English - Industrial Research Institute

The Belgian Agency «Wallonia»
provides expertise in the field
of building «clusters»
From the left: Mr. Swinen, Dr. Frenn, and Mrs. Abdel Rahim
Thursday, January 14, 2010
The Director-General of the Industrial Research Institute
Dr. Bassam Frenn has made discussions with
Mr. Philippe Swinen, President of AWEX (Agency
for Export and Foreign Investments Development in
the Belgian province «Wallonia» ), in the presence
of Mrs. Nada Abdel-Rahim, the Economic and Commercial
Attaché at the Embassy of Belgium in Lebanon.
The discussions addressed the issue of the preparation
for a partnership and cooperation agreement
between the Institute and the Belgian Agency known
at the European level for its extensive expertise in
building “clusters” for companies and institutions in
specialized production sectors.
Dr. Frenn said Lebanon, through the European - Lebanese
Center for Industrial modernization (ELCIM)
which is managed by the Industrial Research Institute,
has contested the first successful experiment of
this kind in cooperation with the Lebanese Association
for Software Industry, establishing with it the
first cluster for institutions and companies dealing
with software and electronics.
The meeting has raised in an extensive discussion the
economic relations between Lebanon and Belgium.
Mr. Swinen suggested to Dr. Frenn that IRI be a strategic
partner for the Belgian agency for the organization
of training sessions for eligible senior staff for
the internationalization of small and medium enterprises
in Lebanon.
The two parties put forward the idea of organizing a
specialized workshop dealing with these subjects.
Internationalization of
Lebanese Enterprises
Promotion of Exports and
Best Investment Climate Workshop
The Industrial Research Institute (IRI) and the Wallonia
Export and Investment Agency (AWEX) prepared
a workshop on the 5th and 6th of July 2010 at
the IRI conference room in Beirut, untitled: “Internationalisation
of the Lebanese Enterprises Promotion
of Exports and Best Investment Climate”. The
workshop was prepared in partnership with ; AWEX
(Wallonia Export and Investment Agency) - BEL-
GIUM ACCI0 – Agency from the Government of
Catalonia in charge of Promoting the Internationalisation
and Innovation of Companies)- SPAIN
;SPRINTER – (Agency from Emilia-Romagna in
Charge of Promoting the Internationalisation and
Innovation of Companies) – ITALY ERAI and (En-
The Belgian Business Council
Honors Philippe Swinen
January 15, 2010
The Belgian Business Council in Lebanon, presided
by Mouhannad Al-Assaad, Chairman of the Development
Agency of Exports and Investment in Belgium,
organized a banquet honoring Mr. Philippe
Swinen, in the presence of Dr. Bassam Frenn, (Director
General of the Industrial Research Institute), Mr.
terprise Rhône-Alpes International)- FRANCE.
The workshop aimed at contributing , through the presentation
of European experiences, to help Lebanese
institutions design new and improved measures promoting
export of Lebanese SME's, with the objective
of increasing their market share on foreign markets.
The workshop also indented to help local SMEs to acquire
the best business practices and promotion techniques
available with the European public organizations
that support international activities of firms. It
also exposed the European experience in clusters and
presented the best available practices in this domain.
Antoine Delchor (Chargé d’Affaires of the Belgian
Embassy), and Mrs. Nada Abdel Rahim (Commercial
Attaché at the Belgian Embassy in Lebanon).
The speeches made during the banquet have focused
on activating the Belgian role in supporting the small
and medium enterprises in Lebanon.
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