote understanding and debate through the arts. 

Art is often described as a unique language and like all 

languages, it has its own rhythms, its own depths and 

of course its own complexities. Sometimes art is easy to 

understand, instantly readable, accessible for all. At other 

times it takes multiple viewings and dedicated attention 

to allow for its message to be fully understood. Inspiring 

Culture believes that only through art and the use of art’s 

distinctive language it is possible to speak to the world about 

the collective issues that we face today. Inspiring Culture 

is extremely proud to support this touring exhibition and 

continue to encourage people to look, listen and learn about 

other cultures. It is inspiring to find others who want to 

dedicate their energies to focus on the positive aspects of 

what makes each of us different from the other. 

ART UNITING ALL PEOPLE UNDER ONE LANGUAGE. 

THIS IS TRULY A CELEBRATION OF DIVERSITY AND 

OF THE MIX OF HERITAGE THAT WE ALL SHARE 

AND SHOULD ALWAYS BE PROUD OF. 

International cultural exchanges are part of our DNA, as we 

are convinced that Art only reaches its full potential when it 

travels across political and cultural borders. When the core of 

the artistic creation, the very personal and unique expression 

of the artist becomes universal and speaks to the humanity. 

As a private organization, Inspiring Culture balances 

philanthropic initiatives like the “Dialogue with Emperor Qin” 

exhibition with more commercial missions, always focusing 

on international cultural initiatives. 

23

H.E. Natalie Sabanadze (Georgia’s Ambassador to Belgium, Luxemburg 

and the EU), Dr. Pick Keobandith (Inspiring Culture), Marc Van Peel 

(Chairman Antwerp Port Authority) and Jacques Vandermeiren (CEO 

Antwerp Port Authority) 

H.E. Natalie Sabanadze (Georgia’s Ambassador to Belgium, Luxemburg 

and the EU), H.E. Zhang Ming (Head of China Mission to EU), 

Dr. Pick Keobandith (Inspiring Culture), Marc Van Peel (Chairman 

Antwerp Port Authority) and Tom Monballiu (Deputy Port Ambassador) 

Cathy Berx (Governor of Province of Antwerp), H.E. Zhang Ming (Head 

of China Mission to EU), Marc Van Peel (Chairman Antwerp Port 

Authority) and Jacques Vandermeiren (CEO Antwerp Port Authority) 

Director, Founder Inspiring Culture Dr. Pick Keobandith showing guests 

works in the exhibition at the opening 

24 

Mrs Cai Xiaolin wife of H.E. Zhang Ming (Head of China Mission to EU), Linda Brunker (Artist Ireland), Tom Monballiu (Deputy Port Ambassador), 

H.E. Zhang Ming (Head of China Mission to EU), Jacques Vandermeiren (CEO Antwerp Port Authority), Hanneke Beaumont (Artist the Netherlands), 

Marc Van Peel (Chairman Antwerp Port Authority), Félix Roulin (Artist Belgium), John Atkin (Artist UK), Zhivko Sedlarski (Artist Bulgaria), Cathy Berx 

(Governor of Province of Antwerp), Anne Khayat-Benoist (Director France Inspiring Culture), Anton Grech (Artist Malta), Dr. Pick Keobandith (Founder and 

International Director), Sabrina Tacca-Pandolfo (Director Italy), Alessandro Filippini (Artist Italy), José de Guimarães (Artist Portugal), Ed Liddle 

(Project Manager), Tamas Eros (Artist Representative Hungary) and Freddy Opsomer (Counsellor New Silk Road)

Pictured left to right, Marc Van Peel (Chairman Antwerp Port Authority), Cathy Berx (Governor of Province of Antwerp), H.E. Zhang Ming (Head of China 

Mission to EU), Dr Pick Keobandith (Inspiring Culture) and Freddy Opsomer (Counsellor New Silk Road) 

We contribute to the “Cultural Diplomacy” policy of 

our clients or we generate our own and modest “Cultural 

Diplomacy” where the only interests we serve are those of 

humanism. 

The deep understanding of these diplomatic objectives is 

essential for the success of our initiatives. Through multiple 

elements, sometimes unnoticed by most visitors, we work on 

the alignment of the exhibition and its associated events with 

the objectives of our partners. 

George Ramishvili (Chairman of Silk Road Group) 

Is it morally acceptable to use the work of artists to serve 

diplomatic, and often ultimately economical interests of 

organizations or countries? We are regularly faced with this 

question. 

Our position is that competition will always exist between 

groups of human beings on this planet and that using 

cultural exchange to influence is certainly progressive if 

compared to much more aggressive strategies. We cannot 

control all possible hidden agendas of our partners. What we 

control is the sincerity of the cultural initiatives we manage 

and the fact that they enable thousands of citizens from 

various countries to be exposed to a large variety of artistic 

propositions. That alone, is making our planet a better place. 

25

TESTIMONY OF MARC VAN PEEL, 

CHAIRMAN — ANTWERP PORT AUTHORITIES 

The Port of Antwerp is Europe’s second largest port and acts 

as a bridge between Europe and all other continents. With 

a volume of over 223 million handled goods in 2017, the 

companies within the port area are serving over 60 percent 

of the European population, living in a range of 500 km from 

Antwerp. The port connects the wider European hinterland 

with the world by sea going vessel, train, barge and road. 

From a more symbolic point of view, this introduction 

also tells that the Port of Antwerp is a crossroad of goods 

and cultures, connecting people and ideas, and a source 

of inspiration for entrepreneurs and artists. The latter is 

demonstrated in the high number of artworks in which the 

port plays a role. And again, this role is very diverse. The port 

acts as the background, is in the center of the art piece or 

inspired the artist. This connecting idea is what struck me in 

the “Dialogue with the Warriors of Emperor Qin” exhibition 

as the sculptures reflect the dialogue between ancient and 

modern art and connect the rich Chinese culture with the 

European views. In an ever globalizing world the intercultural 

dialogue contributes to a better mutual understanding and 

respect. In this regard I am grateful that this exhibition is a 

result of the cooperation between the Mission of the People’s 

Republic of China to the EU and the Antwerp Port Authority. 

Another demonstration of connecting cultures. 

Marc Van Peel 

Chairman 

GEORGIA, CHINA AND EUROPE 

FOR SILK ROAD 

Silk Road Group (SRG), a privately held investment 

company, owned and run by Georgian and European 

partners, is active in Energy, Transportation, Hospitality, 

Entertainment, Real Estate and Telecommunications. 

Every SRG business has been established with the vision 

that Georgia is an integral part of the historic Silk Road 

trading route, the ancient geopolitical axis connecting Asia 

with Europe, where currents from the East link to those 

from the West, diverse ideas are exchanged and differences 

bridged by common values. 

In a push to rediscover Georgian heritage through the 

revival of the country’s wine making traditions, SRG 

invested in a project to restore and promote the famous 

Tsinandali estate and gardens in the Kakheti region, the 

19th Century Chavchavadze family manor house, its 

landscaped garden, a historic winery, wine cellar, hotel, 

museum and café, operating as a cultural and educational 

center. Tsinandali hosts numerous events and exhibitions, 

including an international classical music festival of 

growing importance. 

George Ramishvili, a Chairman of Silk Road Group: 

“We are grateful for the opportunity of being a part of this 

project. We believe that modern business is a part of the 

world’s social and cultural community and we are proud 

to contribute by sponsoring the sea transportation of the 

Army of Peace and Dialogue.” 

ABOUT DR. PICK KEOBANDITH 

After Ecole du Louvre, Dr. Pick Keobandith received her 

Doctorate in Art History from Rennes II. A distinguished 

career in Paris followed where amongst other roles, she 

was an advisor to Sydney Picasso, was an exhibition 

commissioner with Galerie Piltzer and Galerie Anne de 

Villepoix. Later she worked at Gallery Templon and taught 

Contemporary Art Market at Christie’s Education. After 

Paris, Dr. Keobandith chose Brussels to be the platform 

to share her vision of International Art. She founded 

Inspiring Culture in August 2016. 

Working internationally, Inspiring Culture specialises in 

contemporary and modern sculpture. The main activities 

include: Exhibition conception and production, Public 

and private sculpture commissions, Academic research, 

Writing and lecture presentation, Critical Writing, and 

Artist & Art Institution development. 

26

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27

H.E. ELENA BASILE, AMBASSADOR OF 

ITALY TO THE KINGDOM OF BELGIUM, 

SHARES HER VIEWS ON RELATIONS 

BETWEEN ITALY AND BELGIUM 

Relations between Italy and Belgium are rooted in 

the past. The Italian Residence where I have the 

privilege to dwell, a beautiful neo-classic palace 

where the engagement between Marie-José and 

Umberto II was celebrated, is the symbol of the 

common history between the Belgian Royal house 

and the House of Savoy. As it is well known, 

King Philippe of Belgium is the son of Paola Ruffo 

di Calabria. Italy and Belgium can count on an 

excellent relationship in all fields, from political 

to economic one, from cultural to scientific 

cooperation, moving on through consolidated and 

automatic patterns. 

In the European framework, as founding Members of the 

European Union, Italy and Belgium are both committed 

to re-launch the European Union as a more integrated, 

united and effective organization on the international 

scene. It is paramount to bring the EU Institutions closer 

to the citizens in order to reverse the on-going trend of 

estrangement and disillusionment, which has indeed 

contributed to the (re-)emergence of populism in many 

Countries of Europe. 

28 

Italy, together with like-minded EU partners, is 

contributing to set in motion the reform of the European 

Union in order to provide collective answers to the threats 

and challenges of our days, from economic crisis to 

terrorism, from migration to climate change. We would like 

to realize, with our like-minded partners, a Eurozone based 

on a more accentuated equilibrium between responsibility 

and solidarity. It is also important to realise the 

completion of the Banking Union and to have a European 

Union budget able to ensure adequately financed policies 

in sectors where Europe can bring its added value, such as 

H.E. Elena Basile and Barbara Dietrich

H.E. Elena Basile, Ambassador at the opening of the exhibition ‘’Spanish Still Life’’ at Bozar. After Brussels, the exhibition will be shown at Musei Reali in Turin 

security and defense, migration, research and development, 

the so-called “European goods”. 

Italy’s efforts to tackle the on-going migration crisis in 

the Mediterranean were widely acknowledged. Thanks to 

the EU “Surveillance & Rescue” missions, along with the 

daily work of the Italian “Guardia Costiera”, many lives 

are saved every day. However many continue to be lost and 

unfortunately the obstacles that the reform of the Dublin 

mechanism (the obligation for the Country of first entry to 

examine the asylum application) is encountering, it is an 

indication that there is still a long way to go. A common 

EU migration and asylum policy, the goal established 

already at the 1999 European Council in Tampere, has not 

yet been reached. 

From an economic perspective, Italy’s presence in Belgium 

is solid and long-standing. Companies such as Ferrero, 

Burgo, Vitrociset and Mapei have important operations 

in the Walloon Region, while CNH Industrial and Saviola 

Group have concentrated their activities in the Flemish 

Region. Many liaison offices are present in Belgium and 

represent the most important Italian enterprises and trade 

associations like Confindustria, ENI, ENEL, FCA and 

Leonardo. 

The “Made in Italy” is wide-spread and appreciated in 

Belgium, from food to fashion, from furniture to cars. With 

a trade exchange of about 30 Bn Euro in 2017, the two 

countries are closely linked, ranking in each other’s top ten 

list of economic partners. Next to traditional export areas 

such as agri-food, textile and machinery, Italy-Belgium 

trade relations are growing, in particular, thanks to the 

exchange of pharmaceuticals, chemicals, medical devices 

and bio-tech. Both Countries share the same industrial 

backbone, composed primarily by Small and Medium 

Enterprises (SMEs). In Italy, SMEs have developed a very 

strong expertise in high-tech sectors (for instance robotics, 

mechatronics, nanotechnologies and bio-science) which 

are particularly complementary to Belgium’s flagship 

enterprises. 

Despite the historical and excellent relations existing 

between the two Countries, there are still many 

29

potentialities to explore: From the innovation of the 

traditional “Made in Italy” to the attention to high-tech 

cooperation in sectors such as ICT, bio-technologies and 

space, with a particular regard to the start-up world. 

With reference to scientific cooperation, last November we 

have organized the first meeting of the Italian researchers 

in Belgium, in the presence of Philippe Busquin, former 

Belgian European Commissioner for Research from 1999 

to 2004, and Massimo Inguscio, President of the Italian 

National Council for Research (Consiglio Nazionale della 

Ricerche, CNR). We have mapped out a very high number 

of professors, senior and junior researchers, who are a 

great asset for our work and represent natural bridges 

between the two Countries. 

Italian language is wide-spread in Belgium. It is taught 

in all the schools which are covered by the Partnership 

Charter signed between Italy and the Wallonia-Brussels 

Federation, but also by the courses organized by the 

Italian Institute of Culture in Brussels, along with other 

associations. 

The historical and cultural links between Italy and Belgium 

are well known. The reciprocal influence of Italian and 

Flemish Renaissance is one of the many examples that we 

can take into consideration. The exhibition “Spanish Still 

Life”, which is currently at Bozar, shows how the Flemish 

and Italian models of “still life” had a great influence on 

the wider development of painting in Europe. 

We have a very active Italian Institute of Culture and 

our goal is to organize as many cultural events as we 

can in cooperation with Belgian cultural institutions. 

For instance, we are working together with the Vrije 

Universiteit Brussels (VUB) to present the legacy of Rocco 

Chinnici, the Italian judge who set up the judiciary and 

investigative mechanisms which are still used today in the 

fight against organized crime. The event will include a 

panel discussion between Italian and Belgian experts and 

the screening of the movie on Rocco Chinnici, interpreted 

by famous Italian actor Sergio Castellitto. 

This year, we would also like to bring to Belgium a theatre 

piece called “Italiens. Quand les émigrés c’etait nous”, 

which will be shown in Brussels and Liège. The show, 

by telling the stories of many Italian migrants that have 

crossed the oceans and seas in the last centuries, has also 

an educational value by reminding us the never-ending 

30 

Venice, Italy, gondolas with snow in front of the Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore 

© Shutterstock

Rome, Saint Peter’s Basilica after snowfall © Shutterstock 

importance of solidarity and respect for human rights. 

My mission is of course influenced by the extremely 

high number of second or third generation-Italians who 

are still living in the Country. Italians were traditionally 

concentrated in the Walloon Region, primarily Liège 

and Charleroi, to be employed in the coal mines. The 

catastrophe that occurred in Marcinelle on August 8, 1956, 

where 262 miners, of which 136 Italians, lost their lives 

is commemorated every year as the saddest page of the 

history of Italians in Belgium. 

Community in the Belgian society. Italians are active in 

every sector, from construction to catering, from academia 

to politics. Our aim is to map out the Italians currently 

working in the Belgian institutions, convinced as we are 

that the community of Italians in Belgium is a powerful 

network of contacts and a crucial tool for the promotion of 

our Country. 

Italian migration to Belgium is a story of suffering, but also 

of great success. Former Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo is 

the symbol of the well-succeeded integration of the Italian 

DISCLAIMER 

This interview took place before the elections of 4 March 2018. 

31

INTERVIEW WITH 

H.E. ELEFTHERIA GALATHIANAKI 

AMBASSADOR OF THE REPUBLIC 

OF GREECE 

2018 is the European Year of Cultural Heritage 

which invites us to celebrate our cultural diversity 

and, at the same time, to encourage our peoples 

to discover and engage with Europe’s cultural 

heritage, in order to reinforce a sense of belonging 

to a common European space. 

As ambassador of Greece, what are the main 

focus points for you today in Brussels? Bilateral 

agreements, Economic diplomacy, cultural 

diplomacy, education. Depending on the focus 

points, could you highlight these with specific 

cases. 

I strongly believe that the Greek culture, no matter where 

it comes from, belongs to all humanity. It enriches us in a 

unique way, thanks to its anthropocentric approach, which 

was absolutely novelty back then, but also vital and highly 

I would say that, given the fact that our principle aim 

is the strengthening of bilateral cooperation in various 

fields, a combination of political, economic and cultural 

diplomacy is what we are looking for. It is a known fact 

that Greece is quickly recovering after many years of 

fiscal difficulties and is back on the growth track. In this 

context, the Greek Embassy is focusing on establishing 

mutually beneficial relations with the Belgian business 

sector, hoping both to attract Belgian investments in 

Greece and to promote Greek investments in Belgium. 

As far as cultural diplomacy is concerned, our Embassy 

seeks to promote the Greek language and Greek culture 

in Belgium through various initiatives and by supporting a 

number of cultural events. 

32 

Without any doubt Greece and its cultural heritage 

are the fundaments of Western civilisation and 

relate to all cultural developments that have 

defined our cultural history until today. How do 

you look back to this phenomenon, and how would 

you contextualize the history and heritage as a 

bridge to our contemporary life and culture in the 

context of a European and even global culture? 

H.E. Eleftheria Galathianaki 

© Diplomatic World

H.E. Eleftheria Galathianaki 

© Diplomatic World 

important for our consumption-oriented society, today. Its 

pan-anthropic values can correspond to the spiritual needs 

of all of us. This is why classical Greek literary production 

has been followed, studied and translated not only by 

modern Greek scholars, but also by brilliant minds all 

over the world. I also believe that Greek culture, because 

of its universality, is a quintessential tool for approaching 

peoples. It is the connective tissue in the quest for 

common origins and historical ties with other countries. 

Modern Greece attributes a great importance to the 

dialogue of cultures and cultural diplomacy. In 2017, 

on the initiative of Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs 

M. Nikos Kotzias, The Ancient Civilizations Forum took 

place in Athens with the participation of Bolivia, China, 

Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Peru and our country. Its aim is to 

serve as a platform for dialogue and cultural cooperation 

among the participating States. 

The diversity in Europe today, defined by a continuous 

diaspora for millennia, is dying to find a common 

cultural ground for the European Union. With 

everything mentioned above, could you create and 

propose a cultural framework that nurtures this longing 

for connection in between Europe? 

2018 is the European Year of Cultural Heritage and we 

are all invited to celebrate our cultural diversity and, 

at the same time, to encourage our peoples to discover 

and engage with Europe’s cultural heritage, in order to 

reinforce a sense of belonging to a common European 

space. It is an ideal opportunity for all of us to strengthen 

the dialogue with the cultural heritage stakeholders, to 

identify and implement coordinated policies and actions 

for the sustainable management and development of 

cultural heritage and to raise public awareness on the 

potential of cultural heritage. 

33


Let us be guided by the successful Greek-inspired initiative 

“European Capitals of Culture”, an integral part of the 

Creative Europe programme 2014-20, whose ambition is to 

promote Europe’s cultural diversity and cultural heritage 

and to reinforce the competitiveness of our cultural and 

creative sectors. 

Brussels is at the heart of international economic 

diplomacy, which is a growing area in diplomacy. 

What particular role do you see for diplomats in 

relation to the facilitation of future economic deals? 

34 


If we think of economic relations as links interconnecting 

people, organizations, regions and countries, then Brussels 

is the right place for a diplomat. Economic diplomacy 

is, perhaps, the most important long-term instrument for 

achieving international cooperation. Here, in Brussels we 

have the most obvious example and one of the greatest 

success stories of our recent history: The creation and the 

function of the EU. In this context, I can not think of a 

better place for establishing strong economic partnerships 

than in the actual capital of Europe.

H.E. Eleftheria Galathianaki and Barbara Dietrich 


How and to what extend may Chinese investments 

have helped Greece to deal with the crisis? 

After years of financial troubles, Greece is returning 

to a growth path which opens up remarkable 

opportunities for investment and trade. Our dynamic, 

comprehensive and strategic partnership with 

China sets a solid basis for expanding our role as 

an important regional hub in the fields of trade, 

transport, energy. telecommunica-tions, logistics, 

culture and tourism. My country is once again taking 

full advantage of its unique geopolitical position as a 

country of Europe, the Mediterranean, the Balkans, 

but also, as a maritime country with great potential 

for advancing relations; far beyond its 

neighborhood. 

Specialists provide guidance to Chinese investors 

in Europe. Think for instance of the guidance that 

KA Legal frequently provides to foreign investors 

in Greece. How important is such specialist 

intervention to achieve the intended transactions? 

Greece is aware of the important role of specialists’ 

intervention in achieving foreign investments. Therefore, 

we are trying to inform them on the major recent 

reforms in Greece, the positive economic climate and the 

hospitable environment which is being created for investors 

and businesses that can contribute towards growth and job 

creation. 

Which new opportunities may lay ahead for 

Chinese investors in Europe and vice versa? 

As a leading maritime country, looking for new trade 

routes, we see new great opportunities in the 21st Century 

Maritime Silk Road. An increasing number of Greek 

shipowners build their ships in China, while our biggest port 

— the port of Piraeus where a very important investment by 

COSCO has been made — is becoming a global gateway to 

Europe for products coming from Chinese and other Asian 

ports, including through the Suez Canal. From Piraeus port, 

the merchandise can easily be transported by rail to many 

destinations in the Balkans and in Central Europe. 

35


H.E. ERKINKHON RAHMATULLOZODA 

AMBASSADOR OF THE REPUBLIC 

OF TA JIKISTAN 

The realization of the New Silk Road project could 

foster a role model that has been played by the 

ancient Silk Road, where people were involved not 

only in trade but also in cultural, intellectual, 

educational, and religious exchanges. 

Mr. Ambassador, On November 10, 2017, the 

EU High Representative and foreign ministers 

of Central Asian countries, including Tajikistan 

gathered in Samarkand (Uzbekistan) for a new 

regional rapprochement. What is the importance 

of this event for your country? 

Well, I would like to begin by reminding that a quarter 

century ago the countries of Central Asia and the European 

Union embarked on the formation and development of their 

relations based on the principles of mutual respect and trust 

to each other. 

of Tajikistan, to improve the well-being of the people of 

the country. This document identifies the role of foreign 

partners’ significance in the implementation of the NDS. 

Tajikistan expects that foreign partners will increase their 

contribution to the priority areas of the Strategy. 

Therefore, Tajikistan considers strong regional and 

international ties as the main factor to impact the socioeconomic 

development of our region as whole, and each 

country individually. 

Since then, the countries of Central Asia and the EU have 

experienced different stages of cooperation, however, the 

Samarkand meeting expressed the sides’ intention to jumpstart 

their relations and give them the attention they deserve. 

The Central Asian countries’ vision to leverage their potential 

for drastic transformation and the EU’s strong interest in 

stable and economically prosperous regions are the factors 

that drive both sides towards the completion of common tasks. 

The importance of this event for Tajikistan was the 

affirmation of a strong willingness of all participants to pursue 

and enhance further regional and bilateral cooperation. We 

consider this political development as an important element 

in our relations and believe that a comprehensive and 

enhanced partnership between the EU and the countries of 

Central Asia will positively impact the regional prosperity. 

36 

My Government has developed the National Development 

Strategy-2030, which covers all aspects of the development 

H.E. Erkinkhon Rahmatullozoda

© Embassy of the Republic of Tajikistan 

This platform is supposed to assist Central Asian 

countries in gaining better benefits from China’s 

New Silk Road initiative. What does Tajikistan 

expect from the New Silk Road? 

You know well that more than 2.000 years ago the Silk 

Road was established to link China to the Middle East and 

Europe through Central Asia. The New Silk Road initiative 

is supposed to be a modern equivalent, aiming to create a 

network of economic, trade and policy cooperation. 

Thus, Central Asia has preserved its historical importance 

as a bridge between China and Europe. Moreover, in the 

recent years, the region has been a zone of close attention 

of the world community and business structures, which 

undoubtedly is a positive thing. 

Several megaprojects have been launched from China to 

Europe with the involvement of Central Asian states, which 

include new roads, railroads and pipelines. Taking into 

account the above mentioned points, cooperation between 

the countries of the region and the EU on this platform can 

help make the development of Central Asia more effective. 

Our leadership attaches great importance to the modern 

economic integration processes, therefore, comprehensive 

cooperation with the countries of Central Asia, the EU and 

China is a strategic goal of my Government. 

Tajikistan regards the New Silk Road as a promising 

initiative for mutually beneficial cooperation in various 

fields. The introduced projects will facilitate economic 

transformation, offering multiple benefits to our societies. 

Tajikistan can serve as a transit nation in China’s projects 

and benefit from it. The construction of the Tajik section of 

the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline is a vivid example. 

China has already started, and completed a number of the 

New Silk Road projects in Tajikistan and we expect significant 

Chinese investment into our infrastructure projects. 

Can it again help flourish not only commerce, 

but also culture and dialogue of civilizations in 

Eurasia? 

History, culture, and spiritual values as well as centuries-old 

traditions are the basic principles of nations, and they play a 

vital role in development of countries. 

Such a role has been played by the ancient Silk Road, 

where people were involved not only in trade but also 

in cultural, intellectual, educational, and religious 

exchanges. The Central Asian intellectuals had played 

a key role in the development of world nations. 

The great poet Abu Abdullah Rudaki, philosopher 

and mathematician Al-Farabi, the greatest scholar 

37

Abualli Ibn Sino (Avicenna) and many others had 

considerably contributed to the development of world’s 

civilizations. Today, globalization processes, in particular 

technical and economic development progresses, rapidly 

impact on cultural interchange and facilitate global 

communications. 

Thus, economic and social development of the regions will 

significantly expand the possibilities for promoting cultural 

and intellectual ties. The realization of the Silk Road 

projects, which aim to connect Asia and Europe, will foster 

intercultural exchanges and strengthen the relationship 

between the nations. 

Will this initiative promote stability in the region 

and ensure prosperity? 

It is noted that Central Asia is in close proximity to unstable 

zones, and therefore, ensuring security and stability in the 

region is a primary task of the local governments. 

Central Asians recognize that socio-economic development 

of societies is the most important factor of peace and 

stability in the region. Hence, national strategies of the 

countries of the region are directed towards the socioeconomic 

development to improve the living conditions of 

the people of the region. 

In Tajikistan, we are confident that strengthening security, 

further positive and progressive development, continuation 

of the reform of the various sectors of economy, raising the 

living standards and a gradual transition to the formation 

of the middle class are the main driving factors of stability. 

In this regards, the Government is making every effort to 

ensure the stable development of the economy, based on the 

needs of its population. 

To this end, implementation of the One Belt One 

Road projects with the involvement of Central Asia 

and neighboring regions can open up new possibilities 

for promotion of national economies and creation of 

employment. This will improve the living conditions of 

all societies and contribute to strengthening of peace and 

stability in the area. 

Barbara Dietrich and H.E. Mr. Erkinkhon Rahmatullozoda 

Indeed, we have to recognize that in today’s interdependent 

world and globalised challenges a country will not be able 

to ensure its security and economic development on its 

own. Joint coordination and consensuses will aid in creating 

a better environment for addressing regional and global 

challenges. 

I am of the opinion that a joint action could bring more 

benefits for Central Asia. The common history, culture, 

traditions, and spiritual values will greatly contribute to 

the processes of our development. The regional economic 

integration can be a key factor for stable development. 

Central Asia has enormous potential, and could act as an 

economic bridge between Asia and Europe and provide 

opportunities for our prosperity. That would contribute to 

Afghanistan’s development as well. 

In view of the recent positive developments in the area, 

I believe that a joint approach to our regional priorities, 

which is in line with the policy and aims of our European 

partners, would considerably benefit the countries of 

Central Asia. 

38 

In Europe, some experts think Tajikistan like other 

Central Asian countries will gain more benefits 

from Europe if there are better relations and 

cooperation between the countries of the region. 

What is your opinion on this topic? 

President Emomali Rahmon has declared 2018 as 

the Year of Tourism in Tajikistan. What is the aim 

of this initiative? 

Thanks to consistent efforts of President Emomali Rahmon, 

Tajikistan has made remarkable achievements in its

domestic and foreign affairs. It is of particular importance 

to the Government to enhance economic growth through 

prioritizing each sector of the national economy. 

To that end, the President has signed a decree on declaring 

2018 as the Year of Tourism and Folk Crafts in Tajikistan to 

promote development of tourism in the country. 

In fact, Tajikistan has a fabulous and beautiful landscape 

and nature and is one of the best tourist destinations in 

the world. The hospitability, climate, weather, landscape, 

sky-high mountains, delicious fruits, wonderful glaciers, 

healing waters, lakes and springs with pure water, flora and 

fauna make the country one of the fastest-growing tourist 

destinations. Therefore, it would be appropriate to mention 

that the BBC News Agency placed Tajikistan among 10 top 

tourist destinations in the field of adventure tourism. 

The Government has been making a lot of efforts to develop 

tourism infrastructure by constructing new terminals and 

hotels. It has adopted the National Tourism Development 

Program and created Tourism Development Zones. One of 

the practical steps that the Government has taken was the 

launch of the electronic visa system “e-Visa” to increase the 

number of tourists visiting Tajikistan. This system will allow 

foreign citizens to receive Tajikistan visa online, relieving 

them from unnecessary arrangements in the Tajikistan 

consulates or at the borders. 

Tajikistan has the opportunity to develop different types 

of tourism, however, since the country has one of the 

highest peaks in the world, which is about 7.000 meters 

above sea level, the focus is given to mountaineering and 

hunting. 

The Pamirs — a big node almost in the center of the Asian 

continent — is situated among the biggest mountain systems: 

Tien Shan, Hindu Kush, Kunlin, and Karakorum. Almost 

the entire territory of the Western Pamir is occupied with 

ridges of latitudinal directions. A wide high mountain desert 

has stretched from the southern slopes of the Zaalay ridge 

in the north to the banks of the river Pyanj in the south as 

well. The Tajik National Park, which is an UNESCO World 

Heritage Site, is one of the largest mountainous terrains in 

the world. Also, the longest and the most powerful glaciers 

of Central Asia are nested here. 

The country is rich with wonderful lakes that have various 

origins. There are many unique areas in Tajikistan such as 

the Seven Lakes, which reflect different colors. 

The ancient Penjikent City, also known as the Pompeii 

of Central Asia, which was once an important historical 

town on the Great Silk Road, the Hissar Fortress and other 

historical places are the best archeological sites to visit. 

Tajikistan has a collection of mineral waters, which 

consist of 72 cold, warm, and hot springs of different 

chemical composition, saturated with carbon and nitrogen 

gases. The temperature in warm and hot springs, such as 

Garmchashma, varies from 35° to 62°C. Tourists visit these 

and many other balneological resorts to get cured. 

Also, tourists can enjoy the beauty of Dushanbe, the capital 

of Tajikistan, which is known for its full-grown tree lined 

avenues, public parks, museums, and the traditional tea 

houses. Kokhi Navruz, the grandest and largest tea house in 

Central Asia, is in Dushanbe. 

It should be noted that mainly tourists from the European 

Union and the USA have visited the country during the last 

years. It is gratifying to see the increase in the number of 

European tourists coming to Tajikistan. 

In March we celebrate Navruz, one of the most important 

and beautiful holidays in Tajikistan. You may know that 

on these days the people go to the squares to watch shows, 

serve guests with traditional dishes, and finally the Tajik 

mountains can be seen in their glory. 

Well, I invite everyone to visit Tajikistan during the Navruz 

Holidays and discover the incredible beauty of my country. 

It should be noted that there are about 1450 lakes in the 

territory of Tajikistan. Some of them are located at the 

height of more than four thousand meters above sea level. 

© Embassy of the Republic of Tajikistan 

39


SOPHIE WILMÈS, 

FEDERAL MINISTER 

OF BUDGET BELGIUM 

As a Minister of Budget, Sophie Wilmès is coming 

to the EU-Budget table with one wish: bringing 

Europe and the people closer. 

40 

What are the main challenges you are facing today 

as Minister of Budget in Belgium? 

The main challenge that I had to face since I am federal 

Minister of Budget is to find the right balance between 

the budgetary consolidation and policies supporting the 

economic recovery. When this federal government took 

power in 2014, our deficit was over 3% and our debt 

was increasing endlessly. Now, I’m proud to see that our 

deficit was divided by three in only three years. Meanwhile 

our debt will be going down close to the line of 100% 

of our GDP in the end of this legislature. This is an 

accomplishment when we know that we took also a series of 

measures whose primary objective was to help our economy. 

I, with the government, simply applied my motto: it’s the 

economy which supports the budget and not the other way 

around. 

How is your role impacted as Minister being 

member of the European Union? 

As member of the EU, I have to work in a specific budgetary 

framework. There are two main rules to this framework: the 

deficit cannot go over 3% of the GDP and the debt cannot 

be higher than 60% of the GDP, without processing to a 

reduction of it at a sustained pace. Those rules have a huge 

impact on the political decisions we could take on a national 

level. But I understand completely their reasons of being. 

We need to have clear guidelines to keep everybody on the 

same track. However, I’m in favour of a “smart application” 

of the European budgetary rules. The budgetary framework 

should be flexible enough to allow Member States to answer 

to the unpredictable. If we had followed the rules by the 

letter in 2016 for example, it would have been impossible for 

this Government to make funds available in response of the 

terrorist attacks in Brussels. This is proof of necessity to be 

rigorous but flexible. In the meantime, ESA2010 codes can 

be an obstacle to investments but we know how a country 

investing in strategic fields is important to the economy. 

We are discussing at the moment with the European 

Commission to see how we can make budgetary imperatives 

and needs for investment coexist. 

Which are the tools for a federal Minister of 

Budget to be involved & support cultural & 

economic diplomacy in Europe & beyond ? 

I am directly involved in the discussions around the 

European multiannual framework programme 2021-2027. 

Those negotiations are crucial, knowing that, at that time, 

the UK will have left the EU. We are talking about a budget 

at least 10 billion euros short. This forces us to reconsider 

the way we make the EU-Budget, by focusing first on the real 

needs of the EU and the policies we have to implement. In 

this case, I am coming to the table with one wish: bringing 

Europe and the people closer. It demands to look at every 

single policy with a fresh eye, determining which has an 

added value and which doesn’t anymore. It is absolutely 

imperative because, if the EU budget cannot go higher 

and higher without any control, we have to be ready to face 

new challenges for the next coming years; security 

and immigration being both topics extremely important as 

well. 

Can you tell us the important milestones in your 

professional career & what values inspired you to 

join the public cause ? 

Deep down, I’ve always had the sense of commitment to 

the common good. Of course, becoming a Federal Minister 

was the main milestone in my political career because you 

are the centre of the decision-making process. You take

Sophie Wilmès and Barbara Dietrich 

decisions that have a positive impact on the largest possible 

number of co-citizens. That might sound scary first but it 

is very fulfilling. To be honest, I also have to mention the 

first time I was elected in the local council of Uccle. This 

is an important milestone because it is the beginning of 

everything. This is the first-ever realization of my political 

engagement. At that time, I was driven by the wish to 

improve people’s lives and making the society a better place 

to this generation but, above all, for the next generations. 

I guess those commitments still drive me nowadays, as a 

Minister. 

As Belgian citizen, born in Brussels, married to 

an Australian citizen, being a mother with 4 

children, how has openness to other (regional) 

cultures & languages influenced both your family 

and professional life 

And you forgot to mention that I’m a French-speaking 

Belgian living in the Flemish-part ! Being in contact with 

different cultures is always a learning experience. It breaks 

every paradigm you might have on things. Reality is never 

an one-side story. Living in a country where different 

communities live is an asset. On another level, to live 

peacefully together, communities have to be able to talk 

to each other. Communication is the key. It allows to 

find a common ground. That is why I find language skills 

particularly important. This is no coincidence if my children 

talk to me in French, speak with their father in English and 

go to school in Dutch. 

41

INTERVIEW WITH PHILIPPE DE BACKER 

STATE SECRETARY FOR THE FIGHT 

AGAINST SOCIAL FRAUD, PRIVACY 

AND NORTH SEA, ATTACHED TO 

THE MINISTER OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS 

AND PUBLIC HEALTH 

42 

As Secretary of State you are confronted with many 

challenges related to online privacy and to different 

audiences. 2018 will be the year of personal data 

privacy. Our future generations grow up immersed 

in a cloud of data. How to make young people 

aware of the importance of online privacy ? 

Digital is the new normal and even more the future. And 

that is excellent. Daily technological innovation pushes our 

society forward. Every new application improves our quality 

of life a bit more. The digital sector creates enormous 

economic prosperity and social well-being. But above all it 

connects people and ideas worldwide. 

Younger generations are the canary in the coal mine in this 

digital world. They are always the first to follow the latest 

trends. This has always been the case. This poses, of course, 

a huge challenge for parents, teachers and youth counselors. 

How do we protect our young people when they often get 

the new technology faster and better? This is one of my 

main concerns. 

There is also a downside to the medal. The less attractive 

side of our society is also making its way to the online 

world. Specifically for young people it concerns for example: 

bullying, sexually transgressive behavior or strangers with 

unsavory intentions that anonymously ask for your personal 

details. This is one of my main concerns. I want to make the 

youth more aware of underlying dangers. 

In this changing context, the new European privacy 

regulation must be considered. It wants to give European 

citizens more control and protection of their personal data 

and focuses emphatically on the better protection of young 

people. It is now up to the Member States to determine 

when young people get free access to the worldwide web 

between thirteen and sixteen years. 

As the competent Secretary of State for privacy, I will do 

everything in my power to get this age at thirteen years. 

First, because raising the minimum age would be evidence 

of unworldliness. The illusion that we would be able to shut 

youth off in times which every device is connected to the 

worldwide web would be naive. The rebellious youngster 

does not care about a digital prohibition sign. Secondly, 

because we simply do not want to. It also offers added value 

to their lives. Social media are an undeniably important part 

in the world of young people where they meet peers and 

family and celebrate their creativity online. 

The fact that we offer young people free access to social 

media from the age of thirteen means that we have to 

invest in media literacy. I myself am making a tour around 

different highschools to educate youngsters about the 

possibilities that the internet has to offer but also educate 

them about the hidden dangers with regards to their privacy. 

We have to teach them the right reflexes so that they can 

react appropriately when they are confronted with the 

dangers of the anonymous web or the demand for release 

of personal information. We need to make them resilient by

Philippe De Backer 

consciously learning how to deal with everything they 

share online, by requiring them to think about the impact 

of messages they post and make them master of their own 

data. Just like in the real world, we also support our young 

people in the digital world. 

In parallel, our oceans are polluted by plastics and 

other trash; for Belgium this is also the fact for the 

North Sea. With your Sea Trash Plan you make the 

first scientifically supported start of a campaign to 

prevent and counterattack these pollutions. How will 

you coordinate, execute and make this plan work ? 

Worldwide the call to take care of our environment sounds 

increasingly louder. It shows a concern for the generations 

who come after us. That is why I am proud that, as 

Secretary of State for the North Sea, I can contribute to this 

with my Action Plan for Maritime Litter which registers in 

the realization of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

The scientific, well-founded action plan is a 360° plan 

based on international, national and regional cooperation. 

It guarantees the strength that is needed to get rid of the 

cleaning up of our North Sea, but above all to tackle the 

problem at the source. This by focusing on prevention 

through communication and awareness-raising, but also 

by strictly supervising compliance with legislation. It is 

a necessary part of a comprehensive plan if we want to 

prevent that we continue to fight a running battle. 

A final part of the plan focuses on scientific research. As 

a biologist, the well-being of the North Sea is close to my 

heart. Plastic is an invention of man. The solution for 

the plastic soup in our North Sea and, by extension, the 

merging of economics and ecology into a circular economy 

will also have to be the result of human creativity. 

China is building new economic roads. China’s 

Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is not a threat to the 

global economic or political order, and could turn 

out to become a significant vision that generates 

enormous benefits for the world. Which new 

opportunities may lay ahead via these new roads for 

Chinese investors in Europe, Belgium and Antwerp 

and vice versa ? 

I always welcome trade. It is unquestionably the historical 

engine to which we owe our present-day prosperity. It is 

incomprehensible to me that people on the international 

stage are raving about mercantilist recipes today. 

International trade is not a zero-sum game. 

It will not surprise you that I encourage additional trade 

routes. World trade can only benefit from this. The crucial 

condition here is that everyone follows the same rules. The 

Chinese “Belt and Road Initiative” seems at first sight to 

contribute to the better alignment of policy, infrastructure 

works and customs controls. The objectives are therefore 

suspiciously similar to those of the European Union. 

43

Philippe De Backer 

44 

More specific with regard to the port of Antwerp, there 

are voices that fear that the “Belt and Road Initiative” will 

cause competition. I will not participate in the ballyhoo. We 

must consider this new development as a challenge and an 

opportunity. China is already investing a huge amount of 

money in the port of Antwerp today, via COSCO, its largest 

shipping company. As long as we continue to play the trump 

cards of our port city and offer space for entrepreneurship, I 

don’t see how increased trade could harm our port. On the 

contrary. 

Antwerp has been a historic crossroads for people 

from all over the world. How to use this diversity 

today to make Antwerp a successful area and 

laboratory for the respectful cohabitation of 

different people, cultures and experiences, that 

could leverage the City towards an economic, 

tolerant and innovative metropolitan area ? 

The cross-fertilization and clash of ideas leads to innovation 

and eventually to progress. We should therefore also 

embrace the presence of many nationalities in Antwerp. 

Diversity is an asset that we must use to our advantage. To 

achieve this, it is necessary that every inhabitant of Antwerp 

also feels as a member of the city. Regardless of your social, 

cultural, economic or religious background, you must feel 

that you are part of the great Antwerp society. To achieve 

this, two conditions must be met. 

First, we must make clear to every resident and community 

that everyone adheres to the same rules. The principles 

of enlightenment must be recognized by everyone as the 

directional indicators for social life. They contribute to 

a framework in which every Antwerp citizen can freely 

believe, speak, work, start up businesses and move around. 

Secondly, discrimination should definitely belong to the 

past. A diverse city in which a we-side discourse takes 

the upper hand inevitably leads to an explosive cocktail. 

If distrust and intolerance take the upper hand, there is 

no longer any question of cooperation and this harms 

innovation, prosperity and growth. 

The fight against discrimination cannot be stopped. Every 

inhabitant of the city must feel as a part of Antwerp. And 

enforcing compliance with the principles of enlightenment, 

can make Antwerp one big, warm community. In which 

every resident can celebrate his creativity and look for 

collaborations. It would make the progress of our city 

unstoppable. 

From cultural point of view, Antwerp highlights 

the Baroque Year and is finishing its Diamond 

Year in 2018. How would you relate the cultural 

and economic history of the City towards a 

future orientation where culture and economics 

could thrive again on a European and global 

level? 

The Golden Age of Antwerp shows us the way to progress. 

500 years ago Antwerp was the centre of the world with 

unprecedented economic and cultural progress. Antwerp 

was the international trade centre. There can be found 

several reasons for the Antwerp miracle. Off course it has

something to do with our location along the Scheldt. But 

the most important reason was that the Golden Age was an 

era of religious tolerance, liberty and free enterprise. If we 

want to enjoy another golden age on a European and global 

level, we have to embrace the diversity we have and cut red 

tapes and taxes for entrepreneurs. 

You have just launched the presentation of the 

book, ‘Klank van de Stad’, a book for and by 

inspiring people from Antwerp. These 22 witnesses 

have in common a strong love for and great pride 

for Antwerp. In the book, they propose ambitious 

ideas and engage in an open dialogue with you. 

Through the selection of these conversations, you 

are drawing elements that could be entered into a 

blueprint for a future city. Can you highlight some 

of these ideas that coincide with your vision on the 

City of Antwerp. 

My book “Klank van de Stad” is first and foremost a 

symbolic rendering of the way how I want to do politics. 

I refuse to be locked up in a party cocoon to where I am 

shielded from opinions and influences from outside. That 

would be at odds with every liberal fiber in my body. From 

the conflict of ideas, progress develops as I said earlier. 

It goes without saying that I myself honor this principle. 

The book that I published are the sounds from my city, the 

city that I love so dearly. The opinions and influences from 

outside that is what I look for. They are often innovative, 

they inspire me and consequently feed my political views. 

That often becomes very concrete. How do we tackle the 

mobility issue? What should the education of the future look 

like? How can we play out the diversity that characterizes 

Antwerp as an asset? 

In the selection process for the themes in the book “Klank 

van de Stad” I always started from one question: what is 

essential for our children? As a father, of children who will 

grow up in this beautiful city, I’m mostly thinking about the 

future of our next generations. What are the challenges we 

need to tackle now and what are the opportunities that we 

need to take on so that our children can be proud of us. 

As a politician and secretary of state, you are 

playing on multiple fields, both from territory 

point of view (Belgium / Antwerp) but also from a 

multidisciplinary point of view. It will be difficult 

to predict where you will turn up next in the near 

future. In general, as a ‘civil servant’, where would 

you like that your career brings you and how would 

you like to grow in this role. 

It’s not a secret that to me becoming the mayor of Antwerp 

would be the most beautiful job. On the 14th of October 

the Antwerp citizen will choose his new city council and 

mayor. I will throw myself in the mix. First of all with a 

strong campaign that focuses on fresh, liberal ideas. With 

the conscious choice for a substantive debate even though 

we live in times of fleeting social media. With attention to 

the problems of the city and its inhabitants instead of the 

development of strategies in a search for power. Then it is 

up to the voter to decide if I will serve in the office of my 

dreams. 

The Port House “Havenhuis”, Antwerp, with new extension by Zaha Hadid Architects 


45

HERMAN DE CROO 

ON THE CULTURE AND HISTORY 

OF BELGIUM FOR 


BELGIUM: AN EXCEPTIONAL 

WAY OF BEING A STATE … 

Belgium has been economically, culturally and 

scientifically strong throughout the years. We 

developed from an industrialized nation with stone, 

coal and steel into a service nation. Seven world 

expositions took place in Belgium: quite amazing for 

a ridiculously small piece of territory. The greatest 

number of embassies can be found in Brussels, 

which is a third more than in Washington, the 

‘capital of the world’. Belgium’s discrete presence 

and the sheer activity happening on its ground is 

often underestimated. 

46 

Prof. dr. em. Herman De Croo 

Minister of State 

M.P. and former Speaker of the House 

Related to Belgium, there is a ‘golden mediocrity’, ‘a 

golden mean’ that makes us never exaggerate and never 

do foolish things, also in politics. Our manner is one 

of saying enough but not too much and in that way we 

metaphorically avoid spilling blood. I often say that in 

the north of Belgium they work too much, in the south 

of Belgium they enjoy things too much and in the centre 

we have found the perfect balance between working and 

having fun. Every weekend I am able to attend events at 

between ten or fifteen places. The sheer number is quite 

unbelievable to notice and is typically Belgian. There is a 

Burgundian way of living here, with people fully enjoying 

life and taking the small downsides in stride. Belgium has 

no hard sides on which you can hurt yourself. 

OCCUPIED BUT NEVER BEATEN 

The Belgian need for a freedom of choice, perhaps 

comes from the fact that we have always been occupied 

throughout history. Occupied, though never beaten. 

During the treaty of Verdun in 843, the empire of 

Charlemagne was split amongst his three grandsons. The 

division was applied the same way you would split up a 

piece of farm land: one strip to the West, one strip to 

the East, and one strip in the middle of Europe. When 

you look at this story and the further history of Europe, 

there has always been a ‘squeezing’ of this middle part of 

Europe. The West expanded east and the East expanded 

west, causing the middle section to constantly change. 

On the left side of that map you can see France, Italy, 

Spain and also Great Britain; the east is made up of 

the Austrian-German empire, with the Russians at the 

outside. The fluctuating middle part is what we are. 

Belgium has always been the place of encounter where

Barbara Dietrich and Prof. dr. em. Herman De Croo 

the major battles happened; the place to get a hold of, to 

get under your power and to occupy. In a certain sense, 

historically speaking, the territory of Belgium was the 

Grand Place where different people would meet and enjoy 

life but also the place where they would kill each other. 

We were occupied all the time though not always through 

war. There were occupants by marriage or bound by war. 

I believe that today we are still occupied: by the Flemish 

government, by the Walloon government, by the Brussels 

government, by the German speaking government and a 

few years ago by the Federal government. 

A Belgian has the unbearable but understandable reflex 

to feel occupied, which means he does not like power, 

he does not like the government, he does not like police, 

does not like tax controllers, and most of all does not 

like rules. That distaste of being controlled is in our 

DNA. Elected leaders are considered occupants in a way 

and without an understanding of a Belgian’s DNA, there 

is no way to understand Belgian society. Belgians are 

not cheating taxes, they just do not like to give too much 

money to the occupant. They know the money will be 

utilized but they have to give away their control in how it 

is used. 

A LIBERAL AND NEUTRAL NATION 

Why do people come to Belgium? What made big names 

like Metternich, Victor Hugo and Karl Marx settle here 

for a while? We are small, not nationalistic and 

unpretentious; all pleasant characteristics but there is 

much more to it. A good way to look at the attraction is 

in diplomatic terms. 

Our constitution, written in 1831, was the most liberal 

one in Europe. So much so that the Vatican put it on the 

index because we included freedom of religion in a time 

where Protestants and Catholics were killing each other in 

Europe. We also decided on freedom of schools, since the 

Jesuits were very influential in the middle class and they 

could train the teachers of the future. Finally, freedom of 

which language you could speak was also included. 

By 1845/1846, just before the revolt in France in 1848 

against Napoleon, a great number of revolutionary people 

were living in Belgium, making newspapers and leaflets 

and then carrying them in secret to Paris. Things were so 

extreme, there came a law in Belgium to punish insults to 

foreign heads of state — one that was abolished only a few 

years ago. This law was passed to ensure Belgium could 

47

48 

still negotiate with France and do business with other 

countries, despite their revolutionaries residing in our 

cities. 

This liberal attitude and constitution made it difficult for 

Belgium to find a king. The Congress of Vienna had taken 

place and we had to be careful not to offend any countries. 

For instance, Britain was not on board with us selecting 

the son of the French king. In addition, the influential 

Belgian families could not agree on who to pick out of 

their own crowd. Eventually, we decided on a Germanspeaking 

British widower, king Leopold I, who saved our 

young country thanks to the neutrality of that choice. Our 

independence has always been born from our neutrality, 

a unique position in Europe, and one that was hard to 

maintain. This enabled Belgium to escape the troubles of 

1848 and the war between Germany and France in 1870. 

Despite all of this, we were brutally attacked in 1914 and 

were not respected in our declaration of independence. 

The neutrality that has been maintained for almost a 

century, has turned Belgium into a kind of international 

meeting place. It made us prosperous and it was the 

reason Leopold II had enough prestige to get a Belgian 

colony in 1909. Every country with ambition wanted a 

colony. Belgium got a piece of Africa that was 80 times 

the size of Belgium and 5 times the size of France. It 

was extravagant, even in the spirit of the time. A colonial 

past is no point of pride, but I want to indicate how 

extraordinary it is for a small country like Belgium to 

acquire such a large and rich colony. 

THE IMPACT OF THE WORLD WARS 

During the liberal age, Belgium became a place where you 

could feel safe and where the food was good. A place with 

no tensions with a French-speaking intelligentsia — even 

the schools in Flanders were French-speaking —, painters, 

writers, anything you could ask for. We became something 

special fostered by the great powers, a small territory that 

was industrialized with the great harbour of Antwerp and 

culturally rich. Then finally after the two brutal world 

wars, almost everything was taken away with a horrible 

occupation. Tiny Belgium incited the British government 

to join at the frontier, to defend Belgium. The USA joined 

in 1917, to help Belgium in a sense and to win the war. 

Now, over a 100 years later, among the many graves in 

Western Flanders a relatively limited number of Belgians 

were killed. The battlefield was located in our country and 

many died, but a great number of them were British and 

French. We have the biggest cemeteries of allied forces 

from the First World War and for British people — quite 

strange or reverse how the world works — it is a touristic 

destination to visit the cemeteries with tombs of tens of 

thousands of people killed during the Great War in the 

West of Flanders. 

After the First World War, Leopold III tried to negotiate 

with Sweden to create an axis of neutral countries to avoid 

the Second World War, as the Dutch had avoided the First 

World War. We were special in our geopolitical situation 

and in 1921 we created the international non-profit 

associations, of which there are thousands in Belgium. 

This was a technique to attract seats of railways, unions, 

and other associations here. It was already in the DNA of 

the country to try and attract others to this free, openminded 

setting with all the liberties, without nationalism, 

avoiding any dictatorship. We have always been a little bit 

complicated to rule but this is without danger to anybody. 

Leopold III and his advisors were aware that only by 

attracting people to settle their headquarters in Belgium, 

we would be put on the map. 

When Brussels and Antwerp were liberated during the 

Second World War, the Germans tried to destroy the 

harbour of Antwerp to avoid procurement for the 5 to 6 

million allied soldiers. Germany was surrendering, so for 4 

to 6 years Belgium was booming with supplying the allied 

troops in Western Europe. After the Second World War, 

American firms came to Belgium, knowing that we were 

the only way into Europe. Despite the political hazard, 

this was one of the things that increased our development 

and put Belgium back on the map, very soon after the 

Second World War. 

A FREE HOUSING MARKET 

After the world wars, most countries decided to 

nationalize houses or apply very strict building 

regulations. People had to live with two or three families 

in the same house from 1944 until 1947/1949. After 

that period, the new regimes tried to build state houses. 

Belgium did not do any of that. We let the house building 

market run free by subsidizing it. This created a booming 

construction industry, which is still one of the strong 

economic elements in its diversity today. In small firms, 

there is flexibility, ingenuity and a lot of other things that 

were practically invented by the Belgians.


When astronauts are turning around the world and they 

see an illuminated point, they say: that must be Belgium. 

This extraordinary fact is because since the Roman times, 

we have been living in one house next to the other until 

you meet the houses of the next village. This pattern of 

house building is linked to commuting and to putting 

industries next to cities. 

Belgians are more free and prosperous than ever before, 

with 80 to 90 % of the Belgians as the owners of their own 

house; something that does not exist anywhere else. The 

downside of this is that everyone wants a house that is 

different from the others. We have as many different styles 

of houses as there are families in Belgium. When your 

plane takes off from London, Heathrow, you see millions 

of people living in the same type of house. If you want to 

find something similar in Belgium, you have to look for 

social housing neighbourhoods and even there you can 

still see small differences in style. 

A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO EDUCATION 

A third point that made us prosper, next to keeping 

safe the harbour of Antwerp and not nationalizing the 

housing but instead leaving it free, was that we decided 

to create very good technical schools. We did not focus 

on universities like France, but also paid attention to the 

A4, A3, A2 and A1 technical engineers. With the A1 law 

(1937) we have created a lot of skilled workers, middlemen, 

team leaders and sea mine engineers. The combination of 

freedom of building and free possession of property, the 

expansion of the harbour of Antwerp with the arrival of 

hundreds of American firms, and the addition of skilled 

Belgian workers, all created the golden fifties and sixties. 

Even without a planned economy and theoretical approach 

we were utilizing the reverse of the handicaps the two wars 

had given us in 1914-1918 and 1940-1945. 

SOCIAL SECURITY AND FREEDOM OF CHOICE 

A final point that worked to our advantage was the period 

of exile to London that the Belgian government went 

through. During this episode, Lord Beveridge created 

our social security and it was implemented when the 

government came back to Belgium. We do not have 

waiting lists for hospitals, which is an unusual situation in 

Europe. In the UK, people have to wait for years before a 

certain surgery can be performed. 

49

50 

This has caused an influx of over 100.000 foreign 

patients a year at our hospitals. The principle that the 

choice is free does imply that every service becomes 

more expensive. Our federation of Belgian industries has 

a department for importing people into Belgium to be 

treated and have them pay their bills afterwards. 

The Belgian freedom also creates competition in strange 

things. Belgium is one of the few countries where you 

can freely choose your doctor, hospital, school or notary. 

In many of Western countries, your living address 

determines the schools, doctors and hospitals that are 

available to you. In the UK, for instance, this can be 

a giant handicap: when you live on the left side of the 

street you can have a good school for your children, 

whilst the other side of the street can mean you have to 

send them to a ‘bad’ school. People are then motivated 

to move or work far away from the place they live, just in 

order to have a better school. In Belgium, the freedom 

of choice creates a certain competition in these different 

areas, which can elevate the quality overall. When your 

schools and universities are in competition, all of them 

try to be the best at what they do in order to attract 

people. 

INDUSTRIALIZED POWER AND COMMUTING 

Belgium is a small country but it has been through all 

regimes and possibilities. What few people know is that 

Belgium was the second industrialized power in the 

world in the course of the 19th century. The UK was 

first, Belgium second, the USA third and France only 

seventh. It was only in 1914, that Belgium went from 

the second to the third place: an unbelievable industrial 

development. 

Belgium is therefore a child of its history. From 1835 to 

1865, we have filled Belgium with 5.000 km of railway 

lines for trains and 5.000 km of tram lines. People went 

to work in the coal mines in the Borinage, in Brussels 

and other cities but they did not have to find a home 

there. In 1865, the season ticket was introduced by a 

liberal government who had decided it was best for 

the workers to go home to their village in the evening, 

where they were taking care of by the village priest (the 

spiritual cement of the village) and/or the mayor of the 

village. People went to work in cities, travelled home in 

the evening and thus commuting was invented by the 

Belgians. 

Belgium is still a country of commuters, causing a 

major problem of mobility. The railway department in 

Belgium, a department I was in charge of for eight years 

as minister of transport and communication, can be a bit 

provocatively summarized as one big commuting train 

full of civil servants on their way to Brussels. 170 years 

later this has not changed. In addition, we have about 

four times more roads per square kilometre than the 

Netherlands and sixteen times more roads per square 

kilometre than France. Roads mean cars and many 

cars mean congestion. With this we avoided the huge 

concentrations of people like in the suburbs of Liverpool, 

Manchester, Lille or Paris. The consequence, however, is 

that due to congestion people now try to move to the place 

where the work takes place. There is a policy of making 

so-called ‘industrial zones’, well thought-out areas in every 

town and village where small firms are located. The zones 

are an alternative to commuting to work in Belgium’s main 

cities and enable people to work near their homes. 

TRANSPORT IN BRUSSELS 

Brussels is a very strange collection of 19 communes. In 

Brussels, the capital of Europe, most ‘slums’ are located 

in the centre while the nice quarters are outside of the 

city centre. Compared to Paris, London or even Berlin 

this is the opposite. They have beautiful city centres 

to display but their large suburbs can feel like slums in 

Africa, India or Pakistan. Tourists and visitors do not 

go further than the centre and are amazed by the place, 

whereas in Brussels any troublemaking will happen in the 

centre and in the public eye. So people like to flee the city, 

increasingly seeking homes in nice and ever expanding 

suburbs. 

Even when the city of Brussels was building beautiful 

town houses at Rue Quatre Bras (the former seat of 

Foreign Affairs) in 1880 to rent to the people working in 

the city, everyone still commuted to their home outside 

of Brussels. Since then nothing has changed, but now the 

19 communes of Brussels sometimes try to make it more 

difficult to the commuters (over half a million) to get to 

their jobs by car or train. In a way, they are trying to force 

them to live in Brussels. 

During my eight years as minister of Transport, I was 

building 20 metro stations. I knew very well what the 

railway stations meant to Brussels. In other big cities it is 

normal to take the taxi or metro between train stations,


like for instance in Paris between Gare du Nord and Gare 

de l’Est. Brussels has three train stations: Gare Centrale 

(the biggest one), Gare du Nord et Gare du Midi. Midi is 

the only place where there is a junction between them. 

I decided to build metro stations inside the railway 

stations to avoid huge traffic jams in the city. If we did 

not build the metro stations, in 10 years no one would 

be able to reach Brussels anymore. Putting the metro 

stations in dry environments near the stations would 

encourage people to take the train without disrupting the 

local traveling inside the city. It seems simple and it is 

the most logical option but still there was a revolt by the 

19 mayors of the communes of Brussels. 

Their reason for protesting was that these measures were 

advantageous to commuters, who are of no use to the 

communes. Commuters are not citizens who vote and 

pay taxes. The mayors would much rather we invest in 

roads and car travel, for their voters are the people who 

use cars in the city. Those eight years were a permanent 

fight but we did create a period of calm through the 

metro and railway stations. Unfortunately, we started 

investing in constructing car infrastructure and now 

10 years later Brussels is completely blocked by cars, 

as I predicted. 

POLITICALLY INTERWOVEN 

Recently, I was in Congo for 14 days, where I tried to 

explain the following issue: for 541 days Belgium had no 

full-fledged government. Which other country — in the 

turmoil of the Libyan War and with all the problems we all 

have — other than Belgium, could survive almost two years 

without a new government and avoid major problems, 

revolts, and press scandals? I could not name you another 

one. 

When you look at the 28 European states today, there 

are very few who can look back at their governments and 

see that they were stable for over 5 years, with only small 

tensions interrupting. In my opinion, Belgium passes this 

test thanks to an interwovenness that is incomprehensible 

to outsiders. For a long time I was mayor and speaker 

of the Federal Chamber of Representatives and during 

that time the first government was formed by a Socialist- 

Liberal coalition and the next one by a Liberal-Christian 

Democratic coalition. In my communal council the 

opposition was Christian Democratic and my coalition 

partner was Socialist, while in the province the three 

parties together had formed a coalition. Nationally 

versus regionally, everything was different even though 

51

52 

sometimes the same people were involved. Someone can 

be your alderman in the commune but your opponent in 

the parliament, which is something very hard to explain to 

anyone who is not in the field. So the logic by which we let 

ourselves be seduced in politics is completely strange to 

Belgium. 

Belgium is richer than ever in terms of medicine and 

science. The state, however, is poor and has to stay poor: 

it has to have a lot of debts, otherwise it does foolish 

things. There is no model for Europe and no one knows 

what it will be like in the future. Perhaps Belgium is 

somehow a forecast of what Europe could be: a not too 

dominant state, where there is room and freedom for 

people to go about their business as they see fit. A place to 

do business without the accusatory finger that is custom 

with some of our Northern neighbours, and without the 

class struggles that are present with some of our Southern 

neighbours. Many things happen in Belgium that many 

Belgians are totally indifferent about: every day over a 130 

international meetings take place in Brussels, but they are 

of no immediate concern to the average Belgian. 

After the elections (note of the editor: in 2019), I intend 

to create a forum of all CEO’s in private world companies 

that are Belgian together with Herman Daems. The 

proportion per square kilometre will amaze everyone. We 

have two out of three of the biggest dredging companies in 

the world: DEME and Jan De Nul. One of them is a close 

friend of mine and when asked which kind of personnel he 

is looking for, his response was Belgian engineers. In his 

opinion, they are the ones with sufficient feeling with both 

the top and the bottom of the enterprise; something other 

nationalities lack. 

CENTRAL OF THE NEWS 

Belgium is a very special piece of this planet, tortured 

by history, having resisted again and again, having a very 

great view on the world. Yet it also has its handicaps. One 

of those is that our national and regional stories easily 

become world news because over 1.500 international 

journalists are stationed in Brussels. The story of Marc 

Dutroux (a convicted criminal who kidnapped and raped 

several young girls before he was caught) is known all 

over the world, from Belgium to Japan. The events were 

of course horrific, but that worldwide attention is in part 

due to the presence of international press agencies in 

Brussels. When nothing happens at the European level 

or with NATO, these journalists look for different stories 

and they write about things happening in the countries 

they are staying at. That is also part of the explanation 

why the Puigdemont story in Catalonia became as big as 

Puigdemont wanted it to become. He was at the centre of 

attention thanks to his location. Because of the presence 

of the press, Belgium is always, despite its small size, 

under the scrutiny of the entire world. 

BELGIUM AS A CONCEPT 

In his self-promotion book on the war in Gaulle/De Bello 

Gallico, Julius Caesar wrote ‘fortissimi sunt Belgae’ or 

‘the strongest are the Belgians’. They were brave, they 

were dangerous and fighting the Romans and won a 

battle against them. From that moment onwards, the 

word ‘Belgian’ is in a certain sense not always linked to a 

geographical location but it is rather a concept. I believe 

‘Brussels’ is still doing that, more so than Belgium. As a 

trademark, one of the best-known names in the world is 

‘Brussels’, which has a lot of consequences. Politically, a 

great many things happen in Brussels and people often 

speak in terms of ‘Brussels has decided…’. In addition, 

Brussels is well-known thanks to its connectivity to the 

rest of the world. My son-in-law is a leading engineer at 

Goodyear and he lived and worked in Paris for 4 years. 

He told me it is more difficult to reach middle sized cities 

in Europe from Paris than from Brussels. He came back 

to live in Brussels, 15 minutes from the airport and now 

he can reach Manchester, Liverpool, Toulouse, Bordeaux, 

Tallin, any place in Europe which he couldn’t reach as 

easily from Paris or any other city. The best way to reach 

European cities is via Brussels. 

That is my explanation for the extraordinary position 

of Belgium. Of course, every country is unique but I 

believe this one takes it to the next level. There is only 

one country where you can go to Place de Luxembourg 

and meet the whole world. Through a combination of 

coincidences and hard work, Brussels and Belgium have 

become a kind of safe place where everyone feels at home. 

A place where a lot of action takes place; politically, 

economically and culturally. Through that combination 

and perhaps also because there is something undefinable 

in the air in Belgium; something that is present all the 

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53 

MBS8041555_Diplomatic Solutions_E-Kl_297x225mm_01-2018.indd 3 19/01/2018 13:34

BELHOSPICE 

FAITH, HOPE, LOVE 

BE THERE FOR THOSE WHO NEED HELP 

LEO D‘AES - BELGIAN AMBASSADOR IN SERBIA 

I arrived in Belgrade in the beginning of 2014 and after 

a couple of months, in May or June, I went to a classical 

concert in the City hall of Belgrade, organized for the 

benefit of what I then started to know as BELhospice. I 

started being interested in this specific case and a little while 

afterwards I was contacted by the fundraiser of BELhospice. 

She said: ‘We saw you were there. We understand that you 

are the Belgian Ambassador. Would you like to help us 

with our work, f.i. by giving a fundraising concert in your 

residence?’ So I said: ‘Of course, happily. I am most willing 

to do that.’ So we did a fundraising concert in the Belgian 

residence in Belgrade. It was not a big thing: we were about 

50 or 60 people but it was a lovely event, full of solidarity, 

with very good Serbian artists. Serbia has a lot of musical 

talent, pianists and violinists, it was a splendid evening. 

And then it continued, because I was then approached 

by Mr Graham Perolls, the Director of the organization 

‘Hospices of Hope’: a British charity organisation that funds 

Hospices where terminally ill people are being given hope, 

not of getting cured but of passing the last days or weeks 

or months of their years in dignity. And this is the whole 

concept of Hospices: you are welcome, we know you are 

fighting but losing a battle against a terminal illness, but you 

count for us, and we know that every day counts for you. 

And that is the spirit behind it. 

BELhospice, now directed by Vera Madzgalj, was founded 

in 2006 by Dr. Natasha Milicevic. As a doctor she saw that 

there was an enormous need to help the people in Serbia 

who have this critical illness. She started by organizing 

the home care service, that means going to these people’s 

homes where they are completely lost. A very important 

aspect is not only caring for these patients but also caring 

for the family members. And that is the unique feature of 

BELhospice: they have a global approach by which they 

not only take care of the pain which needs to be taken away 

with palliative care, they also take care of the psychology 

54 

Leo D‘aes - Belgian Ambassador in Serbia and Barbara Dietrich 

© Dieter Paternoster, Living Tomorrow

Leo D‘aes - Belgian Ambassador in Serbia 

© Dieter Paternoster, Living Tomorrow 

of knowing that you are dying and also of the helplessness 

of the family who all of a sudden learn that ‘my mother, my 

father, my brother, my sister’ will live for only six weeks or 

months or one year more. 

That approach (caring for the patients and their family) 

has the active support of the UK ‘Hospices of Hope’, 

which has already established a major Hospice in Romania, 

where I served as ambassador in 2008-2011. I was active 

then in another initiative, together with my wife, helping to 

establish a school inside a children’s hospital, working with 

an Irish NGO, with a sister Miriam, and with Belgians from 

Ghent. 

Also in Belgrade, it is a joint effort: we act as a team. The 

‘Hospices of Hope’ are a team, they work together with 

the BELhospice team. The Honorary Patrons Committee 

which I chair is a team of 14 people, doing this together. 

How ? How do you maintain a drive, an enthusiasm? You 

try to reach out to people who not only have sympathy, 

but also have good will in terms of ‘yes, we want to join 

in a case in which we believe’. So the importance of 

the fundraising cannot be underestimated, but not just 

by organizing lotteries or whatever… It is by going to 

businesses which believe in this effort. Because some causes 

are incredible, because they are amateurish, or because 

they are not standing on a sound financial or managerial 

basis. BELhospice is now a very sound and well-managed 

organization that has earned confidence for what it is 

doing and for how it is going about it. Genuine sympathy is 

translated into fundraising, from people of goodwill, being 

business or private persons, and — very importantly — is 

more and more supported by the authorities. You can be 

as noble as you want, in the case of such a fundamental 

problem you need the active support of the authorities. 

The authorities are very interested in this initiative because 

they know that it responds to a clear need. But in order to 

translate the support into practical cooperation, we need to 

go through a number of legalistic and bureaucratic phases, 

because we need to legalize the concept of BELhospice into 

the medical system. To be sure, such bureaucracy is not 

unique for Serbia, this is a process we have to go through 

because we are innovating here. Dame Cecile in England, 

and sister Leontine in Belgium also had to fight their way 

through. So once we have incorporated the idea of Hospice 

into the legal system, there is huge potential for active 

governmental support. Because taking care of patients 

outside a hospital, which is the case for the moment, that 

means sending out into the many homes doctors, nurses, 

social workers, every day, day-in day-out, requires (at the 

present level) around 250.000 € per year. 

What is now the aim? The home care is established. The 

next stage which we will try to reach in summer, which we 

55

want now to establish legally and in the field, is the day care. 

That means building a day care center: we have a house, 

which needs to be transformed into office and into day care 

center where helpless people who are suffering at home, can 

be brought to, for at least the long day. And as you might 

have understood: that idea, concept and realization of a 

day care is then the precursor for phase 2: the in-patient 

unit where you can receive 12 to 14 patients for a longer 

time. That is phase 2 on which we are working and which 

would require about 500.000 €, just to put it there. And 

once it is there we need to make sure that what we have put 

there will be sustainable. With my wife we firmly believe 

in this project, because it helps people who are desperate, 

it helps the family members who are desperate because 

they don’t know how to deal with this desperation, it 

responds to a need because there are very few palliative care 

units in the Serbian hospitals and if there are, they are not 

free of charge and very often the people cannot afford it. 

As I said, we are certainly not alone. There is the major 

force behind this, the idea behind the funds: ‘Hospices of 

Hope’ from the United Kingdom and I hope one day you 

can meet its Director Graham Perolls. We have generous 

help from Norway, which covers quite a lot of money for the 

functioning costs of day care, which is not evident because 

not many people, countries or organizations want to give 

money for running costs. We have obtained, thanks to the 

sound management of BELhospice’s CEO Vera Madzgalj a 

funding from the European Union, for the amount of nearly 

200.000 €, to help us to build Phase 1. That really gives us a 

strength, a certainty that we will continue to be there. 

But we should never relax, never sit back, never say: ‘we 

are there’ or ‘the money is there’. No, it is a continuing 

effort. Hence the awareness-campaigns which I explained 

to you, the necessity of keeping up the efforts for public 

dissemination. There is the yearly marathon: I think every 

major capital has a marathon and Belgrade also has its 

marathon. In this marathon, thanks to the support of the 

mayor and other authorities, there are at least 100/150 

volunteers running for BELhospice with a T-shirt of 

BELhospice, and by doing so they raise a lot of money. 

And this is something that I want to stress: the great 

importance of the volunteers. If BELhospice, with the staff 

they have, would need to do it alone, it would be impossible. 

They have a staff of in total between 10-15 people, with 

whom it is impossible to do the daily visits to all patients. 

They have around 160 trained volunteers and half of this 

group is actively operational and the others can be called 

upon. These volunteers are no doctors or nurses, but they 

go to the patient to help: they are trained to help with 

little daily tasks, to help in the household. If the patients 

ask: ‘Can we go out for some fresh air?’, the volunteers go 

56 

Leo D‘aes - Belgian Ambassador in Serbia and Barbara Dietrich in The Bistronomy 

© Dieter Paternoster, Living Tomorrow

Leo D‘aes - Belgian Ambassador in Serbia 

© Dieter Paternoster, Living Tomorrow 

out with them in a wheelchair. So they are very engaged, 

but keeping volunteers engaged takes also effort. So it is a 

permanent struggle, as I said, waged on a daily basis by a 

very engaged, small management team of BELhospice which 

I really admire and in this whole operation the Honorary 

Patrons Committee which I chair, plays just a modest 

contribution to help this effort of building a Hospice getting 

realized. But the main actors are BELhospice, ‘Hospices of 

Hope’, the main funders and private sponsors. 

We also have collection boxes, notably in the Delhaize 

mega-centers in Serbia, called Tempo. Collection boxes are 

also in a number of petrol stations, they are in all BENU 

pharmacies. 

So it is a great mobilization, but as I said, we cannot just 

sit back and say: ‘it is running’. It is a constant effort. Every 

year there is a charity ball by which around 100.000 € is 

collected — a truly great amount for BELhospice — but vital 

for its daily operations. It’s a popular event, always sold out, 

which is very heartening of course. 

What is very beautiful and moving is how this BELHospice 

idea came to Vilvoorde (thanks to my wife), how Living 

Tomorrow immediately picked it up, showed active interest, 

translating sympathy into concrete action, allowing me to 

tell this little story in the Bistronomy in Living Tomorrow. 

Living Tomorrow, an association with a lot of business 

contacts, is hosting the fantastic and unique works of art 

called HOOOP: wooden Pinocchio’s next to which we 

are sitting for this interview. Each of them is unique and 

translates really the beauty of engagement, I would say. I am 

very grateful and I want to take this opportunity to thank 

profoundly Director Patrick Aertsen and culinary master 

Marc Clément, and PR Chief Kaat Van Rentergem and her 

team, and Living Tomorrow Arts Curator Barbara Dietrich, 

for everything they did and want to do, like the intention of 

hosting a fundraising evening for BELhospice, and planning 

for a sustained cooperation for the benefit of people in need 

of care. I am truly grateful for such a magnificent support, 

built on trust and sympathy and a warm solidarity which 

touches me deeply. 

VILVOORDE 

Indringingsweg 1 - 1800 Vilvoorde-Koningslo - Tel: +32 2 263 01 31 - E-mail: info@thebistronomy.com 

57

ECSA NEW YEAR'S 

SECURITY CONFERENCE 

On January 29th, the European Corporate Security 

Association — ECSA — invited the Security Community at 

the Egmont Palace in Brussels for its yearly conference on 

the evolving security threats. After a warm welcome by ECSA 

Secretary general ir. Yvan De Mesmaeker, Mr. Adam Meyers 

— Vice President Intelligence at CrowdStrike and 

the Honorable Andrew C. Weber — former Assistant 

Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological 

Defense Programs, lectured on the threat and on the 

expected developments. Mr. Paul Van Tigchelt — Director of 

the BE Coordination Unit for the Threat Analysis, provided 

additional comments. After the presentations, all participants 

had the opportunity to talk to the speakers and to liaise with 

their counterparts during the ECSA New Year’s Reception. 

This yearly event was organised with the kind support of: 

Adam Meyers - Vice President Intelligence at CrowdStrike 

ir. Yvan De Mesmaeker - Secretary general of the European Corporate 

Security Association - ECSA, Honorable Andrew C. Weber - former Assistant 

Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense Programs 

58

Chris Bombeke - Director Internal Security BELUX - Securitas, Chief 

Commissioner Eddy Baelemans - Office of the Minister of Interior & Security 

Chief Commissioner Michel Goovaerts - Chief of Police of Brussels Capital 

Mr. Paul Van Tigchelt - Director of the BE Coordination Unit for the Threat 

Analysis, prof. dr. Willy Bruggeman - Chairman of the BE Federal Police 

Council ir. Yvan De Mesmaeker - Secretary general of the European Corporate 

Security Association - ECSA 

Honorable Andrew C. Weber - former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, 

Chemical and Biological Defense Programs, Ms. Barbara Dietrich - CEO of 

Diplomatic World, Mr. Peter Tulkens - CEO Politics Matters, Mr. Chris Frech - 

Senior Vice President Government Affairs of Emergent Biosolutions 

Maj. Gen. ir. Albert Husniaux - Chairman Royal High Institute for Defense 

Mr. Wayne J. Bush - Assistant Secretary General NATO, H.E. Ambassador 

Peter Martin - Chairman Interministerial Committee for Host Nation Policy 

Mr. Gilles de Kerchove - EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, Mr. Frédéric 

Van Leeuw - Federal Prosecutor, Mr. Guy Rapaille - Chairman Standing 

Intelligence Agencies Review Committee 

Mr. Rony Dresselaers - Director for Security and Transport of the Federal 

Agency for Nuclear Control, ir. Yvan De Mesmaeker - Secretary general of 

the European Corporate Security Association - ECSA, Ms. Wendy Bashnan 

- Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Security and Director of the NATO 

Office of Security 

Mr. Chris Frech - Senior Vice President Government Affairs of Emergent 

Biosolutions, Mr. Wayne J. Bush - Assistant Secretary General NATO 

Maj. Gen. ir. Albert Husniaux - Chairman Royal High Institute for Defense 

59

THE NEXT CHAPTER OF WESTERN 

ECONOMY STARTS IN BRUSSELS 

By 2025, 1/3 of the jobs are going to disappear, and 

another 1/3 will completely change. It is the biggest 

shift in the history of economy since the industrial 

revolution. One difference: the speed. In 5-7 years, 

world economy will be unrecognizeable. Most 

companies and governments have no idea what to 

do, nor where to go. In the best case, they focus 

on digitalisation. With the vulnerability to hacking 

today, building whole businesses exclusively on 

robots, AI, IoT, and digital revolutions is very risky. 

On the other hand, numerous new approaches to 

value creation are emerging everywhere — mostly 

under the radar. From Brussels, we have been 

gathering all these tendencies, mapping, clustering, 

analyzing and extrapolating them horizon 2025. 

WHY BRUSSELS ? 

A FUTURISTIC SANDBOX 

60 

It is the geographic center of Europe, the HQ of most 

lobbies, federations, Nato, European Union, and 

multinational companies. But above all, Belgium has a skill 

to deal with multicultural issues and multiple agendas, 

through a blend of germanic culture, latin and Anglo- 

Saxon, and 140 others — combined with a culture of 

humble hard work and global engineering (Belgium was 

the world’s second economic power till 100 years ago). 

Belgians are welcome anywhere in the world, unlike some 

other nationalities. Embassies in Brussels are staffed by 

the best diplomats on the planet, with open lines with their 

heads of state. Moreover, all the good ideas pass through 

Brussels sooner or later. It is ideal to export new economic 

visions and models. The sandbox of those economic models 

will find their markets mostly abroad, as Belgium is quite 

conservative. Especially emerging economies with young 

populations, eager to learn and empower the next generation 

of humanist entrepreneurship serving global challenges. 

We need to experiment and empower collaboration between 

the players who have the most resources to create change: 

large corporations. They start to realize, little by little, that 

Michel de Kemmeter

they cannot innovate on their own. They will not be able to 

shift drastically before 2025. So, in short, they are big ships, 

aware of the iceberg, its size and position, but unable to 

turn the wheel in time. Two things should be done: (1) trim 

the ship for impact, get down to the basics, and (2) prepare 

the lifeboats. The lifeboats are new businesses, based on the 

new paradigms (collaborative, serving multiple challenges), 

and they will be able to swim in between the icebergs. 

These new businesses should be crisis-proof, bringing new 

coherence between people and economic activities. They 

will thus be able to tackle historical challenges in systemic, 

instead of linear ways. A few examples: sustainable rental 

housing, waste recycling, next generation education systems, 

senior population and sustainable pension funds, illness 

prevention, sustainable agriculture and food, greening 

deserts, etc… 

This experiment was started in Brussels. Half a dozen 

companies, twenty extrapreneurs of multiple backgrounds 

and generations, were trained on the next economic 

paradigms (24 days of action-training), hands-on creating 

the next generation businesses. In four months, they came 

up with new businesses, validated by stakeholders and 

market, all of them fully scalable. In combination with 

new systemic thinking and a top-down vision on the next 

generation macro-economic models, we have the DNA of 

transition. 

We have to mobilize the early adopters of new ways of 

creating value — those who did try internal innovation, 

incubators, without substantial success. Those large 

companies are now ready to open the box and share 

their resources with others to create the next generation 

businesses. We exfiltrate them in a dedicated space, and 

train their managers — together with a next generation 

entrepreneurs — to a new economic philosophy with brandnew 

tools. The first experiment of Extrapreneurs in Brussels 

is now ready to be franchised and scaled up. 

A NEW SCHOOL OF ECONOMIC THINKING — 

CLUB OF BRUSSELS 

The next chapter of economic thinking is now being written 

all over the world. Thousands of experiments and studies 

are done and in process. We are compiling them with the 

“Club of Brussels”, and projecting economic vision on 

5-10 years. We qualify and quantify job destructions and 

creations, and prepare a road book for governments to help 

their economies resist global recession, and facilitate the 

emergence of new economic spaces. Social economy, digital 

economy, sharing- and collaborative economy, green and 

circular economies are the big winners. Public authorities, 

services, trade, industry are the big losers (studies to be 

found in “Shifting Economy”, Brussels 2017, by 

Mossay-de Kemmeter). 

Thousands of studies have been made on economic 

transition, but only very partially. It is now time to put all of 

them together to create a new holistic vision on economy. 

Following the paradigm shifts going on as we speak, it looks 

like public services will be made more efficient with digital 

tools, thus cheaper. Healthcare cost will go down, thanks 

to more prevention and education. Education will move to 

more peer-to-peer learning; it will be much more hands-on, 

efficient and cheaper. Mobility will be more shared and thus 

cheaper and with lower impact. 

61

62 

That culture will create much more societal value and 

rely less on public finances. We should quantify all these 

systemic shifts to make the figures work. Our taxes should 

lower, the value created should be higher, and thus global 

progress can be triggered. 

But we should not be naive. Such majors shift will take 

time. We can — at best — stimulate the creation of “islands 

of resilience”, interconnect them, and inspire others to shift 

also. This global shift follows the logic of organic mutation. 

We will not wake up some morning, in a new world. Shift 

happens one by one, company after company, community 

after community, city after city. The beauty of it is that 

everyone of us can be part of it — nothing will be decided 

for us by some higher power. 

Another good news is that there will be probably as many 

new jobs created in the new economic spaces, than jobs 

destructed in the old ones. Boring jobs will be replaced 

by empowering ones — much more in tune with peoples’ 

excellences. Over 75% of the people working do jobs they 

don’t like. Burnout and depression rise exponentially. No 

surprise. This is just a sign that we do something wrong … 

A new coherence is expected to empower people. On micro/ 

personal level, on company level, on national levels and on 

global levels. This is what Club of Brussels will map and 

calculate. Create an efficient tool to pilot our economies 

through this giant mutation. 

PARADIGM SHIFTS AND COLLECTIVE 

CONSCIOUSNESS 

The economic challenges are only the top of the iceberg. 

The true challenge is the shift in global consciousness. 

People start to realize they are one, on a planet which is 

their common “mother”. That they cannot go on killing 

each other day after day, and destroying their mother earth. 

Big words. But what does it mean? It is multidimensional. 

We are mutating as humanity. (1) From patriarchal 

societies to a combination of patriarchal and matriarchal, 

integrating as such, both polarities. Masculine and 

feminine. (2) Shifting from dependance models, based on 

fear, to autonomy models, based on personal power and 

love. (3) From hierarchies to ecosystems. (4) From linear 

models (exhausting people and planet) to systemic models 

(nourishing people and planet). (5) From formatting and 

automation to individual and unique empowerment. 

(6) From ownership models to shared and collaborative 

models. We can go on and on. Everything is shifting. The 

only way we can follow these, understand them and act 

coherently, is a personal choice of consciousness. Decide 

to go beyond appearances, and use your talents to serve 

common good. Beyond ego and possession. It is — in a way 

— to be individually and collectively reborn as a fully grown 

human being. Humanity is little by little leaving behind 

childish behavior. 

In economy, it has fundamental impacts, and the first 

movers, enlightened leaders, are economically very 

successful. They all will tell you the same kind of stories … 

THE NEXT MODEL — SYSTEMIC, HOLISTIC AND 

PEOPLE-CENTERED 

Humanity starts to realize it is a part of the (whole) specter 

of life. Humanity has the possibility to act consciously, 

unlike animal, vegetal and mineral reigns. As such, it has 

the capacity to connect reigns and to fulfill itself at its best 

potential. In its more mature behavior, humanity can inspire 

from the logic of nature, and implement optimal natural 

value creation. Studies show that collaboration on existing 

resources allow 4 to 5 times better (economic) results. Like 

in nature, with 100% efficiency and 0% waste. Those models 

have a new intelligence: systemics. It shows and empowers 

3D connexions between stakeholders — answering needs 

and sharing resources on multiple levels. Economy, in its 

basic etymology, “managing household”, has multiple value 

creation loops. Monetary transactions only account for a 

small part of the economic domain. Systemics allow to map 

and empower those connexions. It also takes into account 

the positive or negative collateral effects of economic 

exchanges. 

Systemic human intelligence is located in the prefrontal 

brain. Its neurons are 3-dimensional, it has a creative 

interconnecting function — there where in the conditioned/ 

structured brain, the neurons are linear. Human beings only 

use around 10% of its brain capacity. Shifting to higher 

potential is key here, as a priority, before using Artificial 

Intelligence. The risk is that our IQ and discernment lowers 

by using more technology, without personal development 

and consciousness enhancement. Moreover, relying on 

too much technology will create a very new unexpected 

vulnerability of our businesses to unreliable and fragile 

technology. Hacking, fake news, electricity blackouts, 

or hyper complexity could cost entire companies. Very 

dangerous. 

The next model will ask to develop the capacity of holistic 

view. Like walking up the stairs to the first floor, whilst 

water and mud is rising at the ground floor and everybody

there struggles to survive. We need to develop the skill 

to see things from higher, as well as dive into concrete 

matters and make new systemic models work with natural 

intelligence. 

A FEW SECRET INGREDIENTS 

Of course, the whole operation has a series of ingredients 

for success. Constant humble personal development, 

constant research on new philosophies of value creation, 

learn from the most diverse horizons, search for 

coherence and alignment, be aware of emerging potential, 

understandable vocabulary and semantics, sense of 

timing, empowering systemic links, a strong and coherent 

validated methodology … in other words, a new enlightened 

leadership based as much on common sense than on sense 

of purpose serving common good. I know those people are 

there, sometimes under the radar. Maybe you too. Dare to 

come up with your deeper intuitions and fulfill your teams. 

It is the time to show and mobilize the best. 

A STRONG VISION 

The big “country” winners will be the countries with 

creativity, with young population, with a willpower to serve 

common good, cultures who are able to collaborate openly. 

The big employment winners in “economic models” will be, 

horizon 2025 : social business (will double), green economy 

(more than double), circular economy (also more than 

double), digital economy and robotisation will only gain +/- 

50%, knowledge economy will also gain around 50%, agroecology 

will tenfold. Sharing and collaborative economy will 

twentyfold — with the open question of employment and 

taxes … 

The big losers in employment will be services and trade 

(-50%), industrial agriculture (-60%), industry, energy and 

extraction will lose around 40%. Public services will lose 

between 10 and 70%, depending on the political choices 

made by their governments. 

The next chapter of world economy could be written from 

Brussels, in collective intelligence with the best global 

visionaries and experts. Eclectic, we need sociologues, 

psychologues, scientists, next generation leaders, and even 

artists and spiritual leaders, to assist our expert economists. 

The outcome will be a true “Growth Explorer” to help 

governments to pilot the mutation of their economies. 

Coaching the emergence of the new. But let us not be naive, 

it will take decennia till the whole economy is tuned into a 

new and strong coherence. It will happen in stages, through 

the emergence of “islands of resilience”. Those can be cities, 

companies, communities, based on new vision, autonomy 

and personal leadership. The rest will be more and more 

based on fear, stress and dependance. Little by little, people 

will diverge from a system they cannot survive inside, and 

do their personal coming out, connecting purpose, passion 

and new expected competences — to participate in the most 

fascinating adventure in human history. 

Michel de Kemmeter 

extrapreneurs.org - www.wiseholding.net - michel@uhdr.net 

63

DECENTRALIZED DAVOS AND 

DECENTRALISTS TRANSFORM DAVOS 

INTO A DECENTRALIZED EVENT 

“Upper classes can’t, lower classes don’t want to. 

Only when the ’lower classes’ do not want to live 

in the old way and when the ’upper classes’ 

cannot carry on in the old way – only then can 

revolution triumph.” 

V.I. Lenin 

A 100 years ago, there was a Revolution throughout the 

World/in Europe/in Russia. Or as modern innovators would 

say: there was a Transformation; a change of a regime, 

management and consciousness. 

A 100 years ago, revolutionaries of that time met in 

apartments and at special events in Switzerland, where 

they discussed a new Life in new forms of its manifestation. 

Their eyes sparkled, and those sparks could burst to flames. 

The things they were uncomfortable with were inequality, 

complete political lawlessness, police and legal mayhem. 

At the same time of the traditional annual meeting of the 

upper classes, in those years, other young people gathered, 

very similar to those pioneers. 

The upper classes cannot carry on in the old way. Problems 

are everywhere and there are no solutions. 

A year ago there was a postulate that Capitalism was dead and 

technology would save all and everyone. 

This year they say that in general everything is bad and that 

technology will save no one. Technology is evil, while gender 

equality and humanism are the world’s bases. 

They wanted issues and problems to be solved collectively, by 

everyone, by agreement, and for everyone to be involved in a 

new society of equality that would allow even “a lady-cook to 

administer the affairs of the state (states)”. As today’s MVP 

starters would say, they conducted pre-ICO, a kind of PCO of 

that time (Private Coin Offering). 

In order to make everything work as it should, they needed 

one more thing: the appropriate technological solutions. Like 

all pioneers, the first movers had to die for the glory of future 

generations (who are often the second movers). After all, the 

results have been achieved by those who follow the pioneers’ 

traces, walk over their bodies, learn from mistakes and have 

the latest technology in their hands. Google was not the first 

search engine and iTunes was not the first online music store. 

That is the pioneers’ fate. 

64 

100 years on. 

The same Switzerland. Davos. 

Alexander Shulgin with Joe Lubin (Co-founder of Etherium and 

ConsenSys)

Alexander Shulgin with Chinese crypto moguls at the Crypto Chappel in Davos 

“It is not enough for a successful revolution that the lower 

classes do not want to live as before. Another requirement is that 

upper classes cannot manage and run things as they did before.” 

On day one of Davos, Indian Prime Minister Narendra 

Modi listed his three most significant challenges to 

civilization, as we know it: climate change, terrorism and 

the backlash against globalization. He also spoke about the 

opportunities and dangers of technology: 

“Many societies and countries are becoming more and 

more focused on themselves. It feels like the opposite of 

globalization is happening. Everyone is talking about an 

interconnected world, but we will have to accept the fact that 

globalization is slowly losing its lustre.” 

(Narendra Modi PM India) 

Now look at what technology leaders, who grew up in their 

place and are semi-pioneers in part, answer to politicians: 

“We are very lucky because the world is in a big 

transformation because of technology. New technology will 

create interesting careers and a lot of successful people, but 

at the same time every new technology will create social 

problems.” 

“Artificial intelligence is seen as a threat to human beings. 

I think AI should support human beings. Technology should 

always do something that enables people and not disable 

them. The computer will always be smarter than you are; 

they never forget and they never get angry. But computers can 

never be as wise as humans. The AI and robots are going to 

make a lot of jobs obsolete, because in the future they will be 

done by machines. Service industries offer hope in this regard 

but they must be unique.” 

“If we do not align together, human beings are going to fight 

each other, because each technology revolution makes the 

world unbalanced.” (Jack Ma, Alibaba) 

65

Google chief, Sundar Pichai, repeated a line he first delivered 

at an MSNBC event last week, about how artificial intelligence 

is more important to humanity than fire or electricity. He said 

that despite concerns about AI, the potential benefits cannot 

and should not be ignored. “The risks are substantial, but 

the way you solve it is by looking ahead and thinking about 

AI safety from day one, and by being transparent and open 

about how we pursue it,” he said. “We must ensure the Fourth 

Industrial Revolution unfolds with humanity at its centre, not 

technology.” 

Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the 

World Economic Forum, even criticized crypto-currency at 

the forum in Davos as a landmark phenomenon. When the 

head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, talked about the damage 

to the world energetics from the crypto-currency mining, 

Governor of the Bank of Canada, Stephen Poloz, compared 

bitcoin with gambling, and George Soros claimed that cryptocurrencies 

are a nest for dictators. These commentaries show 

how large-scale the use of blockchain has become, if decisions 

on its basis attract the attention of such major figures in the 

financial world. 

Alexander Shulgin with Valery Vavilov, founder and CEO of Bitfury 

group, leading Bitcoin Blockchain company 

66 

With over 400 sessions on the official programme in Davos, 

many contradicting things are said. The upper classes do not 

know what to do next, or they know, but they are unable to 

declare such knowledge. 

The lower classes do not want to. 187 blockchain events were 

held, when at the same time double that amount of ‘upper 

class’ events was being held in Davos during the World 

Economic Forum. 

Although the statistics of the ‘upper class’ are impressive, as 

you can see below, new revolutionaries do not pay attention to 

what they are saying. They are probably following the famous 

paraphrasing of Che Guevara: “Give me 30 likeminded people 

and I will make a revolution in any country”. 

• 6 million individual unique visitors to the World Economic 

Forum’s website during the week of Davos 

• The world’s most influential people shared World 

Economic Forum content on their social media channels – 

including French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime 

Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Canadian Prime 

Minister Justin Trudeau, and US President Donald Trump. 

The combined potential reach of all the accounts who 

shared Forum content is over 1 billion. 

• Over 150 Davos participants answered a direct question 

from the global public, posted to Instagram using the 

#sharedfutures tag 

• During the week of Davos, more than 33 million minutes 

of Forum-produced video were watched by members of the 

global public, over 50 million individual video streams. 

• 21 million views of over 200 sessions streamed from the 

WEF website, on Facebook, and Twitter in 6 languages 

• 225.000 stories about the World Economic Forum 

appeared in the global press during January 2018, over 

25% more than 2017 

At the same time one of the leaders of decentralized 

technologies, the Consensys company, declared that they 

are ready to Transform not a country or a continent, but the 

whole world. 

This was written in Davos in their Pavilion and online media: 

“CONSENSYS IS A GLOBAL FORMATION OF 

TECHNOLOGISTS AND ENTREPRENEURS 

BUILDING THE INFRASTRUCTURE, 

APPLICATIONS, AND PRACTICES ON THE 

ETHEREUM PLATFORM THAT ENABLE 

A DECENTRALIZED WORLD.”

Now take a look at what they and their colleagues discussed 

in Davos, while the ‘upper classes’ lamented that this was 

impossible and there were a lot of dangers around. 

The post-pioneers were methodically discussing how to save 

the World. And the more the ‘upper classes’ lamented, the 

more clearly the new future leaders found solutions, while 

sitting in the Pavilion: 

- Blockchain Beyond Earth 

- The Future of Government 

- The Future of Education 

- The Future of Infrastructure and Transportation 

- Simply Vital Health 

- Blockchain for Climate Action and Climate Finance 

‘We, the People of Blockchain’. Yes, they say that they are a 

new nation/race: they are CryptoNation. Let me introduce 

a new term that is more mainstream than a capitalist or a 

socialist: ‘decentralist’. 

At the same time, many relevant issues were discussed in the 

large and modern Blockchain Central Pavilion, hosted by the 

Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC): 

- Blockchain for Governments and Regulators 

- Blockchain in the Developing World 

- Blockchain for the Environment 

- Identity (Friday) 

Alexander Shulgin with Bill Tai, active investor in CryptoWorld 

If most people think that a new blockchain-based industry is 

just crypto-currency, I think that the issues discussed at this 

parallel Davos by the leaders of the crypto industry speak for 

themselves. And if most people still think that the leaders 

are just boys, students, speculating in the market of cryptocurrencies, 

then not only relevant issues that they discussed 

point the seriousness of these young revolutionaries, but also 

those guests and partners who were with them all the time to 

learn new things. 

ATTENDEE HIGHLIGHTS: 

Participants in GBBC events include, but are not limited to: 

• The Hon. Carl Bildt — Former Prime Minister of Sweden 

• Peteris Zilgalvis — EU Commission 

• Matthew Harrington — Edelman 

• Alex Petland — MIT Media Lab 

• Yorke Rhodes — Microsoft 

• Dr. Wang Wei — China Mergers & Acquisitions 

• Joel Tepner — Sullivan & Worcester 

• Valery Vavilov — The Bitfury Group 

• The Hon. Eva Kaili — EU Parliament 

• The Hon. Taavi Rovias — Former Prime Minister of 

Estonia 

• The Hon. Laurent Lamothe — Former Prime Minister of 

Haiti 

• Jamie Smith — GBBC/Bitfury/WEF Blockchain Council 

Co-Chair 

• Sandra Ro — UWINCorp 

• Elizabeth Rosiello — BitPesa 

• Roya Mahboob — Digital Citizen Fund 

• Jennifer Zhu Scott — Radian Blockchain Ventures 

• Yew Phang Kiat — Chong Sing Holdings Fintech 

• Brian Behlendorf — HyperLedger 

• Daniel Gasteiger — Procivis 

• Xu Ming Xing — OKlink 

• Albert Isola — Minister of Commerce, Govt. of Gibraltar 

• Tomicah Tillemann — New America/GBBC 

• Jim Newsome — Former Chairman of the CFTC 

• Meltem Demirors — Digital Currency Group 

• Julius Akinyemi — MIT/UWINCorp 

• Alan Cohn — Steptoe/Georgetown Law 

• Sebastian Vos — Covington 

• Mariana Dahan — World Identity Network 

• Dakota Gruener — ID2020 

• Jemma Green — Power Ledger/City of Perth 

• Leanne Kempe — Everledger/WEF 

• Michael Casey — MIT/CoinDesk 

• Ruth Wandhofer — Citi 

67

• Harris Fricker — GMP 

• Dante Disparte — Risk Cooperative 

• Bill Tai — ACTAI Global 

• Nick Cowan — Gibraltar Stock Exchange 

• Saruul Ganbataar — Bogd Bank 

• Guo Yuhang — Dianrong 

• Deng Di — Beijing Tai Cloud 

• Catrina Luchsinger Gaehwiler — FRORIEP 

• Heinrich Zetlmeyer — Lykke Corp 

How very true the Forbes magazine titled their final article 

published after the Forum in Davos: 

“One Thing Is Clear From Davos, Blockchain Is Out Of Beta”. 

I would say more, but I think the genie is out of the bottle. 

After all, revolutions may be very quiet. 

© Alexander Shulgin 

ABOUT THE GBBC — WWW.GBBCOUNCIL.ORG: 

The Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC) brings 

together founding members from over 30 countries to 

advance global understanding of Blockchain technology. 

Conceived on Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island by a 

group of innovators, the GBBC launched formally during 

the 2017 Annual World Economic Forum Meeting in 

Davos, Switzerland. The organization is dedicated to 

furthering adoption of Blockchain technology through 

engaging and educating business leaders, regulators, 

and global change makers on how to harness this 

groundbreaking tool to create more secure, equitable, and 

functional societies. 

Just as the internet enabled the frictionless peer-to-peer 

exchange of information, blockchain has the potential to 

usher in the frictionless exchange of assets. Blockchain 

technology is the most secure way to transfer digitized 

assets and information peer-to-peer or organizationto-organization 

through the use of distributed ledgers. 

The adoption of Blockchain technology will enable 

businesses, governments, and organizations to ensure 

data integrity and create records, transactions, and 

systems that are highly secure, transparent and 

significantly more resilient against manipulation and 

corruption. The GBBC helps maximize the benefits of 

Blockchain for industry and society. 

The GBBC educates business leaders on blockchain 

technology, provides a forum for businesses and 

technology experts to collaborate on blockchain-based 

business solutions, supports businesses interested 

in implementing blockchain technology in their 

operations and advocates for the global adoption of this 

transformative technology. 

In providing a global survey of blockchain projects 

and regulation, the GBBC is establishing a baseline 

to evaluate future policy actions, and a framework for 

assessing progress in what will be a generational effort 

to deploy blockchain solutions. As an organization, we 

look forward to working with partners around the world 

to share the benefits of this powerful new technology 

and to replenish the reservoir of trust that irrigates our 

collective endeavors. 

“Education is a core component of our mission, as 

education leads to meaningful action in every space 

including the regulatory and corporate world,” said Jamie 

Smith, CEO of the Global Blockchain Business Council. 

“We are so grateful to our partners for sharing their 

incredible expertise and insight in this annual report.” 

68

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69

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM DAVOS 

From 23th till 26th of January 2018, the 48th Global 

Economic Forum in Davos took place and suffered the 

heaviest snowfall in the meeting’s 48-year history. But this 

year, even more government leaders from all over the world 

braved the snow and were present in the Swiss mountains, 

than the year before. This year’s forum carried the theme 

“Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World”. This 

Global event wants to “unite” every year more and more 

intensively, because all country leaders claim to be globalists, 

no protectionists, even Trump? We will find out how strong 

Trumps words were at the closing speech of the WEF. 

70 

After Trump started his Presidency in January 2017, the 

US Dollar weakened significantly during his first year of his 

leadership and gave the US export sector a boost. According 

to European Central Bank President Mario Draghi this 

drop of the USD was not driven by the economy, but a 

consequence of “public” statements. And this is “not” in 

line with the G-20 Commitment to refrain from competitive 

devaluations. Trump told CNBC at the WEF that he 

“ultimately would like to see a stronger dollar”. 

The message in his closing speech was clear; “when America 

grows, so does the world”. The drive for excellence, creativity 

and innovation in the US has led to important discoveries 

and help people everywhere to live more prosperous and 

healthier lives. This should be the lesson for all political 

leaders. Governments have to stimulate growth and countries 

have to work together. Prosper words, but how is the real 

praxis? Trump’s tax reform appears to be good for business, 

as companies will invest more and increase wages. The tax 

cuts are presenting European countries with a dilemma: Do 

they follow the U.S. and cut their own corporate tax rates, 

risking a race to the bottom? Or do they stay back and risk 

losing business to the U.S.? German Chancellor Angela 

Merkel talked about Europe taking some responsibility for 

its own future and French President Emmanuel Macron 

has made a pitch to investors on France’s behalf. But there 

doesn’t seem to be a clear European consensus on what to 

do going forward. Trump’s move into the White house a year 

ago with his “America First” agenda pushed EU policymakers 

to keep markets open worldwide. The EU continued building 

on existing European free-trade pacts with partners like 

Singapore, Vietnam and South Korea and the Mercosur 

group of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. “America 

first does not mean America alone”. 

At Davos this year we saw a clash of visions, or even 

ideologies. Europe’s message is that social democracy doesn’t 

only deliver lower levels of inequality, but also delivers 

growth and stable politics. America First is about higher 

walls and lower taxes and a state that is looking mainly after 

the corporate sector. Can the two coexist comfortably? 

The move to work strongly together and create a sustainable 

growth is one of the important lessons we read in Marga 

Hoek’s book “The Trillion Dollar Shift” launched at the WEF. 

Marga Hoek is working her whole life, helping and creating 

a more sustainable growth, because in the end only a 

sustainable business model is profitable for all of us. We 

constantly have to work on “awareness” of this sustainable 

business model and the politicians have to create the context, 

not “against” each other but “cooperating” with each other. 

There is no Plan B, because we do not have a Planet B. 

The Trillion Dollar Shift by Marga Hoek (2018) documents 

the contributions of the various businesses to the 17 

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) as created by 

the United Nations. It also shows the opportunities for all 

businesses to impact those SDG’s on a Global scale. The 

book is a call to action for both business and capital to reach 

the SDG’s by 2030. 

The Paris Climate Agreement and the Sustainable 

Development Goals (SDGs) drive change and offer a 

narrative and an opportunity to all to speak in one language

on sustainability. They provide us with a clear set of targets 

for 2030. Through following the SDGs, opportunities 

abound for business and capital to unlock markets which 

offer endless potential for profit, while at the same time 

working towards the Sustainable Development Goals. This 

book illustrates for business how to make the much-needed 

“Trillion Dollar Shift”. 

Human Rights, Labor, Environment and Anti-Corruption are 

important achors in this story. The SDG’s focus on a strong 

reduction of poverty and hunger, good health, a responsible 

consumption and production, gender equality, climate action 

and strong justice and institutions. This book sets out how 

business and capital now have a real opportunity to help 

resolve these problems. 

In 50 case studies, concrete business examples, the book 

vividly describes the impacts on and contributions to the 

various SDG’s. 

The first example Unilever is proving that there is no 

contradiction between sustainable and profitable growth. 

IKEA measures their sustainability Impact by tracking the 

sales of products that are categorised as enabling a more 

sustainable life at home. Another case study shows that 

many solar energy entrepreneurs in devloping countries are 

waiting to be able to scale their businesses with fair loans 

at reasonable prices. The Sanivation case emphasises that 

innovative ideas not only provide safe, affordable and clean 

energy, they also unlock a whole new market. The GAP 

example shows how gender equality can pay dividends both 

for core business as well as for society at large. 


Technology is a very important driving force behind 

innovation, connectivity, productivity and efficiency in nearly 

every sector. Financial institutions and large enterprises 

have been working on blockchain-based solutions, or so 

called distributed ledger technology, for some years, but 

most activity has been in the development and testing 

stages. 2018 will be the start of many starting the tests in 

production and this will facilitate secure and transparent 

financial transactions and has the potential to rock economic 

foundations. In the short term, such blockchain applications 

will reduce costs and increase quality of outcomes, primarily 

for the enterprises themselves. 

But in the long term the same applications will connect 

manufacturer-creator-provider and consumer and end user 

directly, removing the need for additional participants 

in the supply chain. The blockchain technology is for 

example already used for energy transactions in smart grids 

providing a means to keep track of electricity consumed and 

delivered. Huawei believes investment in technology is a key 

accelerating factor to help nations achieve the SDG’s and 

Siemens smart grid solutions make it possible to modernise 

and adapt existing power grids to future expectations. And 

finally Thermo-Systems developed a system to process the 

sludge in an environmentally safe way using automated robots 

to “do the dirty work”. 

This highly readable book is a must-read for businesses (large 

and small) that wish to genuinely support the delivery of the 

SDGs. 

Dorin Deelen 

Owner Merit Capital AG/Swiss Family office 

71

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PROSPECTS 

OF BLOCKCHAIN APPLICATIONS 

BY PRINCE MICHAEL OF LIECHTENSTEIN 

“A blockchain is a digital and distributed ledger of 

transactions, recorded and replicated in real time 

across a network of computers or nodes. Every 

transaction must be cryptographically validated 

via a consensus mechanism executed by the nodes 

before being permanently added as a new “block” 

at the end of the “chain”. There is no need for a 

central authority to approve the transaction, which 

is why blockchain is sometimes referred to as a 

peer-to-peer trustless mechanism.” (Deloitte; 

February 06, 2018 in Blockchain: A technical 

primer). 

72 

Blockchain revolutionizes the way we store and exchange 

values. Will it be a major game changer? Will the 

combination of internet and blockchain have similar 

effects on society, political structures and economy as the 

invention of book printing had in the 16th century? The 

following essay is going to point out arguments in advantage 

or against the use of blockchain. 

Blockchain is in the perception enormously linked to 

cryptocurrencies. Furthermore, there is a debate arising 

whether the cryptocurrencies will become a real currency 

in the economy. The role of money is to be a means of 

exchange in transactions of goods and services and giving 

them a price. It has as well the function to store values 

between two transactions. The big question will be whether 

cryptocurrencies could replace fiat money, which is created 

by the central banks and the credit business of commercial 

banks. This debate started and became also emotional, but 

there are no clear results yet. 

One of the raised arguments is the lack of regulation of 

cryptocurrencies. We can be sure that bank supervisors 

and financial service authorities will try to regulate it. 

What effect it will have on cryptocurrencies is still open. 

On the one hand, it can give credibility, on the other 

hand, it can frustrate innovation, flexibility, efficiency and 

competitiveness. A major advantage of cryptocurrencies is 

the increasingly new competition created for fiat money. 

Today’s monetary system is enormously based on 

institutions and as well the government. The only reason 

that there has not happened a larger crisis yet, is that the 

society still trusts in institutions. Cryptocurrencies can 

certainly not heal these huge dependencies, but they can 

support in creating competition and due to that forcing 

solutions. Ironically, the expansion of fiat money to cover 

financial deficits are also creating bubbles which could again 

lead to crisis. The low to zero interest rates in this context 

is destroying savings and pension reserves. Irrelevant 

of the development of the present monetary system, 

cryptocurrencies will be part of the future economy. 

Blockchain and its revolutionary transaction system is 

the basis. But financial services only part of the possible 

users of blockchain technology. Blockchain will cause an 

elimination of intermediaries which leads to reducing costs, 

increasing efficiency and speed. You can use smart contracts 

which would mean, that not only the contract is confirmed 

and is stored, but it can also trigger consequences of the 

contract immediately, such as payment. In case of a lease

contract — for instance for an apartment — no lawyers, no 

notaries would be needed any more. It could be directly 

agreed, in an undeletable way between the person renting 

and the landlord. 

But it is even more efficient for centralized business models, 

which are important in a world of a sharing economy. 

These models need large aggregators at present that control 

systems and information and which risk to unequally or 

even arbitrary redistribute value among all contributors. 

Blockchain can easily replace these aggregators and the 

value chain in a shared economy becomes a lot more 

efficient. Some other examples could be improvements in 

the supply chain management. Products can be traced from 

manufacturing (including raw material, semi-finished goods, 

manufacturing process) to the final usage by consumers or 

customers. In the energy sector, the different participants 

in the value chain can speed up the processes. In trade, 

blockchain can link all different participants but it can 

also offer platforms to improve, accelerate and enforce the 

security of the financing of international trade. Especially 

here blockchain will facilitate verification and confirmation. 

There are also a lot of applications in the health care area 

and as mentioned before in the public sector. 

All sectors of business are now suffering from a high density 

of red tape, excessive regulatory framework and as well 

lots of controls. Furthermore, legal costs are skyrocketing. 

Blockchain can help a lot to facilitate and will make several 

regulations and controls obsolete. 

However, there are not only advantages but also risks and 

today’s society is still suspicious of new technologies, 

especially the anonymity of blockchain which increases 

criminal misuse. Even though, there is an enormous and 

fast development. We should acknowledge one thing, 

that any system can be misused by criminals. However, 

the undeletable inscriptions can also help prosecution. 

Regulations and restrictions of the government can reduce 

the risk but allow an undue violation of the right to privacy 

by authorities. The most important part to secure yourself 

is your digital key. The skill will be how to store and protect 

this key, so that nobody else can misuse it. In the balancing 

mechanism, damaging and corrupt monopolies can 

theoretically be created, with the objective to manipulate 

blockchain in favor of some third party. 

In our society one of the biggest drivers of progress 

and common good were the property rights. In theory, 

blockchain should have the capacity to strengthen property 

rights and to reduce the costs of owning and exchanging 

property. During transactions, legal costs can be reduced 

drastically, legal security increased and in consequence 

there should be much less room for litigation. Excessive 

litigation has become a basic problem for property rights, 

but it also adds unnecessary costs and lack of planning 

security for the economy. 

As it is a good incorruptible system to record transactions 

and values, it will also reduce corruption in public life. 

People will become a lot less dependent of public agencies 

for registration and other public services. The less public 

agencies are needed in the economic life, the less corruption 

exists. 

Prince Michael of Liechtenstein, Founder and Chairman of 

Geopolitical Intelligence Services AG, Vaduz 

Blockchain as well as other technological development, 

e.g. robotics and artificial intelligence, will not replace the 

human factor in the economic value chain. It will certainly 

change jobs, but it will also make jobs a lot more productive 

and a lot more efficient. 

GEOPOLITICAL 

INTELLIGENCE 

SERVICES 

73

FÉLIX ANTOINE TSHILOMBO 

TSHISEKEDI FOR DIPLOMATIC WORLD 

Congo is a country of contradictions. It calls to 

mind words like corruption, poverty and unrest 

but at the same time it is rich with resources and 

has a vast array of tribal cultures. It has everything 

it needs to succeed in becoming a leading force in 

lifting the African continent to new heights. 

Félix Antoine Tshilombo explains what he believes 

needs to be done to make Congo a success story. 

CONGO’S PROBLEMS 

Congo has many problems that started with Mobutu and 

towards the end of Mobutu’s reign, and became even worse 

with Kabila. There will be a lot of work to cleanse the system. 

Congo has a school system but a fragmented and unravelled 

one. People graduate from university but their competence 

level is simply not good enough, which is an incredible 

shame. French is Congo’s official language but the graduates 

hardly know how to speak, write or even align three correct 

sentences. In addition, the system is corrupt at every level. 

The teachers are not paid or very poorly paid, so they pass 

the students according to the principle of “those who pay, 

pass”. 

put in place, will never work. Our country is messed up 

at this point. First, we have to install structures again, 

something that has been demolished for over 30 years 

now. Today, the country works without structure and is 

in a non-state situation. Second, there needs to be a fight 

to restore morality and install an honest administration. 

That brings me to another big problem: everything goes 

wrong when you do not pay people for their services. 

Especially in the administration, which is where taxes come 

in. When the people working there are not compensated 

for their services, they start serving themselves. In the end, 

there is nothing left and there is no way to make a decent 

budget. In a system like this health, education and security 

are the first elements to suffer. 

74 

A major project will be to change the mentality. There are 

many anti-values that have become integrated in our society. 

People live in corruption and have come to see it as a 

normal thing. We are afraid of everyone and we doubt each 

other because everyone is in competition and wants to win. 

The Congo should not be regarded as a traditional country. 

We cannot apply readymade programs, which is why 

all the therapies that the IMF and similar organisations 

Félix Antoine Tshilombo Tshisekedi

Barbara Dietrich and Félix Antoine Tshilombo Tshisekedi 

Only when we have restored a rule of law, we can work on 

policies to straighten the economy so that we can increase 

purchasing power because the people need it. The Congo is 

a rich country so it is possible to give people a decent and 

prosperous life. 

Once we reinstall good values and create a secure climate, 

investors can come in and see that their interests are 

safe and guaranteed. This will create an influx of new 

investments and an economic revival that will lift the 

revenue. New investments will create jobs and at the same 

give the government the necessary funding to improve 

health, education, etc. 

THE FAMILY UNIT 

The family unit is another very important factor we have 

to consider. The family unit, which is the very core of our 

nation, no longer matters in the Congo today. Fathers are 

often not paid and neglect their children. More and more 

women today work to feed the children, but they do not 

always find honest work. Girls as young as nine years old 

are prostituting themselves to feed the family. Traditionally, 

things should be reversed and it is the father’s task to 

provide for his family. These situations are often seen in 

military families, for example. In the army, the soldier does 

not have the right to work, they can only settle for their 

wages. Wages are meagre and sometimes not even paid so it 

falls to the women who are working to feed the family. 

It is necessary to rethink the family unit and to restore the 

purchasing power. By giving value to employment, by giving 

the people work will in turn help them find their dignity and 

automatically restore the traditional Congolese values of the 

close family unit. 

SECURITY 

Of course, installing security is the most important and 

a priority. We must secure our borders and secure our 

citizens. All this traffic of gold and coltan by the border is 

a shortfall for our country. The way to stop it is to explain 

to the people living or working there that they have an 

interest in selling the products to their own country. By 

paying taxes on the items they sell, they can help the 

country become prosperous again and help us. Of course, 

they need to be reassured that we restored a rule of law. 

Now their idea is that since people at government level are 

stealing, then so do we. To them this is perfectly normal. 

Once the corruption is gone, we can give back a sense of 

patriotism. People need to understand that it is pointless 

to cross the border and sell Congolese gold in Uganda, 

coltan in Rwanda, etc. Our country and our people will not 

75

Vegetable and fruit market at the outskirts of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo 


76 

win anything. Now there is only a short win for a limited 

amount of people that quickly evaporates. If we can process 

the coltan in Congo, we can start rebuilding the country 

with roads and decent housing. We need to fix and renew 

the power system, install electricity and provide clean water 

in every village. 

We need not only revive construction but concentrate on 

agriculture as well. Congo is a very fertile land. We need to 

build partnerships in developing agriculture in our country. 

Not only will this solve the problem of starvation in our 

country, but we will even be able to export. We have the 

land and we have the products but now lack the means to 

sell them to the rest of the world. 

DEMOCRATIC DEBATE AND CULTURAL REVIVAL 

It is vital that future leadership is responsible leadership. 

That is what we want to accomplish after all those years of 

misfortune that we experienced after independence. It is 

time for the Congolese to invest in responsible leadership 

that will be able to show the right direction and ensure 

democracy. We do not want one single conviction ruling 

and imposing its ideas. We need a democratic debate. 

Without democratic debate we will never find out what 

the people’s needs are. Congo has more than 400 tribes, 

which means there are over 400 customs and different 

ways of living. Congo’s official language is French now, but 

each tribe has its dialect. Those dialects have been divided 

into 4 linguistic families so we can choose 4 additional 

national languages. You have to take all 400 tribes into 

consideration if you want to improve this country; a thing 

we already know by tradition because we have a culture of 

debate. Traditionally, we had the African ‘palabre’ or talk. 

Unfortunately, it has not evolved and was not modernized. 

It remained at the village level. Nowadays, with society 

broken into pieces, even these values are lost. There is a 

way to bring them back but for that we need a leader who 

accepts these traditions and who tackles these problems 

seriously. 

Once peace is restored, it is necessary to create a cultural 

revival. To obtain peace between the tribes and the cultural 

resourcing of people, we need to solve the problem of 

poverty and education. When we achieve that, people 

will be interested in getting to know each other and 

exchange culture. It is an effective way of bringing people 

together. Artists today are among the poorest and most 

deprived people, especially artists who make art objects like 

sculptors and painters. 

The cultural value of Congo deserves to be known all 

over the world. We can achieve this but it will have to 

be implemented at a later stage. Today some cultural

exchange already exists within our country. There are a lot 

of intercultural marriages which brings people together 

in some ways. Simply by intertribal weddings, things are 

evolving well. For example, my wife and I, we are not from 

the same tribe. She is from the east, from Bukavu, while I 

am from the Kasai. 

POVERTY 

Before we can proceed to cultural interchange, we have 

to fight poverty. Poverty is one of the main causes of the 

escape of our young people. They flee to countries like 

Libya where we see massacres being done. People leave their 

country for different reasons but the most important one is 

no hope to end poverty. It is human nature to go elsewhere 

seeking to survive. When something is not going well when 

in one place, we try to go somewhere else. 

At times we see tribal quarrels over poverty. There can 

be jealousy of those that are richer and that is what kills 

solidarity. It happens even in the countries where people 

are generally better off. You can live in a country with a 

democratic tradition for centuries and generations but 

as soon as there is a crisis the first instinct is to protect 

oneself. They will say ‘the migrant’ is the problem and that 

immigration has to stop. It is the human reflex to say ‘us 

first’, to withdraw into oneself. 

HEART OF AFRICA 

Once security is handled, tourism will thrive. We have a 

beautiful country, well worth visiting and it can bring lots 

of tourists. The success of this endeavour depends on one 

thing: installing the rule of law. We must restore a rule 

of law, an honest administration, secure the citizens, and 

reinstall the traditional values that are now totally upside 

down. Those must be restored so that Congo will again be 

the engine and the heart of Africa. 

Congo is sick today. Germany’s neighbours benefit 

from the magnitude and greatness of Germany, but our 

neighbours take advantage of Congo’s weakness. I have 

already mentioned the coltan that travels across the river. 

In Rwanda there is a refinery to treat coltan while they are 

not producers. The coltan comes from Congo and leaves 

the country without taxes. The same happens with the gold 

coming out of Ituri that goes to Uganda and the copper that 

goes to Zambia. Copper, cobalt, coltan and gold leave the 

country almost for free nowadays. 

If the Congo succeeds in changing all this, the country will 

win and everyone can benefit. It is the beginning of peace, 

for if everyone benefits there will be no reason for war or 

tribal warfare. Today everything is based on poverty or lack 

of prosperity. Still, there is opportunity to be seen in our 

bad luck. We have seen how some countries have advanced 

and how others have made mistakes. We have learned those 

lessons and can now move forward and avoid the mistakes 

others have made. 

Unfortunately, I wonder whether our neighbours really 

want the same thing as we do. I am convinced that if Congo 

prospers, everyone will benefit. We are trying to explain to 

our neighbours that they have an interest in Congo doing 

well, because then we can create a vast free trade area, much 

like the model of the Benelux or even the European Union. 

It can be done at the scale of Central Africa with all its 

countries and all countries will benefit from this force that 

will also revive Congo. Eventually, they will get the message 

because in most of these countries, there are problems as 

well. Most of the Central African countries are dictatorial in 

nature, with the exception of Zambia. Rwanda, Burundi and 

Brazzaville are in a similar situation as we are. 

A NEED FOR CHANGE 

The first step is a mindset towards change but implementing 

change also takes purchasing power. When people can live 

in peace, they can keep the peace. When you remove their 

means to live, people become corrupt and start to steal, 

forcing the government to impose security. There is a lot 

of work to be done but it is possible to achieve it in a short 

amount of time. 

First, the leadership itself has to be severe and demanding 

with itself and require the same from its subjects. Once this 

is implemented, it will work because people will quickly 

understand that seriousness has arrived. Unfortunately, we 

have seen this happen before in Congo. At first, Laurent 

Désiré Kabilla looked like he meant serious business. He 

came and enforced the law, a bit brutal, a little violent, 

but the people kept quiet. But then we started to see the 

corruption and came to see he is just like all the others, 

which is similar to what happened with Mobutu. People 

understood that, again, it was not a serious try. 

At this moment we have a power that is dictatorial, which 

suppresses every move towards change. When we have 

demonstrations, we are bullied and arrested each time. On 

77

November 30h, for example, I wanted to go to the protest 

and was prevented from leaving my house by police officers. 

The police officers stayed in front of my house to prevent 

me and the demonstrators who were outside waiting for me 

from demonstrating. They were scattered rapidly and some 

were wounded. Most of the media support Kabila and are 

paid by him. Free journalists who try to oppose this and 

report freely and truly, are often punished. They are falsely 

accused with fabricated stories. 

A journalist I know was arrested and tortured on November 

29th. He was abducted and tortured for two days, whilst 

I had met him only hours before. Afterwards he was 

presented to the media and was forced to say that he had 

not been threatened or tortured. Some journalists and 

human rights defenders have it even worse and are killed; 

the best known is Floribert Chebeya who was killed in June 

2010. This is everyday life in Congo. 

In this context there is no point in talking about elections 

because they seem impossible. How are we supposed to go 

to elections with a government that forbids us from making 

peaceful demonstrations? They forbid us to go to our bases 

and militants to speak to them and discuss with them. We 

do not even have the right to do that since they banned all 

political gatherings. Any gatherings. There is no way to fully 

function like this. 

To have legal and honest elections, we must expel the 

current leaders from power and hope that things will evolve. 

We have two ways to achieve this. The first is with the 

population, through endless demonstrations asking for his 

departure. The second way is a call to the International 

Community. We hope that the world will finally understand 

that it is not possible to have elections with Kabila. He does 

not want elections in Congo because he does not want to 

leave power. 

HOPE 

Angola is a very good example of how things can change. 

Angola had 25 years of war which produced a generation 

of young people who did not have the chance to go to 

school. The country set up a group of executives that 

function in a company’s framework during the day and 

that teaches young people at night, organizing courses to 

help them upgrade. I think there is a way to find solutions 

similar to this. Congo could also benefit from foreign 

experience and we are no longer excluding this, since we 

saw this approach was successful in Rwanda. The Rwandese 

population was decimated so a lot of foreign experts came 

to help put an administration back together. What works for 

Congo can be judged when the time comes. 

Congo’s greatest treasure are the youth, that I know for 

sure. We have roughly 60% to 70% of the population that 

is made up of young people, which is a real plus for the 

future. Young people are eager to learn and they learn very 

quickly. There will be a way to set up remittance programs 

to try to make up for the delay we are living through now. 

But as I said before, the trick is to have the right framework 

to make all of this happen. If the framework is serious, 

everyone will move in the same direction, but if we continue 

in the same way as today, it will not work. 

A government’s focus should not be on how everyone can 

fill their pockets. The challenge for the next President is 

to bring change for the better. For us it is an honour to 

be there and witness the first steps of a new Congo. I am 

certain that many teachers, schoolteachers, technicians, 

engineers, farmers, etc. will want to work in Congo, even 

if only for weeks or months to teach. For this country has 

everything it needs to succeed! 

78 

The Constitution is clear: a president can stay for a 

maximum of 2 terms and then it is over. A first mandate 

can be renewed one time, no more. Therefore, we ask the 

International Community to help us make Kabila leave by 

sanctions. In our view, we must sanction him and his family 

because they are the ones stealing from our country. It will 

take targeted sanctions against him, his brothers and his 

sisters. We think that the pressure we put on him internally 

and pressure from the International Community will make 

him leave power. Nobody doubts that we need change but it 

takes more than thinking or believing. 

FÉLIX ANTOINE TSHILOMBO TSHISEKEDI 

• Son of celebrated opposition leader Etienne 

Tshisekedi, who defied Presidents Mobutu and 

Kabila. 

• Has described as “Stalinesque” the government 

attempts to muzzle the opposition. 

• Relative political newcomer, criticised by some for 

inexperience. 

• Lived in Belgium for many years before entering 

politics at home.

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79

INTERVIEW WITH MR. MARTIN PALMER, 

SECRETARY GENERAL ARC 

Highlighted in Diplomatic World 55, the Impact Investment 

Summit 2017 in Zug, co-hosted by the Swiss Impact 

Investment Association (SIIA) and the Alliance of Religions 

and Conservation (ARC), set a new standard for faith and 

value based investing. The signing of the Zug Guidelines 

to Faith-Consistent Investment and the Zug Declaration 

represents official commitments of faith-based investors and 

philanthropies to invest their assets in environmentally and 

socially sound projects. At their parallel event, ARC worked 

closely with representatives of eight major global religions 

to write the Zug Guidelines that are to serve the faiths as 

principles for investing their assets, and furthermore, serve 

as a platform to publicise these principles. Founded in 

1995 by HRH The Prince Philip, ARC engages the faiths in 

dialogue and helps them develop environmental programs 

based upon their beliefs. For over 20 years, they havwe 

linked religions to environmental organisations, creating 

powerful, effective alliances. Diplomatic World had the 

chance to interview Martin Palmer, Secretary General of 

ARC, following the SIIA Investment Summit. 

80 

Please describe the process leading up to the Zug 

Guidelines and the goal of the faiths’ pledge in 

impactful investment. Did the idea emerge from 

a momentary, incendiary thought or ripen over a 

longer time? How was the collaborative process 

with the faiths? 

In 1999, I went to a meeting in Washington DC with WWF 

USA. They were the most resistant WWF branch to the idea 

of working with religions. Ironically, they were all practicing 

Hindus, Christians, or Jews, but it was a step too far for 

them to consider religion in their field of work. I expected 

a hostile reception as I was sitting outside the main board 

room, when I heard a passerby say, ‘I don’t know why we are 

bothering with this meeting about religion. If they wanted 

to, they could use their wealth and buy a company like 

Monsanto and turn it to be an environmental organisation. 

Why don’t they?’ I thought, ‘O bother, are enemies in the 

camp.’ Then I thought, it is actually a good idea. Therefore, 

in response to a new version of the classic, dismissive 

argument that if only the religions could give away all their 

wealth, they could solve all the problems in the world, in 

2000 we did an audit of what major faiths owned. Land, 

buildings, schools, hospitals, farmland, forestry, and 

investments. We were absolutely astonished, how much 

money and investments the faiths actually had. Far more 

than I had expected, and I belong to the Church of England 

and we have an awful amount of money and land. We own 

10% of England. 

There is a long tradition of what faiths will not invest in. For 

example, Muslims would traditionally not invest in anything 

that would charge interest, or the Quakers in anything to

Mr. Martin Palmer 

do with armaments. And so, challenged by this off-hand 

comment that I had overheard, we asked, ‘We know what 

you are against, what are you for?’ Interestingly, we were too 

early in asking that question. What we actually discovered, 

as we first held a meeting with faith investors in 2001 in 

New York, was that less than 25% of the faith funds that 

we were in touch with, had developed a negative screening 

process. The majority needed still to develop a negative 

screening process. 

In 2015 we were asked by the UN, if we would co-host the 

main meeting between the religions and the UN on the 

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Twenty-eight 

faith commitments resulted from that meeting. The UN 

noticed that nine of these said they were thinking about 

shifting their investments into environmentally sustainable 

development. The UN was terribly excited and asked us, 

whether the religions have any money. We affirmed they did. 

We wrote a paper for the UN called “Faith in Finance” that 

we launched last December in China at a multi-faith and 

multi-government event. 

Now it became very clear that the faiths had shifted, 75%, 

maybe even 80% have now got well-developed negative 

screening processes. 

In January 2017 we asked them again, ‘We know what you 

are against, what are you for?’ They were ready. They were 

ready, but they had not thought it through. They were aware 

of the fact that the UN were asking for the SDGs to be 

funded primarily by investment, they were thinking about it, 

but they had not really done much about it. We at ARC were 

a little outrageous really, we said, if they wanted to come to 

this meeting, they would have to write and have us officially 

approve a set of guidelines. They must tell us what they own, 

and in what classes of investment. They must tell us their 

theology and philosophy about wealth. What is it for, where 

does it come from, where does it fit into their understanding 

of God, or humanity, or the cycle of karma, et cetera? 

They must give us their guidelines, for themselves and for 

members of their religion, as to what they now will invest in. 

Where will they put their money to make a difference? 

81

82 

I have to be honest, when we said this in January, 

I thought, we were being too outrageous and was worried 

they would not reply. Well, to my absolute amazement, and 

the amazement of my colleagues, every single religion we 

invited said ‘Yes’. A couple of them had done it before, the 

Protestant German churches, as had the Swedish Lutheran 

churches, but the others were new, completely new. This 

led to tremendous internal discussions, debates and 

questioning. 

We gave funding where it was necessary to enable the faiths 

to gather their key thinkers, their key finance people, and 

to our delight, we were able to launch 30 faith guidelines at 

Zug. Of those 30, four are guidelines for collective groups, 

for example, JLens, the major advisory body to Jewish 

foundations in the United States. They have one hundred 

Jewish foundations, synagogues, and schools in their 

network. Therefore, these guidelines actually influence about 

one hundred people, and the same reach is extended in the 

Hindu and Muslim networks. So although there are only 30 

guidelines, they will influence over 500 religious investment 

groups around the world from eight major religions. 

I give much credit to the United Nations. The Assistant 

Secretary General apologised at the Impact Summit in 

Zug for not asking the religions for their view on the 

SDGs until the very last moment (which they did then 

with ARC’s guidance). Ironically, the faiths were ignored, 

although they are the fourth largest investment group in 

the world. The fact that the UN said that the sustainable 

development of the planet cannot take place through the 

old system of giving a grant here and another grant there, 

but that it has to involve the business and investment 

world, had already moved many of the faiths to consider 

their involvement. 

What ARC did, is to speed the process up quite 

considerably and to show them, without any of them 

losing their own autonomy, that they can be much stronger 

together than alone. Some secular finance organisations, 

were already handling money for Catholic or Muslim 

foundations, but had not asked their faith foundations, 

what as venture capitalists they would do for a sustainable 

planet. We brought them together, and they were delighted 

to discover that they were not alone. 

How can the faiths bring innovation to investment? 

What values and approaches do you see 

creating change in the industry? 

The main innovation is something that has been much 

discussed, but I do not see much happening, namely valuedriven 

investing. In other words, not just asking, ‘How 

much money can we make? How quickly can we make it? 

Are our shareholders happy?’, but actually using finances 

to fund the values they want to see, whether religious, 

secular, artistic, or philanthropic. What the faiths are, and 

I think this is the exciting thing about the new alliance we 

are creating after Zug, is the largest identifiable group with 

clear values. When you look to the Zug Guidelines, you 

will see each guideline begin with a theological statement 

of why they care, based on their own traditions, their own 

teachings, their sacred books, and their holy people. 

There are 500 faith investment groups who have clearly 

set out the values that will drive them. Now, they can be 

approached and asked, ‘Why not invest in this? It meets 

your values as you set out on pages two and three.’ This is 

what they bring, a major focus on value-driven investing. 

And that is important, because now the philanthropies 

are saying they should do the same. In Zug, over a dozen 

Swiss foundations issued the Zug Declaration, which is an 

early stage of creating their own guidelines. I think, what 

we are seeing, and what we are being asked to set out in the 

alliance, is an alliance of value-driven investing, which at 

its heart will have religions, the philanthropies walking at 

their side, and in the background the NGO world. I think 

we are on the cusp of launching an alliance, that will mean 

that not only religious groups talk about values, so will 

secular groups. This is very exciting. 

Also, this is very interesting, unfortunately the UN had no 

money to fund this event, so on very short notice we had 

to raise a lot of money. We had wonderful philanthropies 

in the United States, Japan, Britain, and the Netherlands 

who supported us, but we still needed further funding. So 

for the first time in my professional life, and I have been 

fundraising for nearly forty years, we went to the secular, 

commercial world. We had nine or ten finance houses 

interested, who agreed to sponsor us. The guidelines were 

written by the middle of August, when our international 

steering group suggested to ask the secular finance houses 

what their values were. It was complete panic. Only one 

group had set out their values, the others said, they do 

not have any values, they only reflect the values of their 

customers. We said, “Rubbish! That is absolute rubbish!” 

Others had come into being precisely to be value driven, 

but had not worked out what the values were other that 

they were not the same as the others that did not have

values. It was an extraordinary month, where people from 

the secular world were sending in their values, and I was 

sending them back and saying, “No, sorry, those are not 

values, try again, start it all over again.” And they did. 

I think we are setting standards right across the border, 

and one of the great things was the partnership with SIIA. 

SIIA, from the very beginning invited us to Zug, because 

they saw that this could change the ball game. Instead of 

just talking about impact investing, which could mean 

anything, as every investment is an impact, the question 

that needs to be asked is, ‘Is it good impactful?’ To know, 

you must look at the values that you are looking to serve. 

The partnership with SIIA has been fundamental to this. 

They kept us taking the secular financial world seriously, 

in the same way that they have taken the faithful financial 

world seriously. It has been a wonderful partnership. 

What are your goals, moving forward with the 

Zug Guidelines, towards effecting change in 

conservation and sustainability? What are the next 

steps for ARC? 

It comes in three different stages. Firstly, we are already 

having new guidelines being sent to us. We have triggered 

an awareness within the faiths. We have compiled three 

new major guidelines in the last two weeks. My guess is 

that when we come to re-issue the guidelines, in about 

six months time, I would be surprised, if we were not up 

to 40, reaching out to about 600 faith investment groups. 

We have now set a standard, if you like, for what any selfrespecting 

faith investment group should have. If you have 

not got your guidelines, people will now be asking, “Why 

not? Because the other group has.” 

The second stage is the creation of the new alliance. We 

were asked at the end of the event by the philanthropies, 

by the UN, by the secular finance houses, and the faiths, 

whether we would create an alliance that would enable 

this energy, these levels of commitment, this potential for 

putting together baskets of projects. We have a pipeline 

of investible projects that we have been developing with 

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s R20 organisation and Leonardo 

di Caprio’s organisation. So we not only have the faiths 

as investors, we also have faith driven projects and big 

infrastructure projects that they can invest in as well. 

The weekend at the Summit, we had over 40 comments, 

ideas, and suggestions, as to what this alliance should look 

like. My job in the next week is to draw up a blueprint. 

We will hold these groups together and enable them to 

become investment partners. We will enable them to 

undertake research work. Princeton University has offered 

to join in as the major academic centre. The University 

of Winchester here in the UK is offering to create a new 

chair in faith consistent investing. We are talking to the 

Dartington Hall Centre, a big international centre in 

Devon, who are offering to host three or four major think 

tank events every year. SIIA will annually host a whole 

section on philanthropy and religious investment. But 

beyond that we need to set up a structure that can broker 

partnerships, that can for example enable a cluster of faiths 

to invest in sustainable forestry or alternative energy. 

The third stage is to be representatives of better finance 

to the wider world. For example, the United Nations 

Development Program is now in discussion with the 

Norwegian government about potential funding for a 

new unit within UNDP on faith-consistent investing and 

the SDGs. Major philanthropies are considering setting 

up similar structures. I think the ripple effects will be 

enormous. In my understanding and experience, finance 

managers are herd animals, if the front cow turns into 

a different direction, then the rest of the herd comes up 

behind. I think we are very close to being able to turn the 

herd, and that is terribly exciting. 

Brita Achberger 

Martin Palmer is the Director of the International 

Consultancy on Religion, Education and Culture 

(ICOREC) and Secretary General of the Alliance of 

Religion and Conservation (ARC). 

An Anglican Christian, Palmer studied theology and 

religious studies at Cambridge University and has 

translated several popular books on Sinology, giving 

popular and controversial interpretation of early 

Chinese Christianity. 

He is a regular contributor to the BBC on religious, 

ethical, and historical issues, appearing regularly on 

BBC Radio 3 and 4, BBC World Service and presenting 

on BBC TV. He is Co-Chair of a joint ARC-UNDP 

programme on the faiths, climate change and the 

environment. 

83

EUROPEANS AND THE CHINESE 

NEW SILK ROAD INITIATIVE 

Dr Pierre-Emmanuel Thomann 

Geopolitician - President - Eurocontinent 

China is a major demographic and nation-size 

civilization. With the New Silk Road initiative, 

China positions itself on territory and in time as 

a central player on the Eurasian and global scales. 

The objective of the project also called Belt and 

Road Initiative (BRI) is to connect China to the 

world through rail, road, maritime, airport, energy 

and technology connections. The project has a longterm 

horizon since it is expected to be completed by 

2049. If it is implemented, even partially, the project 

is likely to change the global geo-economic and 

geopolitical balance of power. 

Europeans have no choice but to position themselves in 

relation to these plans, putting forward their own interests 

and ambition for strategic autonomy. The New Silk Road 

initiative, if conducted taking into consideration the 

interests of European nations, but also those of China’s 

global Eurasian neighbours and other global powers, is 

likely to contribute to the stability and prosperity of the 

Eurasian continent. 

A geopolitical approach is useful in examining 

European interests regarding this initiative. The 

geopolitical angle has two modes. Geopolitics is a 

tool for making a diagnosis that highlights the stakes 

of a geopolitical situation. Then, the elaboration of a 

geopolitical strategy (applied geopolitics) helps to develop 

priorities on territory and in time in the service of an 

objective. 

a political objective is a decisive advantage and a central 

element of sovereignty. This mastery depends on the 

capacity to appreciate the space and time constraints of 

others. 

GEOPOLITICAL DIAGNOSIS 

China seeks to regain global geopolitical centrality through 

the New Silk Road project. Although various elements of 

the project are still largely in a virtual state, some projects 

are already under way, or aim to renovate connections that 

already exist. 

Not all projects will materialize and succeed but the 

multitude of transport bundles imagined in this long-term 

plan will lead to the implementation of at least some of 

them. 

84 

In the twenty-first century, in order to navigate in a 

world that is in a state of flux, a geopolitical strategy, 

conceived as a spatio-temporal whole and functioning as 

a means of balancing other powers, is required. This is 

because the mastery of territory and time in the service of 

The New Silk Road initiative responds to several issues at a 

number of geographical scales: 

At the national level, China’s western-oriented 

infrastructure of the initiative aims to develop areas west 

of its territory. These regions, particularly the Xinjiang

85

86 

Autonomous Region and the Tibet Autonomous Region 

are economically lagging in relation to the maritime 

facades. Their development should consolidate the 

territorial unity of the country. 

Further, at the Eurasian continental level, the New Silk 

Road initiative involves connecting the two ends of the 

Eurasian continent, Europe and China, through Russia 

in the North and Central Asia further South by a bundle 

of lines of communication, including goods, people, and 

energy transport. 

Finally, the maritime component aims to consolidate the 

energy and trade connections between China and the 

Middle East but also with Africa and Europe through the 

Straits of Malacca. The Northern Route linking China to 

Europe via the Arctic Ocean is also envisaged as a shorter 

and alternative route. 

At a global level, for China, this is a geo-economic strategy 

of opening up the country through continentalisation, 

because it depends too heavily on its maritime facade. 

From the point of view of the Chinese geopolitical 

perspective, the Middle Kingdom seeks to surround itself 

with allies, and position itself at the center of a geopolitical 

space structured for its own security and prosperity. The 

aim of the Chinese project is to place the country at the 

center of the geopolitical map once again. In this respect, 

the Chinese geopolitical objective is not different from 

other world powers. 

On the geostrategic level, the project can also be 

interpreted as a strategy of counter-encirclement resulting 

from the positioning of military infrastructures by the 

USA and its allies. The map (map: The New Silk Road 

Initiative) highlights the perception of encirclement of 

China and Russia, which comes from the presence of US 

and NATO bases as well as from the anti-missile defense 

infrastructure around Eurasia. 

This location of military infrastructure is primarily a 

legacy of the Cold War, which was characterized by the 

containment of the USSR but also of China by the US. 

After the fall of the USSR, the Unipolar project of the US 

and their allies aimed to westernize the Eurasian continent 

and to ascertain the prevalence of a system of Western 

alliance, associated with a strategy of roll-back. 

However, with the come back of Russia and the rise of 

China, the world has evolved towards a more polycentric 

structure. A new containment strategy can now again 

be expected, because we can once more witness a rise 

of the geopolitical rivalries between the US, China and 

Russia. The missile shield project has been pursued and 

the new US security strategy (2018) explicitly designates 

Russia and China as its main adversaries. This looming 

confrontation might jeopardize Eurasian stability and 

therefore European stability itself. Europeans, as close 

allies of the USA should avoid further polarization of 

global alliances as they will not be in a position to defend 

their own interests. Europeans should rather find a way to 

play the role of moderators between USA and China but 

also Russia. 

China is combining two approaches, one is geostrategic, 

and the other is geo-economic. 

In the China Sea, China claims sovereignty over the 

Paracel and Spartley Islands, and is in competition 

with its neighbours (Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, the 

Philippines and Taiwan). China also wants a reunification 

with the island of Taiwan, separated from them in 1949. 

The various actors have entered a race of “Polderization” 

to claim sovereignty over the different islands. This area 

is a growing commercial and energy hub for China. Its 

control also aims to counter the pressure exerted in the 

geographical proximity of its territory by the US and its 

allies in the Pacific Ocean. US military bases are set up 

in Japan, South Korea and in the Philippines. The US 

fleet is sailing in the Pacific near its territory, and around 

Taiwan. 

In the event of a serious conflict, China’s energy supply 

routes through the China Sea and the Strait of Malacca 

may be disrupted by US naval dominance in the Pacific 

and by their bases, which are all close to the shores of 

China. 

The Silk Roads including the Northern Sea Route and 

the continental infrastructures are alternative routes to 

the Southern seaway from the China Sea to the Indian 

Ocean, on which China now depends. In addition, the 

development of western China, the Achilles heel of the 

country’s security, helps to stem the destabilization 

coming from the western flank, subject to waves of radical 

Islam from Southeast Asia, and to the external support of 

regional separatism. 

The New Silk Road project also allows the development of 

the China-Kazakhstan-Russia corridor, the China-Central-

Asia-Iran-Turkey corridor, as well as the Eurasian links 

between China and Europe. It is part of a multicentered 

vision of the world, where China is at the center of a new 

system of economic and political cooperation, and not a 

subset of Western-centered globalization with the US as 

the main power of the Eurasian continent. 

During his visit to China in January 2018, French 

President Emmanuel Macron announced his intention to 

participate in projects on the Silk Road routes in Eurasia 

and Africa on a case-by-case basis. He insisted that the 

New Silk Road should evolve towards a shared project and 

does not provoke a new hegemony. 

OBSTACLES REMAIN, WHAT ARE THEY? 

THE POSITIONING OF EUROPEANS 

The enormous cost of the projects is a first obstacle, 

even if China has the financial means to initiate many 

infrastructures. To be implemented successfully outside the 

Chinese territory, the infrastructure projects will also have 

to be co-financed by the partners of China. It is also an 

opportunity to internationalize the project and promote a 

better balance of interests. 

Secondly, geopolitical instabilities along these corridors 

are an obstacle to investment. If a project leads to distrust 

in some countries, opponents to this project might have an 

interest in a destabilization of the territories of transit. 

Some countries like the USA and India would also like a 

reorientation of the connections to have a more North- 

South direction than East-West. These rivalries on the 

geopolitical orientation of the Eurasian infrastructures 

highlights the need for the New Silk Road initiative to take 

into consideration the interests of the different countries 

likely to be impacted by the project. 

Finally, there is the ambivalence of the Europeans 

themselves, who are divided on the position to take 

regarding Chinese economic power. Indeed the fear of 

Europeans is to see trains filled with goods in the direction 

of China-Europe, returning to China empty. 

Yet some European states are already positioning 

themselves to take advantage of the New Silk Road project. 

This is the case in the Balkans with Serbia and Greece, 

and the Visegrad group, at the heart of the 16 + 1 format, 

which includes the countries of Central and Eastern 

Europe who seek to connect themselves to the Chinese 

project. The 16 + 1 format was conceived after the first 

China-Central and Eastern European Countries Economic 

and Trade Forum, held in Budapest in 2011. The countries 

included are China, 11 EU members: Bulgaria, Croatia, 

the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, 

Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and five EU 

candidates: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, 

Montenegro and Serbia. 

It has been said, Geopolitics is anticipating the space-time 

of others powers. 

The European project, mainly embodied by the European 

Union, needs to be renewed today. Its paradigms are still 

too entrenched in the last century. The project was born in 

the context of the Cold War, at a time of the containment 

of the Soviet Union, and in a context where Communist 

China had not yet reached its current power. After the 

end of the Cold War, the project should today adapt itself 

further to the emergence of a multicentered world. EU 

could evolve towards an alliance of European nations 

driven by a geopolitical strategy to reaffirm their own 

centrality in the future global balance of power. 

It would be wise for Europeans to engage this Chinese 

project in a constructive way. The New Silk Road is an 

opportunity for the Europeans to position themselves on 

the Eurasian continent. It is also a way to ascertain the 

project leads to a better balance of interests. 

Europeans are so far positioning themselves in a dispersed 

way in order to reap the benefits. Therefore, a better 

coordination between them would be required. The 

project is above all an opportunity for Europeans to think 

on a Eurasian scale. They would need to identify their 

geopolitical interests as part of a reformed European 

project according to geopolitical principles. 

For the cooperation projects and alliances of European 

nations, geography suggests a better balance between the 

Euro-Atlantic, Euro-Mediterranean and African areas and 

also Euro-Arctic and Euro-Asiatic spaces. 

According to the recent historical perspective, the Eastern 

flank of Europeans has been neglected during the Cold 

War. The rivalry with the USSR and communist China 

held back trade between Europe and large parts of Eurasia 

and the shift of the geopolitical center of gravity was 

located in the Euro-Atlantic space. 

Today, the project of the New Silk Road is an opportunity 

for Europeans to connect with the East of the Eurasian 

87

continent. This means anticipating and negotiating an 

articulation between the European project, the New Silk 

Road initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union along 

the Europe-Russia-China axis. 

THREE ROUTES ARE INTERESTING FOR 

EUROPE 

The materialization of the Northern Sea Route would 

facilitate access to Siberian resources and is the shortest 

sea connection with China and the Far East. The 

continental corridor transiting through Russia would 

reconnect Western Europe with Russia, and trains 

could unload goods in Russia, before going to China. 

The Southern continental corridor would facilitate a 

rapprochement between Europe and Central Asia. 

There is a growing necessity to rethink the links 

between the European project, Russia and China. It is 

counterproductive today to pursue a policy of isolating 

Russia, and pushing it ever more towards an exclusive 

Russian-Chinese alliance that keeps the nations of the EU 

in an exclusive Euro-Atlantic area. This approach makes 

Europe a periphery of this Euro-Atlantic entity. Moreover, 

as a pivotal space, Europe risks being fragmented between 

emerging rival Euro-Atlantic and Euro-Asiatic geopolitical 

alliances. 

The Connection to the Silk Road Initiative should push 

European nations towards engaging more deeply in a 

dialogue on the finality of the European project. Hopefully, 

a better coordination between European states would 

benefit Europe as a whole. This means that a reformed EU 

should establish relations with the Shanghai Cooperation 

Organization (OCS) but also the Eurasian Economic 

Union (EEU). The geopolitical complementarities between 

Europe and Central Asia, with Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan 

as pivots, can be strengthened to stabilize this strategic 

zone for the benefit of the entire Eurasian continent. 

and regulating its exchanges with the outside. It is also 

necessary for the maintenance of the national identity. A 

border filters what is good for the nation and rejects what 

threatens it. Any economic exchange should be of benefit 

to all partners and that is why the issue of reciprocity 

should be addressed. 

The nations of the European continent, from Brest to 

Vladivostok, that is all members of the Council of Europe, 

have to play a moderating role in the face of growing 

geopolitical rivalries in Eurasia. It would be better for them 

to avoid being obliged to align themselves blindly in the 

case of a global US-Chinese confrontation. They should 

equally avoid a Chinese-American condominium (G2), in 

which they would be excluded from major decisions. 

Finally, nations of the Eurasian continent also have the 

urgency to contain the Islamist push originating from the 

arc of crisis along a belt from Africa to the south-Western 

part of the Eurasian continent. 

In the end, the project of the New Silk Road Initiative 

has not only a geostrategic and economic dimension, but 

also a civilisational dimension. The exchanges between 

cultures on the Eurasian continent may potentially make 

the Old World an important geopolitical axis of the world 

again. The project therefore also implies a new approach 

of globalization. European nations and China should share 

the geopolitical goal of a multicentered world based on 

geopolitical balances and the respect for sovereignty, but 

also the balance between civilizations. 

88 

The major interest of Europeans in a stronger engagement 

in the New Silk Road initiative is more strategic reflection 

on the future model of globalization, in order to better 

influence it, rather than to be undergone by it. It is time 

to challenge the ultra-liberal ideology dogmas and to 

push back the excesses of globalization, which requires 

for European nations to address the issue of borders 

and territorial control more deeply. A border is an 

organic envelope necessary for the survival of a nation, 

Pierre-Emmanuel Tomann

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ADV. DIPLOMATIC WORLD Def.indd 1 16/02/18 14:38 

89

FREDDY OPSOMER - A BELGIAN 

ENTREPRENEUR IN LITHUANIA 

CHINA’S SILK ROAD ENTREPRENEUR 

Freddy Opsomer is an international entrepreneur living in 

Antwerp who was intensively involved in the redevelopment 

of the Lithuanian economy after the re-independence of that 

country in 1990. As the Chairman of the Free Economic Zone 

of Kaunas he was able to organise a strong local management 

team for the development of a 500 ha greenfield that was 

located in central Lithuania: a tri-modal site adjacent to an 

international airport, nearby a new European logistic railway 

hub, where the Russian 1.520 mm broad railway gauge meets 

the new Trans European network corridor Rail Baltica. Rail 

Baltica aims to integrate the 3 Baltic countries Estonia, Latvia 

and Lithuania via Poland with the European 1.435 mm railway 

network. It is a supranational project of great economic and 

political importance for these countries and for the EU. 

In this new period of re-independence of Lithuania Freddy 

Opsomer took also attention for issues of social corporate 

responsibility and he founded the Sugihara Diplomats for Life 

Foundation and the museum — in memory of the Japanese 

diplomat Sugihara who saved the lives of more than 6.000 

people from the Nazi death camps. The saved people, mostly 

Jewish, could receive a special transit visa issued by the 

Japanese diplomat. Doing so, he risked his life and career as 

his country had in 1940, together with fascist Italy, signed 

the Tripartite agreement with Nazi Germany. The Japanese 

Schindler is now rehabilitated in Japan and is honoured 

amongst the Righteous among the Nations in Israel. 

Kaunas Free Zone attracted so far 31 local and international 

companies who invested 489 M euro and created 3.450 jobs. The 

free zone has also a special IT and mega data centre development 

zone nearby the 900MW Kruonis Hydro Pumped Storage Power 

Plant. Here more than 100 MW of power load is available and 

the site is at the crossroads of diverse European dark fiber paths. 

In 2017 two large German companies in the automobile sector 

decided to establish a manufacturing base in the Kaunas Free 

Economic Zone. The multinational, family owned German 

company Hella with a sales volume of 6,6 Bn euro in 2016- 

2017 and 38.000 employees producing lighting and electronic 

components for all car brands. The company will invest 30 M 

euro in Kaunas in a first phase of three and employ 250 skilled 

workers for the production of sensors, actuators and control 

modules for the automotive industry. 

90

Freddy Opsomer signs with Mr Xu Yongjun - General Manager of China Merchants Logistics – between the 2 signatories : Mr Li Jianhong – Chairman of the 

China Merchants Group / in the back Prime Minister Butkevicius from Lithuania and Ministers of Economy and Transport) 

Another German group also decided to choose the Kaunas 

Free Economic Zone: Continental. Continental invests 

95 M euro and will create 1.000 jobs in Lithuania, making 

this the largest green field investment project in Lithuanian 

history. Continental will produce in the new factory door and 

seat control units, gateways, intelligent glass control units, 

radar sensors for adaptive cruise control and emergency 

braking assistance systems. 

One of the first companies that came into the Free Economic 

Zone was the company Elinta — a spin-off from the Kaunas 

University of technology — who is famous in laser technologies 

but also very active in electro-vehicles and electricity charger 

networks. 

Freddy Opsomer is convinced that this brings Lithuania 

and Kaunas FEZ in a real position to become an e-car and 

e-mobility cluster in Northern Europe. According to him these 

companies can under special regime of shared production 

under custom supervision reach two important consumer 

markets: the EU with 500 million people and the CIS (now 

Eurasia market) with 180 million people. 

Freddy Opsomer has only at a distance of 280 km discovered 

the city of Minsk, capital of Belarus, a vibrant city with nearly 2 

million inhabitants. Here the Government of China is actually 

developing the Great Stone park, located near the Minsk 

international airport. It is the largest industrial park outside 

China. It has a solid Chinese partnership with the China 

Merchants Group and Sinomach as reference shareholders. 

Freddy Opsomer is finalising negotiations with the Belarus 

government and the Chinese side to integrate a European hub 

in this park. Doing so he hopes to have a real concept of twinparks 

— one of them located in the EU (Kaunas) and one in 

the CIS (Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan). He does hope that 

Kaunas and Minsk will develop fruitful city relationships and 

cooperation. In logistic terms that may result in a green trade 

corridor between the 2 industrial logistic zones. 

The Great Stone park in Minsk is only a small part of an 

ambitious Chinese Government project called OBOR — one 

Belt one Road. This should become a global network of 

multimodal transport infrastructures connecting the Atlantic 

and Pacific oceans — Europe-Africa and Asia. OBOR embraces 

70% of the world population, 55% of world GDP and 75% of 

world energy reserves. Not only China but also countries like 

Japan announced plans to invest in such global networks. 

Already in 2011, BMW organized regular container trains all 

the way from Leipzig to Shenyang in China. The trains were 

transporting more than 8.000 components to the assembly 

plants of BMW in China. In Leipzig a logistic center was built 

of 63.000 m 2 as logistic nexus to this new silk road — nearly 600 

new jobs were created to support the German silk road project. 

From 2014 on, the Ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam also 

received regular long block trains that took the same land 

route; all the way from central China via Russia or Kazakhstan 

— on a journey of less than 14 days compared to the nearly 40 

days by ocean transport. 

Although at first sight, a TEU container costs substantially 

more by rail than by sea — companies have discovered that 

for high valued consumer goods — the time gains, security 

91

easons, as well as the journey via major cities: all of that 

offers a number of advantages. HP uses now cargo trains to 

ship products to and from China. Another global player DHL 

has weekly express service trains originating in Chengdu via 

Kazakhstan to Poland. The short rail connections between 

Chongqing and Duisburg (10.800 km – 10 days) have a 

bright future. It is therefore time of the essence for the 

EU Commission and for the EU Parliament to develop an 

ambitious plan: a connecting facility between the TEN-T 

networks and these new Silk Roads according to Opsomer. 

At the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2016 and 2017 

much attention was given to these new China Silk Roads. It was 

stressed that the new Silk Roads should not just be maritime 

routes or multimodal rail-, road corridors; but that this new 

global network should become an information e-network. 

Such silk road information highway could play an important 

role in further developing e-commerce and accelerating the 

4th industrial revolution: industry 4.0 and logistics 4.0. Last 

year the Davos World Economic Forum made this even more 

practical by focusing on new technologies like blockchain that 

can connect business processes and different actors along the 

Silk Road value chain in a safe way. 

Freddy Opsomer anticipated this statements and took at 

the Hannover Industry Messe in 2015 the initiative to bring 

regions, free zones and industrial parks together in an 

association “Silk Road parks” — for his Silk Road Initiative, 

3 parks and a strategic partner signed a memorandum of 

understanding. These were the Kaunas Free Economic Zone, 

the mega industrial China park “Great Stone” in Minsk and 

Jiashan, the economic industrial expansion area of Shanghai. 

The parks want to promote each other along the same value 

chain of the Silk Road; they want to become sustainable and 

to be connected in this global network of the 4th industrial 

revolution: the e-silk road. As Germany’s industry is a 

forerunner in the automatization, the robotisation, the internet 

of things, industrial 3-D printing — Opsomer wants now to 

set up the international association with a strategic German 

anchorage. But in addition he will invite also other parks on 

the silk road to join the new silk road initiative: West European 

and Baltic ports, inland ports like Duisburg and industrial 

parks and free zones in Russia (for example Yekaterinburg 

located on the border between Europe and Asia) and in 

Kazakhstan. Russia’s Transsiberian railway or the TSR is still 

today the longest railway line of nearly 10.000 km connecting 

St Petersburg with Vladivostok. This silk road “avant la lettre” 

already started in 1891 and forms today as a heroic mega 

rail line, part of the new railway land corridors that connect 

Western Europe and Asia. The new Silk Roads will really boost 

regional economies and will be therefore accelerators of welfare 

and economic wealth. 

Freddy Opsomer is convinced that history repeats itself. 

He makes attention to the old historical silk roads where 

for example already in The meeting point between the East 

(inspired by communist and confucianist thinking) and the 

West (socially corrected market economy) should now create 

unique opportunities to work out new visions for the promotion 

of growth within a broadly supported social, cultural and 

economic model and an environmentally sound platform: a 

new model for the future of humanity. 

Freddy Opsomer concludes with a dream which he hopes may 

come true: silk road trains not carrying cargo all the way from 

China to Europe — but silk road passenger trains that will 

stop in the cities and regions along the Silk Road — inviting 

people to join the multicultural adventure of the Silk road 

and facilitated by a real “Silk Road Visum” politically made 

possible through multilateral agreements between the EU, 

Russia and China. 

92

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93

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES, 

INVESTMENT GROWTH AND 

PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE EXCHANGE 

THE PROMISE OF THE 2018 

EU-CHINA TOURISM YEAR 

On July 2016, the President of the European 

Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, and the 

Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of 

China, Li Keqiang, jointly declared 2018 to 

be the official EU-China Tourism Year. This 

initiative was inaugurated earlier this year, on 

19 January, in the Doge’s Palace of the 

UNESCO World Heritage city of Venice. 

The blocs’ strong interest for this initiative was evident in 

the lead-up and throughout unravelling of the event. 

On this occasion, Elżbieta Bieńkowska, EU Commissioner 

for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and 

SMEs — also responsible for tourism — officially opened 

the 2018 EU-China Tourism Year together with 

Qi Xuchun, Vice-Chairman of the National Committee 

of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative 

Conference. 

each other’s places, cultures, and traditions. And we both 

want to stimulate new investment opportunities in the 

European Union and China alike.” 

There are three specific objectives the EU is striving to 

achieve during this special year. As a first priority, the 

EU aims to promote sustainable tourism and attract more 

Chinese travellers lesser-known destinations. Secondly, 

In her opening speech, Commissioner Bieńkowska 

underlined the importance of EU-China relations and 

the Year of Tourism. She stressed how Europe and China 

represent some of the oldest civilizations in the world 

and, as a result, strong historical relations. Marco Polo, 

the most prominent resident of Venice went on his epic 

journey to China over 750 years ago, paving the way for 

“greater and greater exchanges between our people”. 

94 

Today, this outlook continues. According to Elżbieta 

Bieńkowska, initiatives like the 2018 EU-China Tourism 

Year, are “good for both the EU and China. We both 

want to improve mutual understanding between European 

and Chinese peoples. We both want to encourage more 

Europeans and Chinese to visit, discover and appreciate 

Alexander Alles

Doge’s Palace of the UNESCO World Heritage city of Venice 


the EU is looking to increase investment towards the 

tourism industry. As such, the EU is continuing to work 

with Chinese authorities to eliminate the existing barriers 

which hinder bilateral relations in this sector. And thirdly, 

the EU hopes that the ongoing negotiations on EU-China 

visa facilitation and air connectivity, will advance 

smoothly. 

From the Chinese side, during the opening ceremony, 

Prime Minister Li Keqiang sent a message to the audience 

underlining that the importance of fostering a solid 

and strategic partnership in this sector is twofold. On 

one hand, strengthening bilateral ties enhances cultural 

exchanges while, on the other, it foster international 

friendship between both blocs. 

According to Mr Li, this initiative will “extend China- 

EU tourism cooperation and personnel exchanges and to 

promote dialogue, development and mutual benefits.” 

In general, economic relations between the EU and 

China are not always easy. Tourism, however, offers 

a wide range of opportunities for both sides, and the 

developments go to show that it is, indeed a profitable 

sector. Specifically in the case of Chinese outbound 

tourism, it is important to look back to the political 

context surrounding this sector — only thirty-five years 

ago. 

In 1983 the Chinese government took the first step 

towards liberalizing travel, allowing citizens to leave the 

country under the strict condition that they visit relatives 

abroad. This policy lasted for over a decade when, in 

1997, travel restrictions were dropped for all citizens, 

marking the official start of outbound travel from China. 

This is where Chinese start discovering traveling for 

leisure. Today, the country is the largest market source of 

international tourists in the world. 

This change has been exponential, shifting global 

travel movements and strongly impacting the economic 

landscape. According to the China Daily, 69.5 million 

people travelled to China in 2017. On the flipside, in 

2016, Chinese travellers accounted for 136.8 million of 

international tourism abroad, spending over USD 200 

billion. 48.8% of border crossings were within the Greater 

China, while 51.2% of the total were outside. This switch 

was particularly evident in 2016, the first year in which 

more Chinese tourists travelled to destinations beyond 

Greater China than to those within it. 

95

Trends in travel destinations for the Chinese are also 

quickly changing. While the majority of Chinese travellers 

tend to move around Asia, others are increasingly 

choosing Europe as their destination. Among long-haul 

destinations, high-profile Western European countries 

such as France, Germany and the Netherlands are seeing 

modest annual growth. Nevertheless, Eastern, Central and 

Northern European destinations as diverse as Finland, 

Poland and Serbia are continuing to enjoy dramatic 

growth rates, benefitting from the perception that they are 

safer, and from their reputation as more “unconventional” 

destinations in Europe. 

The travel and tourism sector is also having a ripple effect 

at national level. As outbound travel experience grows 

in China, greater awareness in travel preferences from 

different parts of the country are starting to emerge. Often, 

these are influenced by a number of factors, ranging from 

geographical location, to convenient flight connections. 

First and second tier city residents — who currently make 

up the majority of Chinese outbound travellers — are 

generally moving away from more popular destinations in 

favour of more exotic, less-visited locations. 

Irma Orlandi 

Centre will offer several workshops across the EU helping 

local companies understand Chinese tourists — namely 

through their traveling and spending trends — in order 

to target their services accordingly, and benefit from this 

phenomenon in a win-win business context. 

96 

At the same time, residents from third and fourth tier 

cities are starting to take their first trips abroad. Like the 

60% of Chinese outbound tourists, they typically travel in 

groups. This trend is rapidly increasing also due to the fast 

development of international flights and visa centres in 

third and fourth tier cities as well. 

As a result of China’s booming outbound tourism, an 

important question for European counterparts is how 

to best benefit from this trend. This is especially true 

for SMEs who observe spending tendencies of Chinese 

outbound travellers, and are looking to find a healthy 

balance from which both parties can bear fruit. 

The 2018 EU-China Tourism Year offers a unique 

opportunity for companies who operate in the sector 

to deepen their understanding of EU-China tourism 

relations, and benefit from it. 

The year will be filled with events and activities taking 

place in China and across the EU, furthering the 

collaboration of the many stakeholders and key actors 

involved. One such player, is the EU SME Centre, an 

initiative of the European Commission aiming to help EU 

SMEs to expand their China-business. Together with the 

China Outbound Tourism Research Institute, the EU SME 

This article was written by Alexander Alles, Senior 

Project Officer at EUROCHAMBRES, the Association 

of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry. At 

EUROCHAMBRES, Alexander Alles is responsible 

for the outreach strategy of the EU SME Centre 

across the 28 Member States of the EU. Before joining 

EUROCHAMBRES, he was based in Frankfurt am 

Main, Germany and was working for the Honorary 

Consulate General of Nepal and the German-Asian 

Business Circle, promoting business opportunities 

between Germany and Asia. 

Editorial contributions from Irma Orlandi — PR, 

Communications and Events specialist based in 

Barcelona. Irma Orlandi currently works as Events 

and Partnerships Manager at the Association of 

Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce (ASCAME), 

actively representing the organization and securing 

strategic partnerships with key stakeholders. Prior 

to ASCAME, Irma Orlandi was Outreach Project 

Officer at the Association of European Chambers of 

Commerce (EUROCHAMBRES), actively promoting 

EU-Internationalization projects supporting SMEs enter 

foreign markets. Born in the US, and grown up between 

Singapore, China, Italy and Belgium, Irma breaths 

multi-culturalism and thrives on diversity.

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30MIN18065_Ad_DiplomaticSales_270x210.indd 1 20/02/2018 13:47

THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE: 

CHINA’S ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT 

OF THE EU 

China, in the past few years, has been actively 

expanding its economic horizons. It is developing, 

among others, a railway project in Africa, a multibillion 

dollar fund to develop infrastructure in 

most sectors in Brazil, a transport link in East 

Africa and a railroad through Asia 1 . Europe is also 

not forgotten, with China currently working on 

establishing the Belt and Road Initiative. 

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a Chinese 

development strategy which promotes co-operation and 

connectivity between more than 60 countries through 

Asia, the Middle-East and Europe. Accounting for 60% of 

the world’s population and 35% of total trade, the BRI is 

modern China’s most ambitious foreign project yet. 2 

As of yet, the EU’s stance is not yet unified and the BRI still 

raises controversial debates. However, the advantages that 

a co-operation can bring can no longer be ignored, thus, a 

plan needs be created detailing the Union’s opinion on the 

matter. Until this is done, proceeding with the initiative will 

prove difficult, even for individual member states. 

It was not until 2017 that the BRI started to gain 

considerable traction across the globe, bringing the question 

of whether the EU should become part of the initiative, 

to the forefront. Recently, the benefits of the BRI, such 

as the development of infrastructure in crisis-hit member 

states and the creation of new jobs, has started to outweigh 

concerns put forward by Brussels. 

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) created over 250.000 new 

jobs in Europe in 2016 alone, this with 35 billion euros (or 

a 77% increase since 2015) coming straight from China 3 . If 

China were to increase their investment to further develop 

the BRI then the amount of jobs could only grow. 

98 

When the BRI was initially put forward in 2013, Brussels 

was unfavorable towards the idea of a large trade route 

with China, due to, among others, concerns that the 

whole construction would only work one way (European 

companies would still face considerable difficulties in 

penetrating the Chinese market). Additionally, until 

recently, the EU has been marred with crises, such as: 

immigration, populism, the Russian resurgence, Brexit, 

and the Catalonian crisis. All of Brussels’ resources were 

focused internally rather than on foreign trade. 

A large part of FDIs (up to half in 2015) went towards 

southern European countries such as Portugal, Greece, and 

Spain, thus offering a potential solution to their economic 

predicaments and to the economic crisis in general 4 . 

Another important factor, especially in eastern and southern 

European states, is that the ultimate destination of both 

major trade routes is Europe. Therefore, while Brussels itself 

is not particularly clear on its stance towards this initiative, 

individual member states have become more receptive 

towards it. 5

While there are countries who are in favor of the BRI, there 

is no consensus. The Nordic community has not shown 

much interest as of yet, mainly due to their well-connected 

nature coupled with lower levels of transit. Moreover, even 

countries which are interested in the initiative, such as 

Germany and the Netherlands, have raised concerns about 

the long-term implications that the BRI would have in the 

EU. 6 

It is clear that such extensive foreign investment, although 

in general beneficial, does not come without its downsides 

for Europe, especially due to a lack of regulations and a 

unified position 7 . This internal division is already impacting 

European politics and decisions. In July 2017, EU member 

states with major Chinese backing, opposed the notion that 

China’s claims to resources in the South China Sea were 

illegitimate and contrary to international law. This was not 

the only case. Weeks before, Greece opposed a declaration 

that China was not respecting human rights, as well as 

a proposition to tighten screening measures for Chinese 

investments. 8 

Furthermore, allowing unregulated foreign goods into 

Europe could create a domino effect and start a race to the 

bottom. It is indisputable that the EU has very elaborate 

consumer protection legislation as well as high quality 

standards for products, which should be preserved. Thus, if 

the EU and China want to guarantee sufficient standards; 

international regulations and safeguards are pivotal to this. 

If these standards are neglected, then either country could 

suffer from a loss of quality. 

This lack of safeguards is also one of the reasons why 

Brussels has been reluctant towards the BRI: it is too 

young of an initiative, with many unclear features. Such 

a project would require a clear basis in three aspects: 

economic, political, and legal. The benefits of having the 

BRI, however, do not have to be overshadowed by these 

disadvantages. The EU can turn this uncertainty into an 

advantage if they manage to coordinate with the member 

states and shape the future policies of the initiative. The 

European acquis communautaire, as it currently exists, 

could serve as a standard to establish the regulations of 

the BRI. 

Certain EU member and non-member states have gotten 

ahead of the curve and started negotiating with the Chinese. 

The 16+1 summit (between China, Central and Eastern 

European countries) has already met 6 times with usually 

fruitful results such as the agreement to redevelop the 

Budapest-Belgrade Railway; yet, Brussels still lags behind. 

A reason for this is that if China develops its initiative fully, 

the EU-dominating countries such as Germany, France, and 

Italy would lose a large portion of their influence. However, 

this can also be easily remedied if there is supranational 

coordination from the start. The longer the EU waits before 

participating and intervening, the more it will fall behind 

and lose influence at the negotiating table. 

To gain influence, Brussels has applied pressure to have 

more say in BRI-related institutions such as the Asian 

Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which provides 

investment for related infrastructure undertakings. Although 

not used for this purpose yet, it would allow the EU to 

actively impact the project. As it currently stands, European 

countries hold a total of 20% of the bank’s executive board, 

yet the AIIB remains firmly controlled by China (75%). 9 

Thus, if the EU took advantage of its representation in the 

AIIB, it could exert its influence over the guidelines that 

affect the BRI’s financing. 10 This sort of plan of action 

needs to continue for the Union to be able to actively 

participate in the initiative’s decisions. 

Europe should start by negotiating fallback measures in 

case of political instability along the Belt and Road routes, 

this includes outside and inside of the EU. As an example, 

a significant number of BRI countries, such as Thailand, 

Russia and Indonesia will face elections in 2018, and 

without an international agreement, the EU could witness 

the collapse of the BRI in a set of events that would be 

completely out of its control. 11 

Additionally, the expansion of the EU’s trade links and 

liaisons with Asian and Middle-eastern countries has 

to be coupled to a control system that could guarantee 

that its security will not be jeopardized by the initiative. 

This control is essential to avoid problems arising from 

the “who” and “what” enters Europe, otherwise there is 

99

potential for crises related to an influx of contraband which 

would increase the amount of counterfeits and dangerous 

products. 

This is directly linked to the next issue, transparency. The 

transparency of the BRI has to be ensured too, not just with 

what goes in and out, but also with how it complies with 

western values. The rules and regulations related to the 

initiative need to be clear in a way that allows the public to 

be informed, so as to promote an open and healthy debate 

on the subject. 

Aside from its push in the AIIB however, the EU is not 

without further bargaining chip. As China’s biggest trade 

partner, the EU has weight that it can throw around. 

This can be used to promote the sort of transparency and 

stability that the Union is looking for. At the end of the 

day, if the EU successfully manages to hinder Chinese 

investment (as they have already tried) in the Union, then 

no one benefits. Therefore both parties are dependent on 

each other. 

ultimately hinder developing trade between the two entities. 

But on the other hand, the EU also relies on China as a 

major trade partner, and it is very unlikely that China would 

succumb to European demands seeing as it has to maintain 

its foothold as a global power. A balance would need to 

be struck, and if successful, then the EU and China would 

potentially enter a new era of prosperity. 

The Belt and Road initiative is not a simple one, being the 

most ambitious initiative of its kind in the modern day and 

age. Brussels is faced with a challenge: either they get on 

board and make their terms and conditions heard, or they 

opt out and lose an opportunity to develop their trade and 

further boost the European economy. Success is a choice 

and if Brussels can unite itself on the initiative, then it will 

have chosen to succeed. 

For more information, feel free to send an email to 

Philippe.Billiet@billiet-co.be 

On the one hand, if the EU does not want the BRI to 

succeed then China will find it difficult to do so, and it will 

Flávia Miari Cançado, Intern at Billiet & Co Lawyers. 

Aviel Sokolovsky, Intern at Billiet & Co Lawyers. 

100 

1 BBC, “5 Ambiciosos Projetos de Infraestrutura com os quais a China 

quer sacudir a Ordem Econômica Mundial” (2017), in English “5 

Ambitious Projects with which China wants to shake the World 

Economic Order”. 

See in http://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-39976899. 

2 Belt and Road official website, short infographic video number 1. 

See in https://beltandroad.hktdc.com/en/belt-and-road-basics 

3 EY, “Record Foreign Direct Investment in Europe sparks job creation 

boom” (2017). 

See in http://www.ey.com/gl/en/newsroom/news-releases/news-eyrecord-foreign-direct-investment-in-europe-sparks-job-creation-boom 

4 Anders Fogh Rasmussen, “China’s investment in Europe offers 

opportunities - and threats”, (2017). 

See in https://www.ft.com/content/9e7428cc-c963-11e7-8536- 

d321d0d897a3 

5 Mercy Kuo, “Belt and road initiative: EU strategic interests in Asia, 

insights from Richard Ghiasy”, (2017) 

See in https://thediplomat.com/2017/10/belt-and-road-initiative-eustrategic-interests-in-asia/ 




7 F. William Engdahl, “Will China’s Belt and Road (BRI) Trigger and 

East-West Rupture Within the EU?”, (2018). See in 

https://www.globalresearch.ca/will-chinas-belt-and-road-bri-trigger-aneast-west-rupture-within-the-eu/5627681 

8 Astrid Pepermans, Leia Wang, Stephan Klose, “An uphill struggle? 

Towards coordinated EU Engagement with China’s Belt and Road 

Initiative” (2017). See in http://www.egmontinstitute.be/uphillstruggle-towards-coordinated-eu-engagement-chinas-belt-road-initiative/ 

9 Astrid Pepermans, Leia Wang, Stephan Klose, “An uphill struggle? 

Towards coordinated EU Engagement with China’s Belt and Road 

Initiative” (2017). See in http://www.egmontinstitute.be/uphillstruggle-towards-coordinated-eu-engagement-chinas-belt-road-initiative/ 

10 Ujvari, B., “The European Union and the China-led transformation of 

Global Economic Governance”, (2016). See in 

http://www.egmontinstitute.be/content/uploads/2016/06/ep85. 

pdf?type=pdf. 

11 Chuchu Zhang and Chaowei Xiao, “China’s Belt and Road Initiative 

Faces New Security Challenges in 2018”, (2017). See in: https:// 

thediplomat.com/2017/12/chinas-belt-and-road-initiative-faces-newsecurity-challenges-in-2018/

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101

IS CHINA’S TRADE THE UK’S 

SOLUTION FOR BREXIT? 

102 

The UK gave its official notification to leave the European 

Union on March 29 2017, invoking article 50 of the TEU. 

When the UK first announced Brexit, it was stated that 

Britain would restore its self-determination and be free to 

establish its own trade agreements. However, for nearly a 

year, no measure was taken to that effect. Discussions for new 

agreements have started to take place only recently, when 

Theresa May made her first official visit to China after the 

Brexit referendum at the end of January 2018. 1 

The new situation generated by Brexit creates the possibility 

of a hit to UK-EU trade, making it crucial for Britain to seek 

new overseas markets, and China offers a prospect of major 

business relations and opportunities. In the past few years, 

China has been actively expanding its economic horizons 

and has been investing in several infrastructure projects 

worldwide, revealing itself to be a very interesting trade 

partner for the UK. 2 

UK-China’s trade is already significant and the British 

industry is based not only on the export of a myriad of 

different products to China, but also on Chinese imports, 

which account for the UK’s third largest source of imports. 3 

The country with the largest population and a consumer 

market that is growing exponentially clearly represents an 

opening for Britain after the EU. 

In this perspective, the prime minister of the UK declared 

on her way to meet Xi Jinping that the UK is free to strike 

their own trade deals, revealing an attempt by the country to 

develop an Anglo-Chinese trade after Brexit. 4 May used her 

predecessor David Cameron’s words, stating that the trip 

would expand the “Golden Era” between the countries. 5 

It was announced that in the three day visit a series of trade 

agreements were made, representing a total amount of over 

£9.3 billion that can potentially create more than 2.500 jobs 

in the UK. In addition, the Chinese government agreed to 

end in the coming six months its ban on UK beef, which has 

lasted for over 20 years. Consequently, UK dairy producers 

and firms will be able to penetrate the Chinese market. 6 The 

trade between China and the UK is currently worth over £59 

billion per year. 7 

As of yet, however, it is not clear how the new trading 

relationship between the governments will proceed. The IMF 

predicts that China’s import market will be higher than US$3.6 

trillion by 2020, and China’s investors in 2017 increased their 

capital in Britain to a total amount of $20.8 million. 8 The 

advantages the UK could gain by getting closer to China are 

clear, but the advantages for China could be questioned. 

China’s interest in the UK can be associated with the 

opportunity to get closer to the EU, considering London has 

been one of the gateways to the EU market. 9 However, now 

that Britain would be separated from the EU’s 500 million 

consumers, it may not be the same promising trade-partner to 

China as it used to be. It is to be seen how the UK economy 

will react to Brexit, but the temporary political instability 

could be used to China’s advantage to reach a successful 

commercial agreement. 10 

The UK can be interesting to China to support projects to 

which Brussels has shown reluctance, thus becoming the 

partner that China seeks in Europe. 11 The Belt and Road 

Initiative (BRI) could be seen as China’s most ambitious 

foreign project, being a major infrastructure strategy with 

the purpose of promoting connectivity and co-operation 

between Asia, the Middle-East and Europe, encouraging new 

trades and potentially accounting for 35% of world trade. 

Nevertheless, the EU has as yet no uninform view on BRI 12 ; 

while there are some countries, especially in southern Europe, 

such as Greece, Spain and Portugal, that support BRI, other 

countries, such as the Nordic states, have not shown much 

interest thus far. 13 The lack of a unitary position within the 

EU has created internal divisions which are already impacting 

policies and decisions in Brussels. 14

Since the EU has not yet achieved a resolution, the UK can 

use this opportunity to get closer to China and support the 

initiative. During Theresa May’s recent visit, president 

Xi Jinping presented the prime minister with a memorandum to 

allowing the UK to declare its support for BRI. However, May 

has not yet embraced the opportunity for Britain to become the 

first western country to formally encourage the initiative. 15 

The UK’s resistance can be understood: the project is not yet 

detailed, with unclear standards that still have to be defined. 16 

In addition, EU-UK negotiations to define their trade 

relationship following Brexit are ongoing. There are three 

possible scenarios that could shape China’s interest in the UK: 

(i) an EEA membership for the UK; (ii) a relation governed 

only by the WTO rules; or (iii) a tailor-made agreement. 17 

The uncertainties in the UK’s future prejudice its position in 

any potential new trade until it comes to an agreement with 

the EU. China may question whether expanding its trade to 

the UK now would be beneficial. Indeed, China may not want 

to jeopardize its future relations with the EU. 18 

China is currently interested in reaching a bilateral agreement 

with the EU and if the UK establishes a limited trade 

agreement with the EU, it could create a different block 

of trading partners for China. On the one hand, if there is 

still a relatively open market with the EU, China could have 

access to the entirety of Europe. On the other hand, if the UK 

distances its trade from the EU with the Brexit agreement, it 

could face difficulties in finding new trade partners. 

China’s market and partnership can be the solution for the 

UK after the EU. The outcome of the UK-China relations may 

depend on the evolution of the UK-EU relations. While it is 

likely that a trade agreement with China could be positive for 

Britain, the next steps in Brexit will define whether it could 

also be interesting for China. 

For questions, feel free to send an email to 

Philippe.Billiet@billiet-co.be 

Flávia Miari Cançado, Intern at Billiet & Co Lawyers. 

1 Chris Buckley and Stephen Castle, “As Theresa May Pursues Deals in 

China, Her Own Troubles Follow”, (2018) 

See in https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/31/world/asia/theresa-maychina.html 

2 BBC, “5 Ambiciosos Projetos de Infraestrutura com os quais a 

China quer sacudir a Ordem Econômica Mundial” (2017), in 

English “5 Ambitious Projects with which China wants to shake the 

World Economic Order”. See in http://www.bbc.com/portuguese/ 

internacional-39976899. 

3 Jake Liddle, “China-UK Trade: The Effects of Brexit”, (2017) 

See in http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2017/03/03/china-uk-tradethe-effects-of-brexit.html 

4 BBC, “Theresa May hails ‘first step’ to trade deal after Xi Jinping 

talks”, (2018) 

See in http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-42897705 




6 Oscar Rousseau, “China to end decades-old UK beef ban in six 

months”, (2018) 

See in https://www.globalmeatnews.com/Article/2018/02/01/China-toend-decades-old-UK-beef-ban-in-six-months 

7 China Briefing, “May Leaves China with Trade Deals amid Brexit 

Uncertainty”, 2018 

See in http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2018/02/02/may-leaveschina-trade-deals-amid-brexit-uncertainty.html 




9 Andrew Parmley, “London is the gateway to the world for the EU 

business”, (2017) 

See in http://www.cityam.com/267678/london-gateway-world-eubusiness 

10 Alex Gray, World Economic Forum, “The world biggest economies in 

2017”, (2017) 

See in https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/03/worlds-biggesteconomies-in-2017/ 

11 Jake Liddle, “China-UK Trade: The Effects of Brexit”, (2017) 

See in http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2017/03/03/china-uk-tradethe-effects-of-brexit.html 

12 Belt and Road official website, short infographic video number 1. 

See in https://beltandroad.hktdc.com/en/belt-and-road-basics 




14 F. William Engdahl, “Will China’s Belt and Road (BRI) Trigger and 

East-West Rupture Within the EU?”, (2018). 

See in https://www.globalresearch.ca/will-chinas-belt-and-road-britrigger-an-east-west-rupture-within-theeu/5627681 

15 China Briefing, “May Leaves China with Trade Deals amid Brexit 

Uncertainty”, 2018 

See in http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2018/02/02/may-leaveschina-trade-deals-amid-brexit-uncertainty.html 

16 China Briefing, “The Beijing Belt-Road Forum: What we learned About 

China’s Intention”, (2017) 

See in http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2017/05/23/beijing-beltroad-forum-learned-chinas-intentions.html 

17 European Parliament, Directorate-General for Internal Policies, 

“Consequences of Brexit in the Area of Consumer Protection”, (2017) 

See in http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ 

STUD/2017/602055/IPOL_STU(2017)602055_EN.pdf 

18 Ralph Jennings, “All Eyes Are On Theresa May To Sell A Doubtful 

China, Belt And Road On Post-Brexit UK”, (2018) 

See in https://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphjennings/2018/01/31/ 

chinas-economic-expansion-hits-a-roadblock-at-the-far-end-ofeurope/#47a53696c6e1- 

103

EU/CHINA/USA – THE ARTIFICIAL 

INTELLIGENCE (R)EVOLUTION – BIG 

DATA, BIG BUSINESS, BIG CHALLENGES 

Some reflections on and a summary of a one-day 

workshop (19 December 2017 - http://www.ucip.be/ 

Events/), organized by the UCIP 1 project (funded 

by INNOVIRIS), BACES 2 , BDA 3 and the Confucius 

Institute at VUB. 

104 

“Artificial Intelligence” (AI) used to be the privileged 

playground of universities and research institutes. They were 

steering the progress in the field. Nowadays this is slightly 

different. AI has also become a field of competition between 

large companies and power blocks. Multinational companies 

have become a major source of progress and innovation, 

with immense societal and economic impact. AI is also of 

considerable interest to governments, policy makers and the 

public at large. Regulations are being designed, sometimes 

driven by fear, ethical and security considerations but also 

with the objective of improving the quality of life, both at 

the societal and the individual level. 

In the workshop, the recent AI (r)evolution was analyzed 

and discussed from the point of view of research and 

development as well as its economic impact. The emphasis 

was on the China/Europe/USA perspective. Currently, 

China and the USA are battling to become the world’s 

first AI superpowers. The USA is still the leading nation, 

while Europe seems to be absent or at least less visible, 

in this race. Companies like Facebook, Google, Amazon 

and Microsoft are being challenged by the likes of Baidu, 

Alibaba and Tencent (B.A.T.). Analyzing the reasons why, 

in the future, the use of AI in China could surpass the 

USA and definitely Europe was a central question in the 

debate. As AI will impact our lives profoundly in the coming 

10 years, are we comfortable buying Chinese products 

powered with Chinese AI? Would we buy a self-driving car 

or intelligent fridge made by a Chinese company? Are we 

OK with having eye surgery or accepting a cancer diagnosis 

from a Chinese AI robot? How can we best cope with the 

realities of China’s AI trends, ambitions and globalization 

plans? How can we assess the benefits and risks of Chinese 

Intelligence getting into our lives undetected? What is 

Europe doing to secure a leading role in the AI field and 

capitalize on university research results? What role can EU- 

China relations play here? How can we overcome barriers 

in language and data regulation when collaborating with 

China? Is there an inherent danger over collaboration with 

China? How can we address Chinese market opportunities 

and risks? What is the role of the three big tech companies, 

B.A.T.? Given the huge size of the Chinese market, how 

should we adapt our scale of thinking? These are but a few 

consumer and policy questions that enlightened the debate. 

Setting the tone for the rest of the workshop, Tias Guns 

highlighted some aspects of the broader AI context by 

reminding us of fundamental questions about the nature and 

the societal impact of the current AI revolution (or is it a 

bubble 4 ): Is AI a new type of human-created intelligence or 

is it a research field in computer science that develops smart 

algorithms? While the first option is still a dream, the second 

one is reality. Prediction and reasoning have penetrated 

the world of computer science: decision support systems 

propose action and autonomous systems act. “Big data” has 

become a container concept for diverse disciplines in data 

science and the playground for an evolution from knowing 

(collecting heterogeneous data to analyze the present — 

information extraction), prediction (learning from the past 

to predict the future — machine learning) and reasoning 

(planning and acting according to the now and predicted 

future — artificial intelligence). Can AI outsmart people? 

Yes, a person is limited in space and time while AI is limited 

in neither because it can rely on parallel computing and the 

cloud. Is AI. Dangerous? Potentially yes, AI systems are like 

savants who are unusually good at doing one thing, but with 

no context, no morality, no knowledge of side effects. Tias 

Guns concluded his talk with the statement: “AI can make

wishes come true, after investments in infrastructure and 

data. Let’s hope these wishes are leading to human-oriented, 

sustainable solutions.” 

Pascal Coppens gave an inspiring talk on “Artificial 

Intelligence: China’s new normal”. China’s ambition is to 

become the leader in AI by 2030. 

Noteworthy in President Xi Jinping’s speech at the 19th CPC 

National Congress in 2017 was the following statement: “We 

will work faster to build China into a manufacturer of quality 

and develop advanced manufacturing, promote further 

integration of the internet, big data, and artificial intelligence 

with the real economy”. In terms of numbers of companies 

involved, investment and attracting talent, China seems to be 

well on its way. The Chinese government plans to win the AI 

race against the USA. Whereas the USA is mainly focused on 

horizontal generic platforms that provide long term benefits, 

China is focused primarily on vertical platforms that bring 

rapid financial returns, e.g. in specific areas such as speech 

and face recognition, computer vision and intelligent robotic 

systems. AI technology platforms are being built by the 

Chinese internet giants, as in the USA. Looking at the key 

performance indicators — AI companies, AI investments and 

AI talent — the USA is still ahead with a factor ranging from 

1.5 to 3 compared to China, followed by the UK. 

The Chinese government sees AI as an effective way to 

solve the huge challenges facing the country, as well as an 

accelerator for its economic growth. The Chinese consumer 

is an early adopter of AI-driven products because of China’s 

particular cultural context, and Chinese attitudes towards 

privacy, confidentiality, trust, man-machine-relationships 

and the urge for more convenience. European consumers 

are more reluctant and hesitant. China will become an AI 

economic power because it has the four critical ingredients 

like the USA: availability of data, infrastructure (e.g. 

supercomputing combined with the cloud), talent and, in 

the near future, advanced chip designs and implementation 

facilities. The real disruption in AI will come from the 

hundreds of well-funded new generations of global Chinese 

start-ups, especially those creating the latest consumer 

devices built in Shenzhen. Note of the author: It is unclear 

if universities will be able to play a broader role than just 

talent creation for these start-ups. Most of them are not yet 

well prepared for systematic spin-off creation through wellestablished 

technology transfer processes. Therefore, also 

in VUB’s UCIP project, new types of contacts are currently 

being established in China, directly with match-making 

companies (IP brokers) and with companies located within 

the partner university’s ecosystem, bypassing the university’s 

technology transfer units. 

Pascal Coppens ended his talk with the unanswered 

question: But where is Europe? Note of the author: There 

105

106 

are several successful European start-ups that have a 

potential for growth but, globally speaking, there is a lack 

of scale. The investment fund Atomico predicts: “The 

probability that the next Google will emerge in Europe 

has never been greater than now”. Europe produces two 

times more PhDs in the STEM disciplines than the USA 

and China, and has built entrepreneurial skills into the 

attainment targets of higher education curricula. Unlike in 

the USA and Asia, Europe is actively building ecosystems, 

open research and innovation platforms, in which traditional 

companies, young start-ups and universities collaborate. 

Daniel Wong elaborated his talk around the rise of 

consumer AI in China. He described his journey as CEO of 

Rokid 5 , the voice assistant (cfr. Amazon’s Echo) of China. 

In China everything goes faster, even faster than in the 

USA. “From concept to mass production in 18 months” 

can only happen in China. China has more early adopters. 

In 2015, western Venture Capitalists (VCs), business 

leaders and consumers were very cautious, even in Silicon 

Valley, whereas Chinese VCs, industry and consumers were 

enthusiastic about AI. Now, in 2018, there are hundreds of 

voice assistants. In the USA, you can stay unique for a long 

time. In China, as soon as you launch an innovation, you 

have dozens or hundreds of competitors, who automatically 

force you to remain innovative. China is also a very special 

market where, for example, you can raise the selling price 

and still sell more units! Consumers are seeking the newest 

and the most valuable, and are willing to pay for it. China 

offers a lot of advantages, such as consumer fascination, 

data, speed, funds and government support. What about 

Europe? The natural partners for Chinese companies are 

situated in Silicon Valley. Europe does not cross the mind 

of most entrepreneurs in China. AI innovation in China is 

driven by the new start-ups, not necessarily the big guys 

like B.A.T. 

ROKID’S ALIEN, ADVERTISED AS AN 

UNPRECEDENTED CREATURE THAT STUDIES 

YOUR BEHAVIOUR, A PERSONAL COMPANION, 

DEVELOPED FROM CONCEPT TO MASS 

PRODUCTION IN 1,5 YEARS 

Note of the author: Dan Wong visited some VUB 

laboratories on Big Data, AI and Robotics and was 

extremely surprised to find interesting technologies and 

horizontal technology platforms emanating from VUB’s 

excellent strategic research portfolios, despite their longer 

creation-time-to-market expectation. 

Tom Vandendooren: gave us insights into how Sentiance, 

a Belgian start-up, became active in the Chinese market. 

Sentiance’s AI platform turns IoT (Internet of Things) and 

smartphone sensor data into rich insights about people’s 

behaviour and real-time context: sensing, mining connected 

devices, understanding and predicting behaviour in the real 

world and in real time. These insights help companies engage 

with their customers and users in a hyper-personalised way. 

Sentiance’s technology is used in the following verticals: 

life-style based insurance, contextual commerce, connected 

health, smart mobility and fleet management, connected 

cars, smart home and smart city http://www.sentiance.com/ 

Tom Vandendooren characterized Sentiance’s China 

experience as “good, bad and scary”. The good is about the 

market size, smart spaces, O2O 6 , the social credit system 

designed to increase trust in the Chinese market, the 

receptiveness of the ecosystem towards new practices, the 

widespread mobile services. The bad is about restrictions on 

data for western companies which hamper their participation 

in the market — like having to use local datacenters for data 

storage, privacy regulations, IP transfer requests, … The 

scary is more about how the Chinese compete in ways that 

do not always correspond to the European understanding of 

fairness, as well as the big B.A.T. brothers. Recently, Plug 

and Play (PNP), one of the world’s largest open innovation 

platforms, entered into a partnership with Sentiance, to 

exploit the vast opportunities in the Chinese market. As 

Sentiance’s local partner, PNP China will utilize its extensive 

network of corporate, government and investment partners 

in China to drive and accelerate growth in the market. 

Salvatore Spinello focused on opportunities for AI 

multidisciplinary research and the possibilities of EU-China 

collaboration within the EU’s programme Future and 

Emerging Technologies — FET. Within the Horizon 2020 

programme budget of 74,8 billion Euros, excellent science 

represents 24,2 billion Euros and, within the latter, FET has 

a budget of 2,6 billion Euros dedicated to novel ideas for 

radically new technologies. The financials of projects with 

Chinese involvement are summarized in the following table.

Proposals 

in H2020 

Budget FET Budget 

2014 247 31,5M€ 5 316K€ 

2015 352 40,5M€ 3 822K€ 

2016 513 54,5M€ 2 62K€ 

2017 648 75,3M€ 1 370K€ 

Note from the author: Considering the number of partners 

in EU proposals, their multi-year nature, the figures in the 

table represent a mere drop in a vast ocean. Nonetheless, 

these grants are very important because they enable Chinese 

researchers, enterprises, institutions and universities to team 

up with their European partners to participate in Horizon 

2020 projects, also providing an excellent opportunity to get to 

know the state-of-the art beyond official publications in both 

parts of the world. 

In summary, the workshop concentrated on the positive 

opportunities of collaboration with China in the field of AI 

and provided valuable insight into Chinese ambitions and 

the many on-going societal processes within China that are 

combining to produce an explosive growth in AI. 

However, I’ve also been reflecting on Tias Gun’s quotation, 

“AI can make wishes come true, … let’s hope these wishes 

are leading to human-oriented, sustainable solutions.” It is, 

however, a worry that AI technologies can also be used to 

make evil wishes come true. This cannot be ignored: a striking 

example is the election process that produced President 

Donald John Trump. This happened in a democracy, the 

USA. The interplay of different components (i) money, 

(ii) lies and (iii) manipulation is rooted in a spider web of 

companies with know-how on big data, AI and media. Central 

in the spider web is Robert Mercer, initially a scientist at 

IBM dealing with natural language processing, which is the 

historical breeding ground for contemporary AI scientists. 

He has also worked on algorithmic trading and stock market 

prediction, before moving to the Renaissance Technology 

Hedge Fund in the early nineties and becoming a billionaire. 

Here is component (i), the money. The SCL group (Strategic 

Communication Laboratories) is a private British behavioural 

research and strategic communication company. Through its 

affiliate Cambridge Analytica, it performs data mining and 

data analysis on selected target audiences. On its website, 

Cambridge Analytica advertises “Cambridge Analytica 

uses data to change audience behaviour” and mentions a 

commercial and political division within the organisation. 

Communications specifically target key audience groups to 

influence and modify behaviour in accordance with the goals 

of SCL’s client. The company describes itself as a “global 

election management agency”. This is the basis for component 

(ii) the lies. It is estimated that Trump’s completely true 

statements account for only 5 % of all his election statements. 

Again, the company’s know-how is rooted in scientific 

research, e.g. behavioural psychology, personalised and usually 

innocent questionnaires and surveys. The fusion of these 

personalised data (eventually grouped into a limited number of 

categories of personality types) with data that can be acquired 

or bought from banks, IT companies like Google, Amazon, … 

has turned the USA election process into a real data-driven 

campaign through personal communication, targeting three 

crucial US states and convincing the 80.000 voters needed to 

win the elections. This is component (iii) the manipulation. 

The core technology of SCL can, of course, be used in various 

ways but if these technologies are capable of disrupting 

a democracy, the question that arises is, what effects can 

they have in a society based on “Socialism with Chinese 

Characteristics”? The information used in the above paragraph 

comes from the web and a documentary “Unfair Game” … 

but then again, is it fake or real news information? In any 

case, it describes a picture that goes beyond NETFLIX’s 

fiction series “House of Cards”, and illustrates that, as for any 

breakthrough scientific research, there is a potential dark side 

in its application which, however, should not prevent us from 

doing good research. 

Jan Cornelis 

Academic Attaché CIDIC and 

Emeritus Professor Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) 

1 UCIP: University centered International platforms on innovation and 

knowledge transfer – INNOVIRIS: Brussels Institute for Research and 

Innovation. 

2 BACES: Brussels Academy for China European Studies 

3 BDA: Brussels Diplomatic Academy 

4 Author’s note: AI has experienced several hype cycles, followed by 

disappointment and criticism, followed by funding cuts, followed by 

renewed interest, sometimes decades later (see, https://en.wikipedia. 

org/wiki/AI_winter). It is my opinion that this time, the congruence of 

massive computing power (supercomputers, cloud computing and the 

perspectives of quantum computing), and progress in big data and deep 

learning will make AI part of our daily lives. Previous hypes might not 

have achieved the expectations, but nevertheless they also produced 

substantial progress in science and its applications. 

5 https://www.rokid.com/en/index.html The company’s product line-up 

includes smart speakers called Rokid Pebble and Alien, which are 

currently sold in China (see also CES - Consumer Electronics show 

https://www.ces.tech/). In 2018, Rokid debuted its newest offering: 

augmented reality glasses with incorporated voice control and AI. 

6 O2O stands for “online to offline.” It is a term used to describe a 

variety of e-commerce services that provide online information, 

services, or discounts to consumers to enhance their offline shopping 

experiences. 

107

INTERVIEW WITH HANS MARIA DE WOLF, 

CULTURAL NOMAD CONNECTING 

PEOPLE, CHANGING MINDS 

If you have met Hans De Wolf before, you can never 

forget him. If you have worked with him, the taste 

for intellectual adventure stays with you. If you 

don’t know him yet, it is not easy to find him on the 

internet. It is through his project portfolio that you 

can trace him most easily. 

108 

Hans Maria De Wolf (1961) is an art historian who 

focuses on modern and contemporary art, philosophy 

and aesthetics. He studied at the Vrije Universiteit 

Brussel (VUB) and Columbia University in New York. 

His PhD degree concerned one of Marcel Duchamp’s 

major works, “La mariée mise à nu par ses célibataires, 

même”. He conceived and organized various exhibitions 

in the Neue Nationalgalerie im Hamburger Bahnhof, the 

Museum of Contemporary Art in Berlin. He has been 

giving theoretical art seminars at the Kunsthochschule 

Berlin-Weissensee since 2002. In 2004 he joined VUB as 

a professor of Art History and Aesthetics and became a 

senior consultant at BOZAR — the Centre for Fine Arts 

in Brussels. In 2005 he was mandated to create a platform 

for the implementation of artistic research (known as the 

“Brussels model”). He then launched a whole series of 

prestigious research projects involving some of Belgium’s 

most famous artists, bringing them to cities such as 

Beijing, Hangzhou, Seoul, Gwangju, Chengdu. Over the 

years, he developed a unique methodology for Cultural 

Diplomacy. 

The research work and impressive worldwide project 

portfolio of Hans De Wolf is rooted in an original 

interpretation of the concept “cultural diplomacy”. All 

of his projects are wake-up calls for the local economic, 

academic and cultural communities that are intensively 

involved with their realization. In doing so, these 

communities acquire insights into completely new 

creative methods and approaches. To reach this goal, 

Hans De Wolf and his team have developed a specific and 

original methodology using a participatory grass-roots 

approach. 

The preparation of each project starts very carefully 

with the development of a human network in each city, 

connecting local artists, curators, universities and business 

people, who are ready to question the feasibility of the 

initial plans. “This methodology intertwines cultural and 

academic diplomacy and ensures that the opening of an 

exhibition is also the celebration of a first constructive 

phase of an emerging relationship and not, as often 

happens, a first encounter with a new public.” I was lucky 

to be Vice-Rector for International Policy at VUB when 

Hans De Wolf was refining his cultural diplomacy concept, 

so I was able to incorporate it into the central university’s 

overall policy as an important vehicle for establishing 

sustainable international partnerships. 

Hans De Wolf, we started working together on a 

project for cultural diplomacy almost eight years 

ago. As Vice-Rector for International Policy of 

VUB, I saw the value of supporting your activities 

and incorporating them into the university-wide 

policy agenda — and you were the creative 

content provider and organiser. We both had the 

feeling that we knew what we meant by “cultural 

diplomacy”, but I’m still not sure that we have the 

same understanding when it comes to a detailed 

definition. So, please tell me what does cultural 

diplomacy mean to you? 

We’ve been calling our project the intertwining of academic 

reflection, arts and diplomacy. To be honest, I must say 

that over the last few months I’m moving away from the 

terminology cultural diplomacy. I’ll try to explain why. 

We called it cultural diplomacy because our projects 

were mostly for local governments such as the Brussels

© The Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), Beijing 

regional government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and 

for institutions that have an international agenda. And 

so, on that basis, we’re advocating the idea that Brussels 

is a major hub for the visual arts. Nobody ever thought of 

creating a tool to bring this idea to other countries. Brussels 

is one of the most interesting cities in terms of visual arts, 

but nobody knows it. Internationally nobody knows except 

for a few people with special interests, and what is even 

worse, also at home nobody knows. Therefore, we started 

an initiative that began in 2009 on the invitation of Minister 

Jean-Luc Van Raes who sent us to Shanghai to set up an 

exhibition in 2010. I must say that we’ve been very lucky 

because, from the first exercise onwards, we were able to 

develop the right methodology. 

What is the right methodology? Especially in China, it is 

one that is based on interest, respect and equality. Here I 

must explain a few things. What I did, from the first moment 

I set foot in Shanghai, was to take more than 40 taxis to 

meet with as many people as possible: academics, critics, 

artists, gallerists, really all the people who were dealing with 

the idea of culture. Very rapidly, I understood that I was 

touching upon a reality that was fundamentally different 

from the art world in Brussels and I experienced this as 

an interesting tension. So, what we’ve done from Shanghai 

onwards, is to shape each exhibition that we organise to 

fit the characteristics of the place where it takes place. In 

other words, we never make an exhibition in Beijing that is 

identical to an exhibition in Shanghai. 

The exhibition we organised in Beijing, the capital with 

which every Chinese citizen can identify him- or herself, was 

based on a completely different mindset from the one we 

organised in Shanghai, a city of commerce open to the 

world, a city of ambition, a city with a huge historical past 

that we also wanted to capture. That is the basis of our 

approach. We always work from the grassroots upwards and 

outwards: for every location we try to find out who the key 

players on the ground are, and what is at stake. Let me give 

you a little example: the case of Seoul. In Seoul, we found 

a city that wasn’t at all comparable with Chinese cities. 

We always do research on the cities we go to — and that 

constitutes a complementary academic research component 

in our exercises. What we found out about Seoul was that 

it might well be the most traumatised city in the world. 

Koreans fall completely in between two major identities: 

the Chinese and the Japanese. What they want to prove 

every day is that they exist, … that they are not Chinese, 

that they are not Japanese. Their whole history is marked by 

this traumatic situation, this dramatic geographic situation. 

On top of that, they have had that incredible disaster, the 

Korean war, that completely destroyed the country and 

ended up in the most incredible situation: with a split up 

country, with the most archaic communist country in the 

north and a hardcore capitalistic society in the south. So, it 

was starting from that knowledge, that we made our project. 

The project we did in Seoul was about Wanderlust. Why 

Wanderlust? Because that’s the only thing Koreans will 

never experience, will never have, will never do. Wanderlust 

is about leaving your village, going to the hilltop, 

experiencing what the other side of the hill is all about. It’s 

about walking away, about taking distance. But, it‘s also 

about other new and challenging conventions and that’s 

109

Installation view of “Master Mould and Copy Room” 


110 

exactly what Koreans are reluctant to be confronted with. 

They’re born in their convention; if your dad died in the 

Korean war, then you must become a doctor, you know? 

The whole society is coded like that, so Wanderlust has 

no place at all. And there you have an interesting starting 

point. So, we decided to make an exhibition in which we 

would bring five wonderful Wanderlust artists from Belgium 

to Korea. And that worked fantastically, because at the end 

of the year 2012, an art magazine in Korea asked fifteen 

critics to discuss the exhibitions that had taken place that 

year and nine times Wanderlust ended up being number one 

in the list. 

In your analysis work, to find a good approach 

for your events in other continents, how can you 

be so self-assured that you are right? Take Korea, 

the image you convey is that “leaving their village, 

going to the top of the mountain and looking 

across” is something Koreans will never do. How 

do you explain then the international embedding 

and fabulous export performance of the big Korean 

multinationals? 

In my view, that has a lot to do with the fact that they 

imported their economic model. Let me try to explain. 

It’s interesting that in the seventies North Korea was 

much more prosperous than the South. So, “the Korean 

multinational” is a relatively recent phenomenon, because 

the country was completely destroyed and they had to 

build everything from scratch. That gives a lot of space to 

entrepreneurs, it gives lots of space to a kind of complicity 

between governments and economic players … and that is 

very strongly present in Korea. I mean, everything is really 

borderline corruption, right? We’ve seen that now with 

the Samsung scandal … I was not surprised at all. These 

corporations in Korea are considered the vital bodies of 

the society and, since they emerged from scratch, imported 

Japanese models were the most appropriate. What does 

that mean? It means that your “real” family name is not 

your name but the corporation’s name. Koreans have an 

incredible labour ethic, they’re all living for the prosperity 

of their firm and their whole lives are determined by that. 

They live in conditions in which the “individual” worker 

is hardly considered, only the prosperity of the firm is 

considered important. 

I’d like to come back to my first question on 

cultural diplomacy, when you said that you’re 

now taking more and more distance from this 

terminology. You recounted an extremely 

interesting story, but you didn’t fully answer the 

question why you’re now distancing yourself from 

the term cultural diplomacy. Can you pinpoint more 

exactly why you’re doing that? 

The fact is that by using a term such as cultural diplomacy 

we accept the idea that there can be confusion. Why? 

Because diplomacy is a well described activity that’s 

part of the international relations between countries and 

culture plays a crucial role in that. So, when you use the 

term cultural diplomacy, governments stick to the term 

diplomacy and glue culture on top of that. Hence, you’re 

automatically incorporated into an official network of 

relations, but we’re not working in an official network of 

relations. We’re working for governments, we’re offering 

services to governments but our base is the university, not a 

government authority. It should be like that. 

Since we’re based in the university and the university 

network, we have the freedom and the framework that 

allows us to come up with the best possible projects and 

to execute those projects as a mandate of a government. 

But we’re not part of the original diplomatic body itself. 

We deliver added value but we do it starting from the 

university’s background. I think that is an important 

difference. In that sense, we’re a bit closer to institutions

Cao Fei, Whose Utopia - My Future is Not a Dream 

© Bozar 

like the Goethe Institut or the British Council. For us, the 

primary value is culture, and so we work intensively with 

artists and all the players in the cultural field. Diplomacy 

is still something different, although in what we do the 

bilateral bridges are, of course, extremely important. 

You said that your home base is the university 

and indeed community services and the creation 

of societal, economic and cultural impact beyond 

our peers has become an integral part of the 

university’s mission. It’s therefore assumed that 

this impact is based on unique university know-how, 

insights and research results. The obvious next 

question is: how is the activity you sketched rooted 

in your research? 

This is a very good question, and the answer is complex. 

The projects that we do, allow us to develop new formats 

of research that are often rooted in art history but that lead 

to new opportunities. I’ll give some examples. If I teach my 

students in the classroom, and I do that in the most open 

and creative way, I’ll still stick to articles and projections 

of powerpoints with images. Now, those exercises, those 

projects that I outlined before, allow me to enlarge the field 

of experience and experiment on the museum floor. And 

that’s extremely interesting. Why? Because we’re going to 

work with the real artworks, with artists. We combine art 

historical knowledge with artistic knowledge. And it’s that 

combination which makes the project so rich. By creating 

and enabling environment for close collaboration between 

the museum and the world of academic reflection, we 

allow some difficult artworks to be explained in depth. Our 

projects are very didactic. I want every Chinese person who 

comes to our exhibition to understand what those artworks 

are about and not to feel excluded. That’s fundamental. 

Now, to come back to the idea of research, let me give 

another example to make my point. I remember that, for the 

exhibition we did in Milan in 2015 called “Forme e Anti 

Forme”, we wanted to stress the fact that the very famous 

paintings by Lucio Fontana, called Concetto Spaziale, 

111

Pastoral Life, 1989, Liu Xiaodong Pink Phoenix, 2011, Liu Xiaodong © Bozar 

112 

were an act of aggression. They’re canvasses cut through 

by a cutter, so they have an iconoclastic value. Now, what 

happens fifty years after they were made? They’re conserved 

in museums and private collections and adored as icons 

of painting. We were once at a collector’s home where we 

wanted to borrow a Fontana and we saw that it was hanging 

under a plexiglass. It was as if just the church chair was 

missing. We decided, because it was impossible to borrow 

such a Fontana, to make a fake one. Here, we got into the 

experiment. We engaged an artist and a filmmaker. I wrote 

a scenario and the artist played that scenario, based on our 

research. The research showed us how Fontana had created 

his paintings, and so our artist-actor demonstrated the way 

Fontana created his paintings and the filmmaker filmed the 

whole process, making a beautiful little film. 

In the exhibition we presented the Fontana as a fake and 

we never pretended it was a real one, because we had the 

film next to it where the creation of the fake was explained. 

Now, can you imagine what you can learn from such an 

experience? First, we learned that when you cut into a 

canvas, the canvas opens a bit but then closes again. If you 

hang it on a wall, you can’t see anything, you just see a black 

line. So, what did Fontana do to open the cuts? He cheated, 

of course, he had to cheat. One of the possibilities he had 

was to wedge the cut canvas on an iron wire at the back 

of the canvas to keep the cut in the painting open. There 

are other possibilities too. So, this is already interesting, 

because that’s something you can’t learn in a book or from a 

powerpoint. 

And the second thing which was even more interesting is 

that, if you have a fake, you can do whatever you like with 

that fake. If it’s a real painting, you can’t even touch it. You 

need to put on gloves and ask a conservator to manipulate 

it. If you have a fake, you can move it from the wall anytime, 

and since I always had a battery of master students in my 

exhibition to explain it to the visitors, they kept taking it off 

the wall. And why did they take it off the wall? Well, if you 

move the fake Fontana from the wall you get unexpected 

fantastic experiences … the light comes from the back 

and the whole three-dimensional structure lights up. Then 

you understand why those paintings are called “Concetto 

Spaziale”, a spatial concept, because it’s not about painting 

anymore, it’s about the third dimension, and it’s no 

longer confined to two dimensions. It was a quite mystical 

experience that Fontana had and that mystical experience 

was born out of an iconoclastic idea directed against 

American abstract art. 

Isn’t that fantastic? You see, for me, those are new fields 

of research. This enlarged field of art historical research is 

being opened up precisely because we aren’t in a classroom 

anymore but we’re in a museum and we can deal with those 

works directly. 

So, if I understand you well, it’s your research 

methodology that bridges gaps. You are not just 

making an exhibition, but you and the involved 

students are part of a creation, a happening, often 

with the active involvement of the visitors.

The Waste, Wang Jiuliang 

© Bozar 

This seems to me real project work and it touches 

upon the rather new concepts of citizen science. So, 

how would you qualify your role in this? Are you the 

teacher, the curator, are you an artist, are you a 

performer? 

The first thing I’d like to stress is the fact that this is indeed 

teamwork. For myself, I think I combine several functions 

in this new job. First, I’m a professor of art history which 

provides me with a lot of opportunities because being a 

university professor already opens doors more easily to 

governments and other relevant forums. Second, I apply 

the research that comes from my art historical background. 

I apply it within the museum, so there is a dimension of 

curatorship. 

Curatorship, from my experience, is one of the most 

beautiful activities that you can do, because it is a sensegiving 

experience that is outside the field of academia but 

cannot be carried out without the knowledge of academia. 

It requires a high degree of creativity, it gives access to 

something fantastic, which is the possibility of establishing 

a dialogue between artworks along a curatorial line, a 

curatorial idea to confront artworks and to confront ideas. 

And then you are in something very vital, you see? That is 

also why I want to include academic reflection. We do that 

by using several academic formats such as a colloquium, 

symposium, workshop … But, most importantly, for every 

exhibition I train a group of masters students from the local 

universities and they are present every day in the exhibition, 

so that they can make the content of the exhibition 

accessible to each spectator. If you work like that, you can 

make difficult exhibitions. You can bring to China works 

by Marcel Duchamp and Marcel Broodthaers, … but you 

shouldn’t bring them in isolation, you need to let them land 

in the heart and soul of the public, and there the students 

are crucial. They are the ambassadors, they are bringing the 

ideas to land. 

Is it your ambition to create a new art school? 

Not really, I don’t want to create a school. The exercises, 

as we pursue them, are extremely difficult in their creation 

and practical implementation, but they’re rewarding enough, 

without need for a school. The latest event that we organised 

in Berlin, “Gemischte Gefühle”, illustrates that our project 

format provides an ideal framework for new and unexpected 

creative events. We felt at every different level that it works, 

that it opens windows, that you reach the local art world. 

Fifty artists came to the opening and were intrigued by 

what they saw because, by bringing young artists from 

Brussels, we succeeded in proving to the Berlin art world 

that we have a very different and unique story. 

At the same time, you can open the minds of politicians 

… we had four ministers at the opening and they were all 

truly impressed. We had the mayor of Berlin who stayed 

for two hours and had plenty of questions. Success in 

achieving all this is, of course, very satisfying. So, I don’t 

think that I want to create a school because that would lead 

to useless dissipation of the spontaneous energy like in a 

treadmill, and the risk of becoming a formalist is too high. 

113

Xu Bing, 2012, Character of Characters 

114 

What makes the strength of these projects, is that they 

start off from scratch every time, and that for every city 

you must find a new strategy, a new approach, a new 

answer to the question “what should we do?”. But what 

they all have in common is that we also want to provoke, to 

tease. 

They must be a little bit nasty and bring all participants 

out of their comfort zone, because only then you learn 

something new and you wake up your public, don’t you? 

When your public asks itself “what the hell is happening 

here?”, then you create the basis for a true dialogue. In 

Berlin, we absolutely succeeded in achieving that. We will 

now have the Berliners coming over to Brussels for their 

exhibition with young artists who are based in Berlin. 

And what makes me truly happy is that we awakened the 

Brussels government: they feel involved and concerned 

about our exercises everywhere in the world and they’re 

willing to invest in those young artists working in Brussels. 

That is the very first time. I’m convinced that this is 

a direct consequence of the exercise we did in Berlin. 

Now we can say that all the people surrounding Minister 

President Rudi Vervoort and Minister Guy Vanhengel 

and the administration of the Brussels Government are 

completely aware of the fact that Brussels is a top city for 

visual arts in the world. 

If I look at the number of projects that you do 

every year, it is clear that you are a passionate 

workaholic. In many of your endeavours, I see much 

respect, friendship and love towards Asia, more 

particularly the Far East. You mentioned Korea, 

Japan, China. Can you explain rationally why that 

is so? 

Well, it’s something that was not intentional from the start. 

In 2010, I was asked to go to Shanghai by Minister Jean-Luc 

Van Raes who was aware of the projects that I did 

together with artists at the university. To be honest, first I 

had no intention of going there because Asia was not on 

my agenda. But he kind of politely forced me to go, and I 

went. I arrived in Shanghai and visited forty people and it 

was clear that I felt a kind of unknown energy as well as 

the need to dive into this intriguing society that I gradually 

learned to appreciate … an appreciation that has never left 

me. Before I went to Shanghai — this is a small anecdote — I 

went to see my only friend with China experience, Michel 

Baudson. Michel said to me “Hans, be careful because the 

first time you go to China, it takes your little finger, then 

it takes your hand, then it takes your arm and then it takes 

your heart”. Now, I’ve been there more than 40 times. 

Michel was right. 

But what is it that constitutes the passionate relationship 

that I have with China, and to a certain extent also with

© Bozar 

Korea and Japan? … but China is different because its 

history is different. I’m full of admiration for the unique 

achievements of the first generation of Chinese liberated 

artists in just three decades, when Deng Xiaoping gave them 

the total freedom to do what they wanted to do as artists. 

The first generation of pioneers such as Xu Bing, Wang 

Xinwei, Liu Xiaodong and many others made this huge step 

from prehistory to avant-garde and they did it all with their 

belly. First of all, they just felt that they had to go in that 

direction, and second, they knew they had to find their own 

Chinese alternative. They did that brilliantly. Third, they 

also all felt that, even if their art is now at the top of avantgarde, 

one of the basic concerns was the reconfiguration 

of the Chinese DNA, which was completely lost in the 

cultural revolution. So, that is one part of the answer. I’m 

now completely aware of the incredible excellence that those 

generations of liberated artists succeeded in creating. But 

since this all happened on “belly intuition”, they completely 

missed the theoretical debates that accompanied modern art 

in Europe and which are absent or insufficiently known in 

China … 

One of the most intellectually satisfying experiences is 

giving seminars to PhD students in China, because they 

feel things, they have a very good intuition but the theory is 

not there yet. So, if you can bring the theory or theoretical 

frameworks in which this modern art came to life, then you 

fill in a gap that’s still fundamental for them. And this, for 

an academic, is one of the most beautiful things that can 

happen to you. 

You mentioned the avant-garde in China: how does 

the Chinese government react to these provoking 

contemporary artists? 

I must explain this, because Europe is full of preconceptions 

and mistaken ideas about China. I can’t say it otherwise. 

My good friend, Liu Xiaodong, once told me “you have to 

understand that you have three types of artists in China, you 

have red artists, grey artists and black artists”. The profile of 

the red artists is clear. They work for the government, there 

are enough buildings to be constructed, enough local party 

committees that need their meeting rooms decorated, there 

are enough publications that have to be edited, and so on. 

They all have a good life, a lot of work, and they work for 

the party, mainly in the field of propaganda. So those are 

the red artists. 

Then you have the black artists. The black artists, who 

are the most popular in Europe, are the dissidents. We all 

know Ai Weiwei, and only him. That’s the problem. It’s as if 

Europeans don’t want to know the other artists, because his 

profile corresponds exactly with an idea that the majority of 

the public wants to have about China, namely, that China is 

115

116 

an evil regime against which stands a knight-like hero. That’s 

a bit of a caricature of the European perception of China, 

but still it’s more or less true. What most people don’t know 

is that Weiwei is the son of Ai Qing, a famous poet who was 

one of the founding members of the communist party, so 

he is also, so to speak, a red prince. Nevertheless, Weiwei 

is an interesting personality, there’s nothing that I could 

say against that. His influence on a whole generation of 

Chinese artists is obvious. He’s also a very gifted architect, 

he made his first architectural project in Caochangdi, the 

artist village that is home to a diverse group of residents, 

including migrant workers, farmers, students and artists, on 

the outskirts of Beijing. Those are all obvious merits. 

What I get irritated by is this kind of very limited European 

attitude of wanting to know only this one artist and the lack 

of interest in any others. And I can tell you that in this grey 

zone you have a whole group of wonderful artists whom 

I consider among the best of their generation, worldwide! 

Let me stress that for those artists, their behaviour and 

their functioning as artists are no different from the way 

European or Belgian artists function. 

The university is your home base, you said. 

Personally, I’m convinced that the university should 

be an excellent biotope for exceptional creativity 

and out-of-the box thinking. Sometimes university 

leadership and certainly Faculty leadership tend 

to forget this, and should be reminded about it. 

You don’t fit into any box. I don’t know anything 

equivalent or similar to what you’re doing. Do you 

still believe that the university is the only right place 

for you? 

I very much presume so, but let me first tell you this: if 

you’re a pioneering type of person, which I think I am, 

you also must question the place where you work. I always 

consider the university as a free haven; it was born and 

meant to be like that. Remember what is written on the 

gate of the main building of Heidelberg university: “Dem 

lebendigen Geist”. This is also my motto. When I look 

at my field of research in general, it’s in a miserable state 

because it hasn’t succeeded in finding an interesting place 

in a rapidly changing world. It’s also the university’s task to 

question its own operational models and I believe that I’m 

contributing to that. But, of course, I’m also thankful for the 

freedom to operate in the field I have chosen as my focus of 

attention. I travel a lot, I’m very much interested in bridging 

gaps between cities and refining of my experimental form of 

making exhibitions and, yes, life is short. 

I’ve followed your activities closely and interacted 

with several of your team members. They’re all 

very special personalities, creative and willing to 

think out-of-the box. But, how do you manage to get 

finances for all this? 

Well, let me put it this way. When I did Brussels Body 

Speech in 2010, it opened a lot of windows in the minds of 

Belgian diplomats in China. So, immediately afterwards they 

invited me to do a project in Beijing commemorating 45 

years of diplomatic ties between Belgium and China; so we 

succeeded in entering CAFA, the Central Academy of Fine 

Arts, which is probably the most performing art campus 

in the world. I‘m still very proud that we succeeded in 

partnering with them because it is really not easy. Since that 

moment, we’ve done four or five projects for the Brussels 

regional government and they’ve financed a large part of 

those grassroot projects. 

I must say that, looking at their global impacts, I’m quite 

satisfied with what we succeeded in doing. If I say we, it’s 

again a question of teamwork and personalities that are 

critical to creating success. But we can say that over the 

last few years, with all those projects in China, Korea, 

Japan, Germany and Italy, we succeeded in creating a 

deep awareness among all those key political figures in the 

Brussels region. 

It’s strange that the awareness has been raised here 

in Brussels while almost all your projects are taking 

place somewhere else, in an international context. 

Well, we also did two big projects in BOZAR. It’s true that 

we’re now thinking of turning this initiative into a kind 

of hub, a lightweight structure embedded in the Brussels 

Capital Region. The first thing I want to do is to open a 

completely new field of action that’s complementary to the 

international projects, because the challenge isn’t only to 

work globally on what cultural diplomacy is supposed to be, 

but also to work locally. 

Thank you, Hans De Wolf, for this most fascinating 

story that reveals various aspects of your 

personality, ambitions and achievements. Is there 

anything you’d like to add to the story? 

Yes, in times that are very much marked by short term 

benefits and returns on investments, times when people 

are very often under pressure to deliver all kinds of 

things, I’d like to thank all those people whose minds 

were open enough, whose understanding of what we were 

doing was good enough to accompany us on this road.

I know of a dozen of civil servants and colleagues who 

really engaged themselves, who were really behind us 

and supported us and one of them was yourself. I want 

to thank them, because we’ve done all this in a difficult 

context and it wasn’t easy. We’ve had several projects that 

were financially tight due to low budgets and last minute 

financing. So, if you show the results afterwards, you 

might think that this was paradise, that everything was 

fantastic and wonderful but the birth of each project, its 

organisation and also its closure, is often very hard and 

complicated. 


Well, I guess hard work is at the origin of all 

successful research. It’s one of the conditions to 

earn a good place in paradise on earth. 

Jan Cornelis, Emeritus Professor VUB and Academic 

Attaché CIDIC 

Acknowledgement: 

Many thanks to Aude Tournaye, who made an excellent 

initial speech-to-text transcription, and Jennie De Pryck for 

revising the manuscript thoroughly. 

PROJECT PORTFOLIO – HANS MARIA DE WOLF 

Hans Maria De Wolf’s contemporary art project portfolio 

is impressive: 

• BRUSSELS BODY SPEECH, Minsheng Art Museum, 

Shanghai 2010 (a project confronting transhumanism 

with the celebration of the body) 

• FIRST CAFA BIENNALE, Central Academy of 

Fine Arts Museum, Beijing 2011 (CAFA is the 

most prominent arts institute place in China — and 

a structured partnership with VUB is now wellestablished 

with 5 projects and collaborations on 

teaching) 

• JEFF WALL, THE CROOKED PATH, Centre of Fine 

Arts - BOZAR, Brussels 2011 

• BRINGING BROODTHAERS TO BEIJING, Tsinghua 

University, Beijing 2011 

• BRINGING BROODTHAERS TO SHANGHAI, 

Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai 2011 

• WANDERLUST, Artsonje Center Seoul, 2012 

• WANDERLUST — SECOND VERSION, Gwangju 

Museum of Art, Gwangju 2013 

• WANDERLUST — THIRD VERSION, Museum of 

Contemporary Art (MOCA), Chengdu 2013 

• OUR MEMORY?, Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 2014 

• MASTER MOULD AND COPY ROOM, Central 

Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Beijing 2014 (a project 

in which the tension between the original and the copy 

in China and the West was discussed) 

• THE REVENGE OF THE COMMON PLACE, 

Palazzo Nani Mocenigo, Official program of the Venice 

Biennale 2015 

• CHINESE UTOPIAS REVISITED — THE 

ELEPHANTS, Centre of Fine Arts - BOZAR, Brussels 

2015 (contextualizing the work of 8 major Chinese 

artists) 

• FORME E ANTI FORME, Fonderia Artistica 

Battaglia, Milano 2015 

• XU BING: WORLDS OF WORDS/GOODS OF 

GODS, Triennale, Milano 2016 

• MARCEL DUCHAMP, THE LARGE GLASS, Beijing, 

PhD seminar in CAFA, June 2016 

• EXPERIMENT’L, Tokyo, Intermediatèque Museum, 

October 2016 

• MARCEL DUCHAMP, THE INFRA-THIN NOTES, 

Beijing, PhD seminar in CAFA, April 2017 

• GEMISCHTE GEFÜHLE, Berlin, Flughafen Tempelhof/ 

Künstlerhaus Bethanien, October 2017 (presenting to 

the powerful art world in Berlin the qualities of Brussels 

based art through its youngest generation of artists) 

New projects for New York and Chengdu are being 

developed for 2018 while in 2020 Hans De Wolf will 

organize an exhaustive Marcel Duchamp exhibition at 

CAFA in Beijing. 

117

The European Institute for Asian Studies (EIAS) is 

a leading Think and Do Tank based in Brussels, the 

capital of the European Union, focusing on EU-Asia 

relations since its founding in 1989. As a policy 

research centre, its aim is to promote understanding 

between the European Union and Asia. 

In addition, it aims to strengthen ties between Asia and 

Europe and to ensure in-depth, comprehensive research 

and information exchange platforms between policymakers, 

members of academia and think tanks, and civil society. 

Geographically, EIAS focuses on South Asia, North-East 

Asia and South-East Asia, and has recently broaden its 

geographical scope to include Central Asia as well, covering 

a wide range of policy-related domains. By doing so, EIAS 

seeks to provide information to policy makers in Europe 

and Asia, as well as on a global scale, offering academic and 

hands-on expertise to bear on decision-making processes 

with regard to EU-Asia affairs and developments in Asia, 

such as free trade and strategic partnership agreements, 

and other key developments. EIAS also acts as a forum 

for discussion, dialogue and frequent exchanges of ideas, 

bringing together all relevant stakeholders from the 

institutional level, diplomatic missions, academia, the 

corporate sector, civil society, the media and all other 

important segments of society. 

EIAS ACTIVITIES 

By undertaking research, carrying out (commissioned) 

research projects and providing in-depth information 

through research papers, newsletters, news updates and 

other publications, EIAS seeks to act as a focal point for 

EU-Asia relations and studies in Europe. Essential for EIAS 

is its keenness to improve understanding of developments 

in Asia and the appreciation of the importance of the EU’s 

relations with Asia, by acting as a forum for discussion, 

organising research and disseminating information. 

The research and project activities of EIAS cover a 

wide range of issues, with a focus on trade, finance, 

economics, industrial and technological innovation, R&D, 

CSR, migration, sustainable development, geopolitics, 

connectivity, and a major emphasis on improving people-topeople 

ties through education, cultural and other exchanges. 

In particular, EIAS also focuses in identifying long-term 

potentials and niche areas for the further development 

of EU-Asia relations. The institute is very committed to 

implementing the results and outcomes of its research 

activities. 

EIAS also organises training programmes and capacity 

building activities for government officials, civil society 

and professionals from the corporate sector on EU-Asia 

relations, with a specific focus on the European institutions 

and policies. 

118

Reaching out to the wider public and all stakeholders 

involved, EIAS regularly organises events, workshops and 

book talks in cooperation with academic, diplomatic and 

institutional partners. Speakers often include representatives 

from Asian missions in Brussels, representatives from the 

European institutions, officials from non-profits and the 

corporate sector, academics and journalists, in order to give 

a broad overview of all relevant actors in EU-Asia relations. 

Some of the high-level policymakers and academics to 

have spoken at EIAS in 2017 include Khurram Dastgir 

Khan, former Commerce Minister of Pakistan; Prakash 

Sharan Mahat, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nepal; Asian 

Development Bank Chief Economist Yasuyuki Sawada; 

Ruslan Davletov, Uzbekistan’s Minister of Justice; Md. 

Shahriar Alam, State Minister for Foreign Affairs of 

Bangladesh; political commentator and analyst Richard 

Heydarian; and Vasantha Senanayake, State Minister of 

Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka. 

EIAS also travels regularly to Asia to participate in 

summits and academic conferences. This year EIAS has 

participated in the “International Conference on Migration 

and Displacement” held at Government College University 

in Lahore (Pakistan); the annual meeting of the Asian 

Development Bank in Yokohama (Japan); and the highlevel 

conference “Central Asia: One Past and a Common 

Future, Cooperation for Sustainable Development and 

Mutual Prosperity” in Samarkand (Uzbekistan). 

© EIAS 

EIAS NETWORK 

The EIAS team combines the experience and networks of 

senior specialists in EU-Asia relations, including academics, 

diplomats and professionals of the private sector, with the 

enthusiasm and skills of the junior team members. EIAS 

participates in Europe-Asia networks of research and 

analysis, drawing on an active network of several hundred 

collaborators and contacts across the EU and Asia, at leading 

Universities, as well as within Think Tanks and specialised 

research centres. The EIAS network comprises a rich 

cross-section of disciplines and sectors, officials and civil 

society actors, policy makers and policy shapers, scholars 

and diplomats, from all over the world. For specific research 

projects, conferences and seminars, this constitutes a unique 

intellectual resource, built up during more than 25 years. 

Some of the think tanks and institutions that EIAS 

has collaborated with include the German Institute for 

International and Security Affairs (SWP), the International 

Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), the 

Brussels Academy for China-Europe Studies (BACES), the 

China Arts Festival in the EU, the University of East Anglia 

and the EU-India Chamber of Commerce, to name a few. 

www.eias.org 

119

NEGOTIATION STRATEGIES FOR 

ACHIEVING OUTCOMES THAT WORK 

The word “negotiate” has acquired a mystique, 

implying that it is a discrete activity relating 

to business deals, the freeing of hostages, or 

settlements of disputes between people, companies 

or nations. At the other extreme, the word conjures 

up images of haggling over a rug or a brass pot in a 

bazaar or flea market. But the reality is that we all, 

typically, negotiate in some shape or form every day 

of our lives. 

120 

Too often, we are guided by our gut instincts and our 

experience of negotiation as children in the playground 

or as tourists in a street market. Too often, we look on 

negotiation as a competitive sport where the sole objective 

is to win. 

Such an approach may produce satisfying results some of 

the time, but defeated opponents may not want to deal with 

you in the future, and you may have missed opportunities 

that a more cooperative approach could present. 

The first priority is to have a clear vision of your goals. 

What precisely is the desired result? Good advocates start 

their planning for a trial by writing an outline of their 

closing address to the court and then plan their case so that 

every action is aimed at being able to deliver the proposed 

closing address. For negotiators, only when one has a goal 

is it possible to develop a strategy and then the tactics to 

execute the strategy. 

There are a few home truths that too many people ignore 

when they embark on a negotiation. 

First, we should always put ourselves in the other person’s 

shoes and try to think about what he or she is looking to get 

out of the negotiation. This requires us to ask questions and 

find out as much as possible about our negotiation partner’s 

interests. 

Secondly, we should examine precisely what our own 

interests are and not limit ourselves to the most obvious 

headline objective. While the ultimate goal needs to be very 

clear, the more issues that can be brought into play that 

are potential areas for negotiation for both parties and can 

be prioritised, the more opportunity there is for mutually 

beneficial trading. 

A third point to remember is that obtaining our share of a 

“fixed-pie” is not always the limit of what we can achieve. 

It often won’t be possible, but we should always look 

for opportunities to expand the pie and create value in 

a negotiation; so that both parties have the opportunity 

to walk away from the table with a sense of satisfaction 

that they have achieved more from the negotiation than 

they would have by following a different course of action. 

Realistically, almost all negotiation outcomes are a 

combination of claiming value (i.e. one party’s gain is the 

other’s loss) and creating value. 

Negotiation gurus will spend years poring over the 

negotiations currently underway between the European Union 

and the United Kingdom and drawing lessons from them. 

While strategically, Michel Barnier and his team appear to 

have played a better game so far than David Davis and the 

British Brexiteers, the overall lessons from both sides largely 

demonstrate how not to negotiate. 

The UK has broken countless negotiation rules, but some 

stand out. 

First, is to have unity on one’s own side, but the cabinet 

and the Conservative Party remain split, as do the rest of 

Parliament and the population at large.

Tim Cullen 

Another prerequisite is to agree with the other side on 

ground rules. These should have stipulated that everything 

should be negotiated together, providing maximum 

opportunities for both sides to create value by making 

concessions and achieving gains, based on the different 

values and costs to each side of each item to be negotiated. 

Instead, the UK allowed an intransigent EU to stall the big 

Single Market and Customs Union talks until the “divorce 

bill” (with a very big opening price tag) had been agreed. 

In other substantive ways, the approach has been 

amateurish. Theresa May’s talk of “red lines,” notably on the 

jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice was an unwise 

threat from which she will almost certainly have to climb 

down. Above all, both the UK and the EU broke the first rule 

of negotiation, referred to above, which is to put yourself in 

the other sides shoes. Juvenile hostile rhetoric from both 

Brussels and London has created a toxic atmosphere. 

the EU took seven years to negotiate and has more pages 

than the complete works of Shakespeare and the Old and 

New Testaments of the Bible combined. Such agreements 

will not be quick or easy. 

Every May, I visit Brussels to conduct a one-day negotiation 

Masterclass as part of the highly regarded “Grand Tour” 

series. In 2018, there will be a certain poignancy about 

a Brit teaching such a session in Brussels. We must hope 

that both sides in the Brexit negotiations will by then be 

preceding down a more pragmatic path. 

Tim Cullen 

Tim Cullen MBE is an Associate Fellow of the Saïd 

Business School at the University of Oxford, where he 

directs the Oxford Programme on Negotiation. He also 

heads the international negotiation advisory firm, TCA Ltd. 

Unrealistic promises of speedy trade deals with the rest 

of the world have further weakened the UK’s negotiating 

position. The recent trade agreement between Canada and 

MEET TIM CULLEN IN BRUSSELS, 

for more information and deadlines go to 

www.globalmagevents.com 

121

The Grand Tour 

Diplomatic World presents two remarkable events in Brussels: 

One regarding people management and leadership whereby diplomats, civil servants and 

managers are confronted with world authorities 

from no less than 4 of Europe’s leading business schools: 

London Business School, Insead, Esade Barcelona, London School of Economics. 

One regarding Advanced Negotiation Techniques with Prof Tim Cullen, Oxford University 

Go to www.globalmagevents.com 



122

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123

THE NEW BMW X3 

SHORT VERSION 

The BMW X3 was the car that launched the midsize 

SAV (Sports Activity Vehicle) segment in 2003. 

Since then, BMW has recorded more than 1.5 

million new registrations of the X3 across the two 

model generations so far. And now the new BMW 

X3 is set to write the next chapter in this success 

story with an even more striking, dynamic design 

language, powerful yet also efficient drive systems 

and luxurious appointments. Like all members of 

the successful X family, it blends standout driving 

qualities on any terrain with unrestricted everyday 

usability. 

124

SHARPER DESIGN AND THREE MODEL 

VARIANTS 

The third generation of the BMW X3 follows in its 

predecessors’ tyre tracks by combining rugged off-road 

looks with a sporting presence. Its familiar proportions, 

including very short front and rear overhangs, shine the 

spotlight on the perfect 50:50 distribution of weight 

between the front and rear axle. The potent dynamic 

intent of the new BMW X3 is highlighted by a chunky 

kidney grille and foglamps featuring a hexagonal design 

for the first time on a BMW X model. At the rear, the 

light clusters (whose three-dimensional look in optional 

full-LED guise give them considerable visual impact), 

markedly downward-sloping roof spoiler and twin exhaust 

tailpipes bring matters to a suitably muscular conclusion. 

The xLine, M Sport and Luxury Line trim variants 

(the latter is a new addition to the line-up) and the 

range of BMW Individual items enable the appearance 

of the BMW X3 to be adapted even more precisely 

to the customer’s personal tastes. In addition to the 

standard 18-inch light-alloy wheels (previously: 17-inch), 

customers can dip into the options list for wheel/tyre 

combinations in sizes up to 21-inch. As well as making 

various exterior tweaks, the three trim variants also adapt 

the ambience inside the car to their particular themes. 

The interior of the new BMW X3 displays unbeatable fit 

and finish and material quality, and is even classier and 

more luxurious than its predecessor. Comfort levels are 

further elevated by a host of new equipment options like 

three-zone automatic climate control, the Ambient Air 

package, active seat ventilation, the cargo function of the 

standard 40:20:40 split/folding rear seat backrests and 

the panoramic glass roof that brings extra airiness to the 

interior and further enhances perceived quality. 

Another new equipment item is the optional BMW 

Display Key, which not only locks and unlocks the BMW 

X3 by radio remote control, but also shows a variety of 

status information on the car and serves as the control 

unit for the optional auxiliary heating, for example. 

125

126 

OPTIMISED COMBINATION OF DYNAMIC 

SHARPNESS AND RIDE COMFORT 

The BMW engineers have employed far-reaching chassis 

modifications to significantly improve the driving 

dynamics, directional stability and steering feel of the new 

BMW X3. The car that emerges is even sportier than its 

predecessor, yet avoids compromising on ride comfort. 

Chassis options include M Sport suspension, Dynamic 

Damper Control, M Sport brakes and variable sport 

steering. 

EVEN MORE EFFICIENT LINE-UP OF ENGINES 

AND INTELLIGENT LIGHTWEIGHT DESIGN 

Two diesel engines and three petrol units will be available 

from launch (or shortly afterwards) for the new BMW X3. 

• The 265 kW/360 hp BMW X3 M40i (combined fuel 

consumption: 8.4 – 8.2 l/100 km [33.6 – 34.5 mpg 

imp]; combined CO2 emissions: 193 – 188 g/km)* 

gives the X3 range its first M Performance Automobile 

and is joined by a second petrol model in the shape 

of the BMW X3 xDrive30i producing 185 kW/252 hp 

(combined fuel consumption: 7.4 l/100 km [38.2 mpg 

imp]; combined CO2 emissions: 168 g/km)**. 

• The two diesel models are the BMW X3 xDrive20d 

with 140 kW/190 hp (combined fuel consumption: 

5.4 – 5.0 l/100 km [52.3 – 56.5 mpg imp]; combined 

CO2 emissions: 142 – 132 g/km)* and the BMW X3 

xDrive30d developing 195 kW/265 hp (combined fuel 

consumption: 6.0 – 5.7 l/100 km [47.1 – 49.6 mpg 

imp]; combined CO2 emissions: 158 – 149 g/km)*. 

• The BMW X3 20i with 135 kW/184 hp (combined 

fuel consumption: 7.4 – 7.2 l/100 km [38.2 – 39.2 mpg 

imp]; combined CO2 emissions: 169 – 165 g/km)** 

and choice of all-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive (not in 

Europe) will follow shortly after the launch of the new 

X3. 

* Fuel consumption figures are based on the EU test cycle and may vary 

depending on the tyre format specified. 

** Fuel consumption figures are provisional, based on the EU test cycle 

and may vary depending on the tyre format specified.

All the engine variants will team up as standard with an 

optimised version of the eight-speed Steptronic transmission. 

The rigorously applied BMW EfficientDynamics 

development strategy for the new BMW X3 includes both 

fuel-economy-optimising powertrains and the extensive 

application of intelligent lightweight design measures. For 

example, the increased use of aluminium components in 

the engine and suspension has reduced the weight of the 

relevant assemblies. 

Consequently, the new BMW X3 is up to 55 kilograms 

lighter than the respective predecessor models in similar 

specification. At least 50 per cent of the aluminium 

components in the BMW X3 vehicles produced at BMW 

Group Plant Spartanburg (USA) are made from recycled 

material. From 2018 this will also be the case for examples 

of the X3 built in Rosslyn (South Africa) and Shenyang 

(China). The new BMW X3 boasts a class-beating drag 

coefficient of Cd = 0.29. 

BMW CONNECTEDDRIVE: SEMI-AUTOMATED 

DRIVING AND CUTTING-EDGE CONNECTIVITY 

When it comes to the BMW Personal CoPilot features 

focusing on driver assistance and (semi-)automated 

driving, the new BMW X3 can be specified as an option 

with the latest generation of Active Cruise Control and 

the Driving Assistant Plus safety package, including 

Steering and lane control assistant, Lane Change 

Assistant and Lane Keeping Assistant with side collision 

protection. This extensive line-up of assistance systems 

puts clear water between the new BMW X3 and its 

direct rivals. 

The second pillar of BMW ConnectedDrive — alongside 

the BMW Personal CoPilot driver assistance systems — 

is formed by BMW ConnectedDrive Services and apps. 

As a result, the new BMW X3 now also features BMW 

Connected. Working on the basis of a flexible platform, 

the Open Mobility Cloud, this new integrated digital 

concept for enhanced personal mobility, uses various 

touchpoints (such as smartphones and smartwatches) to 

integrate the car seamlessly into the user’s digital life. This 

means, for example, that it can transfer mobility-related 

information, such as addresses from calendar entries, from 

a smartphone into the car, enter them automatically as 

destinations into the navigation system and calculate the 

optimum departure time for the journey. 

Gesture control allows various navigation and infotainment 

system functions to be operated intuitively using finger 

and hand gestures. Meanwhile, the likewise optional 

Voice Assistant lets the driver use everyday language to 

have their requests turned into the appropriate actions 

instead of having to use set spoken commands. And the 

optional Head-Up Display enables the most important 

driving-related information to be projected directly into 

the driver’s field of vision. The Head-Up Display in the 

new BMW X3 is unrivalled in its segment for graphics, 

resolution and display options. 

BMW GROUP BELUX 

Diplomatic Sales, Lodderstraat, 16, 2880 Bornem – Belgium 

Mail : diplomaticsales.belux@bmw.be, Tel. : +32 (0)3 890 97 02 

The fuel consumption and CO2 emissions figures shown were determined according to the European Regulation (EC) 715/2007 in the version applicable 

at the time of type approval. The figures refer to a vehicle with basic configuration in Germany and the range shown considers the different size of the 

selected wheels and tires. The values of the vehicles labelled with (**) are already based on the new WLTP regulation and are translated back into 

NEDC-equivalent values in order to ensure the comparison between the vehicles. With respect to these vehicles, for vehicle-related taxes or other duties 

based (at least inter alia) on CO2 emissions, the CO2 values may differ to the values stated here (depending on national legislation). 

The CO2 efficiency specifications are determined according to Directive 1999/94/EC and the Pkw-EnVKV, and based (for classification) on the fuel 

consumption and CO2 values as per the NEDC cycle. 

Further information on official fuel consumption figures and specific CO2 emission values of new passenger cars is included in the following guideline: 

“Leitfaden über Kraftstoffverbrauch, die CO2-Emissionen und den Stromverbrauch neuer Personenkraftwagen” (Guideline for fuel consumption, CO2 

emissions and electric power consumption of new passenger cars), which can be obtained free of charge from all dealerships and at https://www.dat.de/ 

en/offers/publications/guideline-for-fuel-consumption.html. 

127



MAX PINCKERS 

MARGINS OF EXCESS (2018) 

In Margins of Excess the notion of how personal 

imagination conflicts with generally accepted beliefs is 

expressed through the narratives of six individuals. Every 

one of them momentarily received nationwide attention in 

the US press because of their attempts to realize a dream 

or passion, but were presented as frauds or deceivers by the 

mass media’s apparent incapacity to deal with idiosyncratic 

versions of reality. 

which takes into account the subjective and fictitious nature 

of the categories we use to perceive and define it. And then 

again: not to celebrate superficiality and contingency, but to 

pierce through the noise, buzz, pulp, lies, dreams, paranoia, 

cynicism and laziness and to embrace ‘reality’ in all its 

complexity. 

ABOUT 

128 

Herman Rosenblat became well-known because of a selfinvented 

love-story set in a concentration camp during 

WWII, the private detective Jay J. Armes appears to be a 

real-life superhero, Darius McCollum drew media attention 

by compulsively highjacking trains, Richard Heene would 

have staged an elaborate television hoax, Rachel Doležal 

would have pretended to be ‘black’, and Ali Alqaisi would 

have tried to make people believe that he was the ‘hooded 

man’ in the iconic photo from Abu Ghraib prison. This 

book weaves together their stories through personal 

interviews, press articles, archival footage and staged 

photographs. 

The current era of ‘post-truth’, in which truths, half-truths, 

lies, fiction or entertainment are easily interchanged, has 

produced a culture of ‘hyper-individual truths’, demanding 

a new approach to identify the underlying narratives that 

structure our perception of reality in a world where there is 

no longer a generally accepted frame of realism. Embedding 

the stories of the six main protagonists into a clustering 

tale of cloned military dogs, religious apparitions, suspect 

vehicles, fake terrorist plots, accidental bombings and 

fictional presidents, this book follows an associative logic 

akin to the indiscriminate way a paranoid mind connects 

unrelated events, or the hysteria of the 24-second news cycle. 

In Margins of Excess reality and fiction are intertwined. Not 

to fool us, but to reveal a more intricate view of our world, 

Max Pinckers (°1988, Brussels) is a photographer based in 

Brussels, Belgium. He has produced various photobooks 

such as Lotus (2011), The Fourth Wall, (2012), Will 

They Sing Like Raindrops or Leave Me Thirsty (2014) 

and Margins of Excess (2018). He is currently a doctoral 

researcher in the Arts at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts 

(KASK) in Ghent. Pinckers has had exhibitions at the 

MOCAK in Poland (2016), the Philadelphia Museum of 

Art in the United States (2015) and the Centre for Fine 

Arts - Bozar in Belgium (2015), among others. Awards 

include the Edward Steichen Award (2015) and the City of 

Levallois Photography Award (2013). In 2015 he founded 

the independent publishing imprint Lyre Press. 

www.maxpinckers.be 

Margins of Excess 

The new book ‘Margins of Excess’ is now available: 

Self-published by Max Pinckers 

Softcover, 192 x 246 mm, 352 pages 

Edition of 1500, ISBN 9789082465549 

Design by Rudy Latoir and Max Pinckers 

Printing and production by Bruno Devos at Stockmans 

Pages 129-135 

Margins of Excess 

© Max Pinckers

21 

katerns Margins of Excess 192x246_01.indd 21 08/01/2018 16:33

The New Republic, December 25, 2008 

THE GREATEST 

LOVE STORY 

EVER SOLD 

Berkley Books, the mass-market division of the 

Penguin Group, is slated to publish a Holocaust 

memoir titled ‘Angel at the Fence: The True Story 

of a Love That Survived’. Herman Rosenblat 

recounts his experience as a teenage boy during 

the Holocaust at Schlieben, a sub-division of the 

infamous Buchenwald concentration camp. 

pagina 009 Margins of Excess 192x246_01.indd 1 02/01/18 15:54


Holocaust survivors tell love story 

Los Angeles Daily News, October 13, 2008 

NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – In the beginning, there was a boy, a girl and 

an apple. 

He was a teenager in a death camp in Nazi-controlled Germany. She 

was a bit younger, living free in the village, her family posing as Christians. 

Their eyes met through a barbed-wire fence and she wondered 

what she could do for this handsome young man. 

She was carrying apples, and decided to throw one over the fence. He 

caught it and ran away toward the barracks. And so it began. 

As they tell it, they returned the following day and she tossed an apple 

again. And each day after that, for months, the routine continued. She 

threw, he caught, and both scurried away. 

They never knew one another’s name, never uttered a single word, so 

fearful they’d be spotted by a guard. Until one day he came to the fence 

and told her he wouldn’t be back. 

“I won’t see you anymore,” she said. “Right, right. Don’t come around 

anymore,” he answered. Their brief, innocent tryst came ended. 

Before he was shipped off to a death camp, before the girl with the apples 

appeared, Herman Rosenblat’s life had already changed forever. 

His family had been forced from their home into a ghetto. His father 

fell ill with typhus. They smuggled in a doctor, but there was little he 

could do to help. The man knew what was coming. He summoned his 

youngest son. “If you ever get out of this war,” Rosenblat remembers 

him saying, “don’t carry a grudge in your heart and tolerate everybody.” 

Two days later, the father was dead. Herman was just 12. 

The family was moved again, this time to a ghetto where he shared a 

single room with his mother, three brothers, uncle, aunt and four cousins. 

He and his brothers got working papers and he got a job painting 

stretchers for the Germans. 

Eventually, the ghetto was dissolved. As the Poles were ushered out, 

two lines formed. In one, those with working papers, including Rosenblat 

and his brothers. In the other, everyone else, including the boys’ 

mother. 

Rosenblat went over to his mother. “I want to be with you,” he cried. 

She spoke harshly to him and one of his brothers pulled him away. His 

heart was broken. 

“I was destroyed,” Rosenblat remembers. It was the last time he would 

ever see her. 

It was in Schlieben, Germany, that Rosenblat and the girl he later called 

his angel would meet. Roma Radziki worked on a nearby farm and the 

boy caught her eye. Bringing him food — apples, mostly, but bread, 

too — became part of her routine. 

“Every day,” she says, “every day I went.” 


Rosenblat says he would secretly eat the apples and never mentioned a 

word of it to anyone else for fear word would spread and he’d be punished 

or even killed. When Rosenblat learned he would be moved again 

— this time to Theresienstadt, in what is now the Czech Republic — he 

told the girl he would not return. 

Not long after, the Soviets rolled in on a tank and liberated Rosenblat’s 

camp. The war was over. She went to nursing school in Israel. He went 

to London and learned to be an electrician. 

Their daily ritual faded from their minds. 

“I forgot,” she says. 

“I forgot about her, too,” he recalls. 

Rosenblat eventually moved to New York. He was running a television 

repair shop when a friend phoned him one Sunday afternoon and said 

he wanted to fix him up with a girl. Rosenblat was unenthusiastic: He 

didn’t like blind dates, he told his friend. He didn’t know what she 

would look like. But finally, he relented. 

It went well enough. She was Polish and easygoing. Conversation 

flowed, and eventually talk turned to their wartime experiences. Rosenblat 

recited the litany of camps he had been in, and Radziki’s ears 

perked up. She had been in Schlieben, too, hiding from the Nazis. 

She spoke of a boy she would visit, of the apples she would bring, how 

he was sent away. 

“That was me,” he said. 

Rosenblat knew he could never leave this woman again. He proposed 

marriage that very night. She thought he was crazy. Two months later 

she said yes. 

In 1958, they were married at a Bronx synagogue, a world away from 

their sorrows, more than a decade after they had thought they were 

separated forever. 

It all seems too remarkable to be believed. Rosenblat insists it’s true. 

Even after their engagement, the couple kept the story mostly to themselves, 

telling only those closest to them. Herman says it’s because they 

met at a point in his life he’d rather forget. But eventually, he said, he 

felt the need to share it. 

Now, the Rosenblats’ story has inspired a children’s book, “Angel 

Girl.” And eventually, there are plans to turn it into a film, “The Flower 

of the Fence.” Herman expects to publish his memoirs next year. 

Herman is now 79, and Roma is 76; they celebrated their 50th anniversary 

this summer. He often tells their story to Jewish and other groups, 

believing the lesson is the one his father imparted. 

“Not to hate and to love — that’s what I am lecturing about,” he said. 

“Not to hold a grudge and to tolerate everybody, to love people, to be 

tolerant of people, no matter who they are or what they are.” 

The anger of the concentration camps, Herman says, has gone away. 

He forgave. And his life has been filled with love. 


13 


Une Femme 

Note ga-16278 

Annonce dans L’Orient-Le Jour, le 19 mai 1976 

Automobiles 

Diplomate voudrait acheter une voiture diplomatique 

Tel.: 303161 de 9h à 14h.

Une Femme 

Enregistrement 89-34512, dans la rue à Mar Mikhaël 

Bruit de moteurs de voitures, et bruit de klaxons. 

« M. Khiar, un instant s’il vous plaît, je voudrais photographier ça. » 

« Cette publicité si laide ? » 

« Pardon ? » 

« Non rien. » 

« Excusez-moi, je n’ai pas entendu. » 

« Non, non, rien. Prenez votre photo. » 

Un scooter passe. 

« Vous prenez votre temps vous, pour photographier ! » 

« Oui. »

Une Femme 

Enregistrement 56-46476, dans un bar à Mar Mikhaël 

Musique arabe hachée par les commentaires d’un animateur télé 

« Deux autres Jameson s’il vous plaît. » 

Pause 

Le présentateur télé est de plus en plus excité. 

Longue pause 

« Avez-vous été marié ? » 

« Mais je vous emmerde vous et vos questions personnelles ! 

Ne me posez plus de questions ! C’est fini ! Amol marouf l’ehseb ! » 

Une main claque sur le bar 

« Je m’en vais. » 

« Je suis désolé, ne vous emportez pas. » 

« Assez ! Je m’en vais, ne me contactez plus. »

Une Femme 

Enregistrement 17-61861, chez M. Khiar 

« Pourquoi aimez-vous tant les chats ? » 

« Je ne sais pas. C’est comme ça. » 

Pause 

« Ce sont des êtres nihilistes gais. Ils mangent, ils dorment, ils se promènent et jouent un peu. 

Ce qu’ils n’ont pas envie de faire, ils ne le font pas, même s’ils peuvent. 

Un être sans dogme. Un être parfait. »

Une Femme 

Note hi-17289 

A chaque fois qu’on passe devant une publicité sur laquelle une femme est représentée, 

comme toutes ces pubs pour les produits de coiffure, M. Khiar demande très sérieusement 

« Qui est cette femme ? ». 

C’est son sens de l’humour. 

On voit des milliers de femmes anonymes promouvoir des produits. 

M. Khiar est très gentleman, très classique, il est protecteur vis-à-vis des femmes. 

Un jour, je lui ai dit que les femmes pouvaient très bien se défendre seules. 

Il l’a mal pris, il m’a dit que je ne comprenais rien.



JEROEN R. KRAMER 

UNE FEMME 

The central figure in Une Femme is composed of different 

characters. There is Khiar, a handsome, elderly Lebanese 

gentleman who lives in Beirut, a city scarred by decades of 

religious tension. The wars that arose from those tensions 

do not appear in the book, but we sense the presence of an 

‘elephant in the room’. Then there is the photographer, who 

makes images of traffic lights changing, or of the planters 

that are found everywhere in Beirut, and who finds beauty 

in a pile of sand or in the banality of a barber’s sign or a 

grocer’s shop full of food. 

ABOUT 

Jeroen Robert Kramer (°1967, Amsterdam) lives and works 

in Beirut, Lebanon and Amsterdam, the Netherlands. After 

studying French literature in France, in 2000 he started 

working in the Middle East as a documentary photographer 

for Getty Images, de Volkskrant, Der Spiegel, the New 

York Times, Vanity Fair, and others. His photographs were 

used in articles on the Middle East, Africa, Afghanistan, 

Myanmar and the Philippines. 

“I want to make work about ordinary life. I want subtlety, 

poetry, the gentleness of the banal. I’ve had enough of the 

spectacular, of what I did when I was working for the New 

York Times,” says the photographer to Khiar. He wants to 

transform ugly memories of war into art, and to go from 

shocking spectacle to silence. We are given no portraits of 

either protagonist; their presence is evoked by photographs 

of their surroundings, the marks on an abandoned drinks 

glass, a glimpse of someone’s back in a plastic chair, or 

photos of cats. When Khiar shows that he is not interested 

in having his picture taken, for the photographer their 

friendship becomes an obsession; he starts photographing 

hundreds of objects from Khiar’s house. But are these really 

Khiar’s things? Is the old gentleman in fact an idée-fixe, a 

composite, the photographer himself, or some sort of alter 

ego? “C’est le prix à payer pour avoir vécu sur la misère des 

autres” (That’s the price you pay for having lived off other 

people’s misery), says Khiar, after the photographer relates 

a terrible nightmare. Or do these thoughts actually come 

from his own mind? 

After an unremitting study of life and death in the barren, 

war-torn Middle East, his work began to reflect his inner 

struggles with human fallibility, aesthetic constraints, and 

the harsh perceptions of his profession. In 2008 Kramer 

decided to stop working as a documentary photographer 

and in war zones, and to embark on a new, more poetic 

journey. This led to the book Room 103 (2010), in which 

images of daily life in the Middle East are intermingled with 

images of terrible violence. This book won the Dutch Doc 

Award and the New York Photo Book Festival Award. In 

2012 Kramer published the book Beyrouth Objets Trouvés, 

which in retrospect he regards as a preliminary study for 

Une Femme. 

Une Femme 

Published by Editions Flatland and Jeroen R. Kramer 

Softcover, 154 x 220 mm, 344 pages 

First Edition of 333 

Second Edition of 667 

ISBN 9789490503055 

Design by Jeroen R. Kramer 

Printing and production by Bruno Devos at Stockmans 

Une Femme shows that ‘truth’ is irrelevant. Une Femme 

is an enigmatic and evocative story with a remarkable 

dénouement. It is also a beautiful exhibition, in which 

the present and the past are interwoven in Jeroen Robert 

Kramer’s poetic photographs of Beirut. 

Pages 136-140 

Une Femme 

© Jeroen R. Kramer 

141

INSPIRED BY PLANTIN–MORETUS, 

STOCKMANS ART BOOKS MARKS 

ITS OWN STORY ONTO PAPER 

Stockmans as a company, with its first roots 

dating back to Antwerp in 1875, is still nurtured 

and stimulated to grow by the great tradition and 

heritage of the printer and publisher family 

Plantin-Moretus (Antwerp, 1548-1876), one of 

the leading printing companies in the world 

during the golden age of Antwerp. 

142 

THE PUBLISHING BUSINESS 

Anno 2018, communication and information are ruled 

and biased by the digital world we live in and big data 

will continue to affect us more and more. Screens are a 

constant attack on our eyes, brains and nervous system. 

We need to compensate for this imagery overflow and 

give our creative brain a rest once in a while with a real, 

tangible item … a slow old-school book, which takes time 

to activate and stimulate all our senses. From the origin of 

a book until its final existence, the creation process is still 

a ‘slow process’ compared to the communication hysteria 

via other media. 

The publishing business in general is under a lot of 

pressure from digital platforms, and large publishing 

houses that concentrate on magazines and newspapers 

are feeling the pressure of media agencies and advertising 

partners to transform its business model. Paradoxically, 

at the same time a tangible and beautifully designed 

and printed book, turned into an object of art, seems 

to have more impact today than eleven years ago when 

printing became a commodity and the overload of printed 

communication played its role. 

Today Stockmans as a printer and publisher is embedded 

in the printing group of the De Bie family, a 4th generation 

company, originally from Lier (BE). The company is now 

situated in Duffel, and as a commercial printing company it 

has grown to 110 FTE and an estimated turnover for 2018 

of 23 M euro. Antilope De Bie Printing is a construction of 

7 companies that have been added to the original printing 

house. The fact that several independent companies have 

joined forces has to do with the technological evolutions 

within the graphic industry, where capital investments are 

extremely high and the competition of digital media and 

innovation have put pressure on the total paper volume in 

the market. There is a contradiction and imbalance in the 

business model, where digital media evolve at the speed of 

light while high-end printing technology has an accounting 

depreciation rate of 5 to 7 years to earn back important 

investments into new technology. 

From a strategic point of view, Stockmans has made the 

choice to specialise in 2 niches as a total service company: 

the creation, the making and distribution of art books and 

calendars. For Stockmans, this choice means to produce 

sustainable products with a longer life cycle, apart from the 

production process which is driven by ecological factors in 

the production facilities of Antilope De Bie. Most of the 

time a calendar rarely surpasses its 12 months calendar 

period, but when turned into an art object, it can easily 

survive for years. Naturally, the art books produced by 

Stockmans are meant to easily surpass the buyer’s lifetime. 

THE PERSONAL STOCKMANS APPROACH 

As a publishing company and a production consultant for 

artists, galleries, institutions and companies, Stockmans 

engages in an intense and profound process with its 

partners. For many a book has a special and unique touch, 

often related to the history or future of the individual

Max Pinckers in full collaboration with masterprinters at Stockmans - Antilope De Bie 

person or company, loaded with history and life stories. 

The value and emotion that is related to the production 

process and the final result, is unique in the world 

of printing. It demands a very specific approach and 

competence, which Stockmans has built up during its 

history. 

As makers, the publishing house and the ateliers create 

added value, putting the creativity of the authors into 

our own energy and design to reflect the creator’s vision, 

passion and story. Bruno Devos, who has been in the 

printing business since 1991, and is engaged in several 

international art projects, tries to feel and encapsulate 

these compelling stories into a publication. He specifically 

created his own function to describe what he does and 

loves to do, curating art books. Taking care of the artists 

is part of his role. Today, many artists create books that 

are an integral part of their practice. The book is another 

medium for the artist to experiment and build his artistic 

story. Many publications at Stockmans go beyond the 

regular exhibition catalogue or monograph and are 

connected as a presentation tool to a specific artistic 

approach or series of an artist. This creates an extra 

dimension for both the artist and for Bruno and his team. 

Books like Margins of Excess, self-published by the young 

Belgian photographer Max Pinckers, or Wesley Meuris’s 

book Exhibition Types are compelling examples of this 

approach. Jeroen R. Kramer’s photo novel Une Femme 

is also a beautiful example of the book as an artwork. It 

is the only comprehensive tool for the artist to tell his 

artistic story. Older publications full of adventure are also 

an illustration of Stockmans’ vision, for example Lost 

Angels by Italian photographer Alfredo Falvo, who spent 

4 months photographing in Skid Row, Los Angeles. But 

also an historic book on the history of Cuban cacao or 

the rediscovery of Flemish artworks in the Museum of 

Fine Arts in Havana are projects that were initiated in the 

house. The most recent publication, A layer for my throat 

came out 11 March. This vegetarian extravaganza between 

a food stylist, a fashion photographer, a typography geek 

from Amsterdam, and the Stockmans team, finds its 

inspiration in recent opera plays performed on stage by the 

Flemish Opera House. “These projects are so wonderful 

because they bring creative people together, all enjoying 

and creating what we are best at. The sum of all of us 

brings such an energy to this latest project, the book itself 

is a joy to all senses,” comments Bruno Devos. 

In the same trend, recent limited edition art publications 

include Danielle van Zadelhoff’s series Survivors, which 

is filled with portraits of AIDS survivors from the late 

eighties that were recently presented at the London City 

143

Peter de Cupere, Scent in context - Olfactory Art Pascal Van Loenhout, UN/CUT Erik Vernieuwe & Kris De Smedt, A layer for my throat 

144 

Hall during World Aids Day. Another collector’s item is 

Thomas Vandenberghe’s journey to Bangkok which leads 

to a conceptual publication where the art photos are well 

hidden at first glance. In 2018, Stockmans will publish − in 

cooperation with Opera Ballet Flanders − a prestigious 

publication about the Aviel Cahn years at the Opera. The 

book Opera/Out of the Box will be presented in October 

and shares Aviel Cahn’s broader vision on the complete 

process of Opera and its stakeholders, in Flanders and 

beyond. 

The attachment to the project creates a very personal 

bond between the publishing house and its protagonists, 

the artists. “For every book we make, I can write at least 

one other book that tells the story of the ‘making of’ 

process, of the interactions and gives insight into many 

lives”, shares Devos. Devos’s private life, full of passion 

for Art is intertwined with his art and book projects. 

Recent art projects brought him to Cuba, Argentina and 

Brazil, travelling with 40 top Belgian contemporary artists 

to prestigious museums for his project, The Importance of 

Being. 

“We find motivation in that bond and in the reactions of 

the people involved in the process and of course those of 

the public.” Recently, Royal Opera House De Munt/La 

Monnaie in Brussels commented on Stockmans’ luxurious 

edition of Danielle van Zadelhoff’s hardcover photobook : 

“… The book is an example of how dark full bodied photos 

should be printed … the love for making books is reflected 

by the finishing touch … delivering a pair of gloves with 

the book, to protect the fragility and luxury of the dark 

printed images. This respect and love for printed matter 

is connected to our vision on the arts.” When reading this 

comment from De Munt/La Monnaie, Devos comments 

that, “It made my day because it is wonderful to share 

these publications with the right people, people who 

appreciate art, process, quality and true beauty.” 

FINDING A BALANCE 

The financing of an artbook is always an intense exercise 

when a project starts. Sometimes the book is completely 

financed via the budget of an institution, gallery or 

sponsor. But often this is not the case, so it is always a 

10.000 pcs puzzle (or even jigsaw) to realize a project 

and not lose money on the investment of the book. 

Traditional distribution models mean that the books are 

put into the market with 40 to 65% discounts to shops and 

international distributors. Recently we published a book

Danielle van Zadelhoff, Monography 

with a therapeutic goal, for a young woman. Thanks to 

crowdfunding she was able to bring in the basic amount 

to start the production of the book. It was beautiful to see 

how Maaike Ottoy was able to create her own community 

that supported her dream to publish a lovely and colourful 

book. 

catches some of the visiting audience or organizing a popup 

high-end hairdressing environment with famous hair 

stylist Pascal Van Loenhout. These type of events create a 

buzz and awareness that is necessary in our niche. 

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD? 

One of the biggest challenges for a publisher of art books 

is channelling their books into the market. Per definition, 

the market is niche oriented, hence small, and limited 

to an audience that engages and is passionate about 

art. The internet and web shops put a lot of pressure 

on the traditional bookshops, but generating traffic can 

be stimulated when stories and events complete the 

experience of a book. The idea is to make it worthwhile for 

the audience and readers to come out to the bookstore and 

bypass the internet sale of books. Stockmans collaborates 

with bookshops like Copyright Bookshop (in Antwerp 

and Ghent) and Theoria (in Kortrijk) and creates events 

to highlight some of its publications via traditional book 

signings, talks, performances and even art expositions. 

During the Antwerp Book Fair in 2017 (which attracted 

143.000 visitors), Stockmans created a sense of belonging, 

for its artists, team and visitors. Performances included 

instant drawings with Jarno Kettunen from Finland who 

As a publisher and calendar maker with a strong personal 

approach, focusing on content and quality, we believe that 

organic growth is the path to follow for Stockmans. We 

are already surpassing the borders of Belgium and intend 

to continue this. Again, all of this goes in parallel and is 

simultaneously a paradox with the search for economies 

of scale in the graphic industry where critical mass and 

production speed are key words. When Bruno Devos 

indicates that we are protagonists of “slow printing”, it 

does not mean the production of a book takes ages, on the 

contrary. 

A good illustration is the creation and production of 

Peter de Cupere’s 3 kg heavy olfactory bible, 472 pages, 

filled with 1.500 illustrations and more than 500 art works, 

including 11 scratch and sniff smells. This hefty task took 

only 5 weeks in total to design, print and bind, which 

nobody else could perform in the publishing sector. 

145

Book signing by Jeroen R. Kramer, Une Femme 

Book signing by Nick Claeskens, Bus Stop 

Book signing by Jan Bosschaert 

Pop-up hair styling at Antwerp Book Fair 

by Pascal van Loenhout 

Bruno Devos and Danielle van Zadelhoff 

Live drawing performance by Jarno Kettunen 

146 

Being close to our production facilities, sourcing from 

the scale of the printing group, gives Stockmans a unique 

position in the industry and enables us to master the 

complete process. Vision, competence and passion merge 

with technology, the virtual touches the tangible. 

As a business-to-business player for calendars, Bruno 

Devos believes a calendar is price/attention wise the best 

tool to communicate to customers for 365 days about a 

company and its products and services. An aesthetic or 

practical calendar still has its value in an age where the 

digital agenda rules. Again tangibility, ease of comfort and 

sometimes beauty play its role for the calendar anno 2018. 

During the 2000-2009 period, Stockmans, in collaboration 

with Franky Claeys and Jean-François Carly, designed 

amazing calendar projects with photographers, visual 

and performing artists, and fashion designers like Dries 

Van Noten, Raf Simons, Chanel, Vivienne Westwood, 

Hussein Chalayan or Christian Lacroix and a luxury 

brand like Delvaux, but also Nike. These projects were a 

testimonial of experimental product design with high-end 

production techniques. 

Bruno Devos is also associated with Barbara Dietrich for 

Diplomatic World, where he curates the art and cultural 

diplomacy section of the magazine since March 2017. 

Early 2017, the magazine was completely redesigned by 

Bruno and his team, and he also advises the publisher 

about strategy and content. “I truly believe that art and 

culture are the defining and universal factors to bridge 

people from all around the world, but also our close 

neighbours. The solution when questioning the role of the 

European Union, when trying to look for solutions to the 

refugee and immigration crisis, is to bond people, learning 

one’s cultural language and respect people by sharing and 

discovering one’s culture. Definitely a curious but above 

all openminded approach, full of humanism, where the 

wonder of diversity plays its part on our micro or macro 

stage.” 

More information via 

stockmans.be 

stockmansartbooks.be 

visionfragments.be 

copyrightbookshop.be 

theoria.be

Stockmans Art Books at the Antwerp Book Fair (2017) 

PLANTIN-MORETUS 

IN THE GOLDEN AGE OF ANTWERP 

The Plantin-Moretus Museum is a printing museum in 

Antwerp, Belgium which focuses on the work of the 16th 

century printers Christophe Plantin and Jan Moretus. 

It is located in their former residence and printing 

establishment, the Plantin Press, at the Vrijdagmarkt 

(Friday Market) in Antwerp and has been a UNESCO 

World Heritage Site since 2005. The printing company 

was founded in the 16th century by Christophe Plantin, 

who obtained type from the leading typefounders of the 

day in Paris. Plantin was a major figure in contemporary 

printing with interests in humanism; his eight-volume, 

multi-language Plantin Polyglot Bible with Hebrew, 

Aramaic, Greek and Syriac texts was one of the most 

complex productions of the period. 

The original residence and workshop of the Plantin and 

Moretus publishing dynasty offers a unique historical 

experience. The building’s creaking oak planks and 

panels seem imbued in the history of books, the art of 

printing and the story of a family’s entrepreneurial flair. 

The oldest printing presses in the world can be found 

here, and much more besides. 

www.museumplantinmoretus.be 

147

THE HEART OF BRUSSELS BEATS AT 

THE MUSIC CONSERVATORY 

Brussels offers an intercultural and historical 

fertile ground with a highly mobile and international 

population. It is in this rich environment of 62 % 

foreign-born residents that the vibrant musical heart 

of the School of Arts, the Koninklijk Conservatorium 

Brussel, beats. Its student and teacher population 

matches the intercultural metropolitan mix with 60% 

international musicians. Within the cultural and 

musical history of this capital over the last 200 years, 

and maintaining Flemish presence over the last 50 

years, the Flemish Brussels Conservatory — Koninklijk 

Conservatorium Brussel — unfolded a long, sometimes 

difficult but glorious trajectory. How to secure, by 

never-ending economic demands of production and 

efficiency, the continuation of such unique European 

music heritage in Brussels? How to incite political 

and cultural actors to sustain this ‘slow science’ at an 

autonomous Flemish conservatory, in collaboration 

with all Brussels’ partners? How to cope artistically 

with the challenges of a 21th century setting? 

A SPECIFIC CULTURAL AND 

ARCHITECTURAL SETTING 

148 

“Brussels is a European center where Germanic and 

Latin cultures draw boundaries and enable assimilation 

processes. It is the task of the Koninklijk Conservatorium 

Brussel to underpin this rich musical event, an invitation 

to respond to it. The challenge is to enable the professional 

requirements of this music education center, to tune 

them to the highest level and to use all the opportunities 

the artistic-cultural and economic circuit has to offer. In 

this perspective, the training at the Conservatorium is 

particularly stimulated while, at the same time, a special 

contribution is expected from it.” 

(Kamiel D’Hooghe, 1987)

CONSERVAMUS, an enthusiast organisation working 

with public funding, recently started the renovation of 

the windows, and an official political agreement has been 

signed for the entire restoration of the site. 

THE TRADITION AND EMANCIPATION OF A 

UNIQUE EUROPEAN MUSIC CULTURE 

From the first director on, François-Joseph Fétis, in 

1833, the conservatory aimed at a high-quality institution 

for music education with an international reputation. 

The specific commitment of the musicians, the unique 

intercultural Brussels context and the later Flemish support 

for an excellent and autonomous higher music education, 

have contributed to develop this goal. The Flemish 

emancipation under director Kamiel D’Hooghe, resulted 

in a music institution of high quality, endorsing 

its international position in multilingual Brussels. 

A specific recruitment policy was and still is one 

of its pillars: the resolute choice for great international 

musicians with an established reputation, to whom the 

opportunity is given, next to their high quality teaching, 

to continue an artistic career as cultural ambassadors of 

the institution. For example, the Brussels Conservatoire, 

together with the Conservatoire of Paris, lies at the 

birth of the great Franco-Belgian violin school. This 

tradition, started by Eugène Ysaÿe, Henrik Wieniawski 

and Arthur Grumiaux, still resonates in Brussels, 

complemented by other rich traditions. 

A unique Ysaÿe manuscript, recently donated to the 

conservatory library, will be produced by our students and 

teachers in May 2018. Another example is the connection 

between the conservatory and the famous Queen 

Elisabeth competition of which many teachers still 

today are laureates. While other music teachers combine 

their exceptional pedagogical qualities with positions 

149

in renowned orchestras operating from Brussels, 

the institution is also exceptionally considered for its 

tradition in counterpoint and fugue and honored for its 

specific artistic approach to the doctorate in the arts. 

Historically interested musicians such as the family 

Kuijken created an internationally recognized Early 

Music department in the nineties, which today gets a 

new international image. While other music institutions 

in Flanders diminish their parts in early music, Brussels 

continues to expand artistic bridges over time. The 

presence of the music library, with its important 17th 

and 18th century music, in particular the two private 

collections Westphal and Wagener, contributes to this fully. 

In the middle of the capital of Europe, melting pot 

of countless cultural movements, its jazz department 

reflects this cultural synergy both intra muros and 

outwards in the socio-artistic landscape, leading 

in Flanders and throughout the world. Every year, 

the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel grants the 

Toots Thielemans Jazz Award, with the explicit approval 

of Belgian and Flemish jazz icon Toots himself. The 

flourishing department of Musical at the Koninklijk 

Conservatorium Brussel — the only one in Flanders — 

offers another vibrant answer to the growing demand 

for other western traditions, rivaling Dutch and 

German institutions on a high artistic level. 

However, there is a deep artistic concern how to master 

art, economic efficiency and productivity: which 

amount of subsidies to give to art, how many orchestras 

to retain, how autonomous music institutions are to 

be? The word ‘production’ entails a paradox. From an 

artistic point of view, a production is a shared outcome 

and presentation of an esthetic work, realised through 

collaboration between artists. Production from an 

economic perspective points to the making of goods 

and processes, closely linked to fast consumption and 

profit. However, the Latin ‘producere’ in the sense of ‘to 

develop, realize, expand, strengthen, lead further’ offers us 

the right educational perspective: developing young people, 

realizing ideals, expanding knowledge, making expertise 

stronger, leading the world further. The pedagogical 

complexity of music education sharpens that paradox. 

On the one hand, art is at odds with the economic, 

technological and mediatized society. The art of music 

is a challenge in and for society: music is a ‘slow 

science’ (a concept from Isabelle Stengers), growing 

from within hard labour, experience and exchange. An 

artistic development asks for time, takes time — within 

a society that is more and more characterized by 

everything that is fast. Music is an art that exorcises time: 

The fame of the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel 

also resonates through its symphony and harmony 

orchestras, its collaborations with the cultural field in 

Brussels and abroad, with embassies and music houses. 

Numerous small ensembles of chamber music, jazz or 

early music spread their art on the Brussels stages — 

MIM, Flagey, the Markten, ... and internationally — Porto, 

Santander, .... The level of artistic excellence leads to an 

almost natural flow of its young talents on the professional 

artistic scene, in renowned orchestras, at international 

positions and competitions. 

MUSIC: A ‘SLOW SCIENCE’ IN A WORLD OF 

PRODUCTION 

150 

The 50th jubilee this year shows that the Koninklijk 

Conservatorium Brussel has been able to move forward 

with artistic councils, in which many staff members and 

cultural partners participate, being focal points for 

initiative and dialogue.

dancing on the tight rope between old and young, 

between exploring personality and mastering tradition. 

Music is an art that cannot be fixed nor put in a museum, 

as it is lived and revived by each new generation, again and 

again by way of transmission, interpretation and creation. 

On the other hand, society needs artists: people 

who share a rich cultural tradition and offer new 

aesthetic perspectives, who open unexplored domains 

and lift a veil of daily worries. That is why the 

Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel meets society with 

its music practices, with its own slow science, its 

capacity to question the prevailing view of the 

world in an artistic way. Therefore it is important 

to preserve its autonomy concerning artistic choices and 

policy and to develop its international resonance. That is 

why it is exemplary in being traditional and rebellious, in 

being a conservatory and a laboratory, in being a house 

and an open space. 

Finally, Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel is ready for 

another 50 years to be a lively artistic biotope, 

with international identity and music excellence. The heart 

of the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel continues to 

beat in Brussels and you are invited to share its music! 

Rendez-vous! 

Kathleen Coessens, 

Director of the School of Arts, 

Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel 

151

AND THE WINNER IS … 

For the 3rd time the Global Media Innovator was 

given out during the annual All Nations Gala of the 

Diplomatic Council in Frankfurt this February. 

Again, the Innovator received an object of art by 

internationally acknowledged artist Ulrike Bolenz, in 

addition to a lifelong fellowship in the global think tank. 

This year it was titled “Vitruvian Human”, again combining 

graphics, classic painting and plexiglass reflections. 

“I looked up the history of this topic and it is really 

amazing. I’m really thrilled to have received this object”, 

said Simon Ingram, founder and CEO of London based 

iocono Holdings and its daughter company RTAd Ltd. that 

is marketing the real time advertising solutions of Adgile 

software suite, after receiving this year’s honors. 

152 

“Amazing – and clever” that was also the summary of 

the independent GMI Board within the DC that had the 

challenging job picking this year’s Innovator. And it was 

a truly hard pick this year with three out of five of the 

shortlisted contestants being very close together throughout 

the nomination process. “What made the difference with 

RTAd? The fact checking: It already proved that it works on 

a regular basis”, says Ian Whightman of worldwide business 

intelligence group IHS Markit and member of the GMI 

board from the very beginning. 

The Adgile suite, that is a production feature that allows 

to compile audiovisual TV spots in a very fast and costeffective 

way, almost in real time. “We soon found out that 

we also had to include planning and scheduling tools”, 

explains Ingram. Only recently added to the Adgile Suite 

of products, Adgile Play, is used for the 24/7 playout of 

dynamically controlled infomercial channels, allowing the 

client to change prices and offers on products through 

an online control panel, in real time. This was the main 

reason of the GMI board to decide for RTAd: “This enables 

advertising in near or actual real time using data from live 

sources. It delivers files to broadcasters that are compliant 

with technical and legal standards, all in an automated 

process. Clever!” 

The highly exclusive Global Media Innovator is designed 

to launch wide discussion on the positive impact of such 

Simon Ingram, Ulrike Bolenz & Dieter Brockmeyer 

clever ideas and innovations on our disrupted industries and 

more so our societies. No company or individual can apply 

to become the Innovator. The organizations and networks 

behind the GMI board members come up with suggestions 

that totaled 18 in this round. The board than narrows in 

first on the shortlist and on the innovator in later steps. 

Members of the 2018 GMI board were: Ijeoma Onah, 

founder, Nigerian International Film Summit (Lagos), 

Dato’ Ng Wan Peng, COO, Malaysia Digital Economy 

Corporation, MDEC (Kuala Lumpur), Moeed Ahmad, 

head of Incubation & Innovation Group, Al Jazeera Media 

Network (Doha), Blair Westlake, principal, MediaSquareup 

(Seattle), Ian Wightman, VP Research and Operations at 

IHS Markit Inc. (Austin), Ed Hall, managing partner Expert 

Media Partners (London), Robin Eckermann, principal, 

Eckermann Associates (Canberra) and Jo Groebel, director, 

Deutsches Digital Institut (DDI, Berlin). 

Dieter Brockmeyer, 

Chairman DC Global Media Forum and initiator 

and curator of the annual Global Media Innovator

VILVOORDE 

Enjoy a unique eating experience 

Distinctive dishes made with innovative techniques 

Innovative culinary concepts by topchef Marc Clément 

Various works of art by renowned artists are integrated symbiotically 

Easily accessible large parking lot 

Innovative gastronomy 

You will be cooked for by top chef Marc Clément, who has certainly 

earned his stripes in the world of gastronomy. The dishes are prepared 

using innovative techniques based on Marc’s latest passion. 

The Bistronomy team serves affordable gastronomic delights in the 

form of fresh, distinctive creations that will surprise even the most 

refined palates. 

In short, gastronomy with a nod to the future. 

Opening times 

Open from Monday to Saturday (from 6 pm on Saturday). 

Monday & Tuesday from 6 pm by reservation for groups of 20 

people or more. 

Sunday closed. 

Info & reservations 

www.thebistronomy.com 

02 263 01 31 

Indringingsweg 1, 1800 Vilvoorde 

153

TOGETHER IN LIGHT @ DARK 2.0 

ART EXPO PRESENTED BY 

LIVING TOMORROW & PSYCART 

Through the artworks of contemporary artists 

Panamarenko, Koen Vanmechelen, Fred Eerdekens, 

Peter de Cupere, Nick Ervinck, Ulrike Bolenz, 

Athar Jaber and Sergey Dozhd, meet the artwork of 

artists of PsycArt: Bruno Gérard, Nils Dieu, Mireille 

Dubois, Frédéric Etienne, Luc Derck, Nancy Oliver, 

Vital Van Kriekinge, Kim De Veylder en Philippe 

Da Fonseca. The exhibition will confront the 

audience with the immaterial activity of the artistic 

brain and its reflection via artistic output. The 

exhibition challenges the art world to go beyond 

known scientific facts that lead the audience into 

unknown dimensions. The expo plays constantly on 

the border of the immaterial and the material, starting 

from a perfume bottle from Kazimir Malevich. 

154 

Art has always taken its place in Living Tomorrow as a 

concept that refers to human creativity in thinking about 

the future. Under guidance of curator Barbara Dietrich, two 

partners — LIVING TOMORROW and PSYCART — want to 

give art a place in the exhibtion TOGETHER IN LIGHT @ 

DARK 2.0 to confront the audience with the creativity of the 

human brain and how to become reflection and innovation. 

HOW TO BECOME INNOVATIVE? 

Through creativity. But you can’t just buy creativity and you 

can’t enforce no one’s creativity. 

SO, HOW TO BECOME CREATIVE ? 

By inspiration. But that inspiration rarely comes by itself. 

SO, HOW TO GET INSPIRED ? 

When a person takes the time and space to see actively 

around itself, he can get inspired. This is how it works for 

artists who challenge themselves to work out a unique idea, to 

continue in being innovative. 

Art can invite a person to take the time and space to look 

around and to get inspired by something a person doesn’t 

know yet, something never seen before, that can inspire. 

For each future project in which people want to get 

challenged in the search for innovation, art can help to look at 

what they didn’t know yet, at what they haven’t seen yet. 

And when people take the time and space to try to look in a 

different way, at that moment inspiration and imagination can 

arise and change into creativity and finally into innovation. 

In this exhibition every artist leads the audience into a new 

way of looking at and thinking about living as a human being 

in the constantly changing world. 

PsycArt is a non-profit association dedicated to artists with 

a mental or social vulnerabilty to guide and support them 

in various ways so that they can present their creative work 

to a broad audience. PsycArt looks at the creative work nor 

merely as “creation itself”. It is a non-profit association that 

focuses on the meaning of artists to create in life by offering

© Athar Jaber 

opportunities that lead to present their work in a qualitative 

and ethically correct manner. 

Although the non-profit association PsycArt was founded 

recently (July 2013), the PsycArt project celebrates its 

twentieth birthday in 2018. Initially, this project set up by 

a pharmaceutical company specialised in psychiatry and 

neurology, consisted of organizing exhibitions for health care 

professionals working in mental health institutions. 

Since 1998, the two main action areas of the project are as 

follows: 

• Support to artists with a mental or social vulnerability 

through exhibitions and other creative projects, ensuring 

an ethical and secure environment around the sale and 

rental of their artworks 

• Expertise in artistic management as to support exhibition 

projects in the sector of mental health care and social 

reintegration. 

An underlying goal remains the elimination of any stigma 

around artists with a vulnerability. 

With the support of volunteers, following activities are now 

part of the daily operation: 

1. Organizing and coordinating exhibitions, debates and 

symposia (artistic management) through projects on 

location in Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia 

2. Organizing exhibitions, lecturers, debates and workshops 

for groups at the fully equipped location where PsycArt 

has its administrative seat (Schaerbeek) 

3. Managing the art library: rental and sale of the art 

collection of more than 400 works to individuals, 

businesses and other associations. 

So far, PsycArt is one of the few NPAs in charge of a sociocultural 

project at (inter)national level, focusing the greatest 

part of its work on the three Belgian regions and the Grand- 

Duchy of Luxembourg. 

Over a period of almost 20 years, PsycArt has exhibited over 

500 artists. The most part of the money raised from sales has 

been returned to the participating institutions and the artists 

themselves. 

The success and reputation of PsycArt has grown steadily over 

the years, extending well beyond the medical environment. 

In particular the project has on several occasions won 

Prométhéa’s Caïus awards, which it won twice in 1999 and 

2012, and for which it received a special mention in 2003. 

PsycArt vzw, www.psycart.eu 

https://www.facebook.com/Psycart.be 

Thiéfrystraat 51–53, 1030 Schaerbeek (Brussels) 

Contact: Stefanie De Weirdt 

stefanie.de.weirdt@psycart.eu, T + 32 472 92 66 03 

155

GABRIELE MÜNTER 

PAINTING TO THE POINT 

For the first time after 25 years, the Städtische 

Galerie im Lenbachhaus and the Gabriele Münter 

and Johannes Eichner Foundation showed an 

extensive exhibition surveying the complete oeuvre 

of Gabriele Münter (1877-1962). 

For most art lovers, Münter’s name immediately evokes the 

german expressionism with the “Blue Rider” — a group of 

artists formed in Munich in 1911 with Kandinsky, Münter, 

and Franz Marc (1880-1916) at its score —, Wassily 

Kandinsky (1866-1944) or the small town of Murnau in 

the Alpine foothills. These associations are not wrong, but 

they reduce the artist’s rich oeuvre to only a brief period 

and narrowly focus our view on a few facets of her long 

career. Münter’s creative achievements, even more than 

those of other female artists, have been interpreted and 

evaluated through the lens of her life and her relationship 

with Kandinsky. The exhibition seeks to draw attention 

to the complexity and distinctive autonomy of her art by 

examining it in light of art-historical questions. Its main 

emphasis is on Münter’s paintings, which, unlike in earlier 

shows, is presented in thematically focused sections rather 

than in chronological sequence. 

156 

Gabriele Münter, Bildnis Marianne von Werefkin, 1909, 

Pappe, 81 x 54,8 cm, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau 

München, Inv.-Nr. GMS 656 

Gabriele Münter, Dame im Sessel, schreibend (Stenographie. 

Schweizerin in Pyjama), 1929, Textiler Bildträger, 61,5 x 46,2 cm 

Gabriele Münter- und Johannes Eichner-Stiftung, München, 

Inv.-Nr. P 39

Gabriele Münter, Vom Griesbräu-Fenster, 1908, Pappe, 33 x 40,1 cm, Gabriele Münter- und Johannes Eichner-Stiftung, München, Inv.-Nr. L 142 

As Gabriele Münter was a photographer before she was a 

painter, the presentation opens with a small selection of 

photographs she took during her sojourn in the United 

States in 1899–1900. The following sections examine 

her creative engagement with the medium of painting. 

Complementing the classic genres of portraiture and 

landscape painting, themes such as the interior and 

Münter’s work in series are explored. They illustrate her 

playful approach to the visualization of spatial depth and 

her experimentation with different ways to capture the 

essence of a scene. An extensive section is dedicated to the 

“primitivism” in the painter’s oeuvre, which is rooted in 

her sustained interest in folk art, non-Western cultures, as 

well as in children’s experience. 

The representation of the world of labor is not something 

we readily associate with Münter, but such scenes do 

appear in her art. The paintings in the style of the New 

Objectivity she created in the late 1920s refute the widely 

held simplistic view of the artist as unperturbed by the 

upheavals of the Great War and who carried on in the 

manner her “Blue Rider” period. As well, and although 

Münter is said to have felt on uncertain ground in the 

realm of abstraction, she made abstract paintings that are 

highly diverse and sometimes strikingly modern. 

The exhibition would not be complete without a section 

surveying Gabriele Münter’s work through the lens of her 

exhibition history and her role as an important donor of 

art. Held one hundred and forty years after Münter was 

born, it also celebrates the sixtieth anniversary of her 

donation of “Blue Rider” works to the Städtische Galerie 

im Lenbachhaus in 1957. The majority of the works 

displayed in the exhibition are drawn from the artist’s 

estate, which is administered by the Gabriele Münter and 

Johannes Eichner Foundation Munich. These paintings 

have never been on public view or were last exhibited 

decades ago. These are supplemented by international 

157

and rarely exhibited works on loan. One important goal 

of the Foundation is to prepare a catalogue raisonné of 

Gabriele Münter’s paintings that will document all oil 

paintings created by the artist with information about their 

provenance, exhibition history, and the relevant literature. 

A key part of the estate is the Münter House in Murnau. 

Münter and Kandinsky frequently stayed in the house 

in the years 1909-1914. She lived there from 1931 to 

her death in 1962, from 1936 on with her companion 

Johannes Eichner (1886-1958). After renovations in 1998- 

99, it now appears as it did between 1909 and 1914. Richly 

appointed and decorated with paintings and reverse glass 

paintings by Kandinsky and Münter and popular art from 

their collection as well as the artists’ own hand-painted 

furniture, the house is now a museum which vividly 

conveys the atmosphere that prevailed here before 

World War I. 

During the National Socialist’s reign of terror, Münter 

hid her works in the basement of the house in Murnau, 

along with numerous others by Kandinsky, the “Blue 

Rider” protagonists, and their circle. Thus she was able 

to rescue them from certain seizure and perhaps even 

destruction. Kandinsky had to leave Germany in such 

haste at the outbreak of war in 1914 that most of his 

belongings, including his entire collection, had to be left 

behind in Munich. His efforts to reclaim his possessions 

— the paintings especially — once the war was over led to a 

protracted legal battle with Münter, which was not resolved 

until 1926. While Kandinsky had some of his paintings 

restored to him, Münter was allowed to retain the vast bulk 

of them. For many years, the collection was left to languish 

in a warehouse in Munich; but once the threat posed by 

the National Socialists became imminent, Münter retrieved 

the works in storage and took them back to Murnau with 

her. There they remained, hidden from view, right up to 

the nineteen-fifties. 

158 

Gabriele Münter, Landschaft mit gelbem Haus, 1916, Öl auf Leinwand, 41,5 x 52,7 cm, Privatsammlung

Ausstellungsansicht Gabriele Münter. Malen ohne Umschweife im Kunstbau, 2017 

Foto: Simone Gänsheimer, Ernst Jank, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau München 

What induced Münter to unlock her “basement of 

millions” — as it was later called — was an encounter with 

Hans Konrad Roethel (1909–1982), then the director of 

the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich from 

1957 on. In 1957, Gabriele Münter marked her own 

eightieth birthday by making an unparalleled gift of large 

parts of this same collection to the Lenbachhaus, thus 

transforming it over night into a world-class museum. 

The Lenbachhaus has now the world’s largest collection 

of art of the “Blue Rider”. It includes extensive holdings 

of outstanding works by the leading “Blue Rider” artists 

— first and foremost, Kandinsky and Münter, but also 

Alexej Jawlensky, Marianne von Werefkin, Franz Marc and 

August Macke. 

The exhibition is organized by the Gabriele Münter- und 

Johannes Eichner-Stiftung and the Städtische Galerie 

im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau München in cooperation 

with the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk 

and the Museum Ludwig, Cologne. The curators are 

Isabelle Jansen — Curator and Chief Executive of the 

Gabriele Münter- und Johannes Eichner-Stiftung — and 

Matthias Mühling — Director of the Städtische Galerie 

im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau München. An exhibition 

catalogue is published by Prestel Verlag. 

GABRIELE MÜNTER. 

PAINTING TO THE POINT 

Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und 

Kunstbau München, Munich, Germany 

October 31, 2017 to April 8, 2018 

Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 

Humlebæk, Denmark 

May 3 to August 19, 2018 

Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany 

September 15, 2018 to January 13, 2019 

159

IMAGINATION 

OIL PAINTING STUDIES 

BY RUBENS AND VAN DYCK 

The juxtaposition of two oil painting studies 

and their completed large-format paintings 

offers us a glimpse into the creative imagination 

of the artists and allows us to follow the 

development of their ideas. 

Peter Paul Rubens, 1577-1640, has left us countless studies 

in oil. Some of them are drafts made employing a fleeting 

painting technique, others are complete, well-presented and 

bursting with colours, submitted to the clients’ attention 

and then used as a starting point to create the largeformat 

works. More than one study was found for specific 

paintings. Indeed, numerous drafts would be needed 

sometimes until the artist reached a satisfying outcome. 

These may include changes made by Rubens himself or 

requested by the client. A huge demand for these drafts 

meant they could all be sold well, reaching the houses of 

private collectors. 

the consul’s battle stallion and the priests consecrating 

Decius Mus. He’s draped in a red toga, bowing his body 

forward in reverence to the priests and receiving the last rite 

before the fight where he will die. The space of both groups 

elevates the death ritual in the modello. Other changes in 

the modello can be seen in the priest, who’s accompanied 

by another person in the painting, as well as in the group 

accompanying the consul. In the modello, only the horse 

On 9 November 1616, Rubens signed a contract with carpet 

weavers Jan Raes, Frans Sweers and Italien merchant 

Franco Cattaneo to deliver templates for tapestries be 

used in a Cycle regarding the life of Roman Consul Decius 

Mus, as described by Titus Livy in his History of Rome. 

Rubens finished the drafts in oil, and his most gifted pupil, 

Anthony van Dyck, helped him with transposing them onto 

a larger format. Ultimately the drafts, als known as ‘carton’, 

were laterally reversed and completed for the weavers. In 

following years, numerous tapestries completed Decius Mus 

cycles. 

160 

In this example, depicting the painting in the version by 

the Gobelin family, we can compare the adaptation with its 

representation of the consecration of Roman Consul Decius 

Mus by the High Priest Marcus Valerius as a death offering 

for the battle to come. Luckily enough, a small modello was 

found in Dublin in the 1970s. It was painted on wood and 

only measured 21,2 x 61,3 cm. This modello is, however, 

slightly different from the completed painting. What really 

leaps out is the gap between the right group, accompanying

tender and the lictor are represented, the latter being a civil 

servant who carried the rods decorated with fasces, the 

symbol of power, for the consul. Another soldier is missing 

in the modello. We have therefore discovered yet another 

early idea of the artist and its development. 

We only have one oil study by Anthony van Dyck, 1599- 

1641, where he goes through the motions of developing 

the ‘Saint Sebastian Bound for Martyrdom’ painting. It’s 

located in the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh. 

In the Alte Pinakothek in Munich we find a repetition of 

the same theme. The draft was painted by van Dyck in oil 

colours on paper, and this was then fitted onto a canvas. 

The study measures 63,7 x 56 cm and until now was titled 

‘St. Sebastian; Andromeda und andere Studien’. A specialist 

paper on the undressed beauty of Andromeda is currently 

being prepared by art historians who want to put forward 

important research results which is why in this article 

we’re only assessing the drafts on the Sebastian painting in 

Edinburgh. 

painting. The study in oil at hand served the function 

of being an aid to his thought process which he kept to 

implement ideas at a later stage in time. 

I’ve always been interested in the sketches, drafts, and 

drawings of painters. I see their creative handwriting 

enclosed in such works. Many years ago, I talked with art 

historians Justus Müller Hofstede and Erik Larsen about 

the oil studies of Rubens and van Dyck, especially about the 

two works of this article. I received plenty of information 

during friendly conversations that have made it into this 

article. I would therefore like to thank both researchers and 

experts for allowing me to pass some of that knowledge on

Diplomatic World_nummer 56.

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