CAIRO: It has been just over a century since the Belgian Édouard Empain, a part-time Egyptologist and full-time capitalist, broke ground on the sprawling avenues of modern Heliopolis. Since then, the fortunes of foreign entrepreneurs here have followed an erratic path, from the nadir of Nasser-era nationalism to today’s scramble for foreign cash.
Last week, the Baron’s legacy was once again cast as a testament to a prosperous history shared by Egypt and his small home country, as the Egyptian Belgian Business Association hosted a four-day trade tour here earlier this week.
Swift economic growth and an increasingly foreigner-friendly business climate inspired the delegation, which included about one hundred businesspeople and nearly 30 political officials headed by Philippe Marie, Prince of Belgium, and Vincent Van Quickenborne, the 35-year-old Belgian Minister of Economy and “Administrative Simplification.
The Belgian chiefs mingled with a range of Egyptian top brass, including the ministers of transport, trade, petroleum, investment and the governors of Alexandria and Cairo.
“They really are a business government, Belgian organizer Hendrik Van de Velde said of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif’s administration. “You can feel it.
Most trade deals between the two states fall in the realms of engineering, oil and gas, Van de Velde said. Belgian companies, which are generally small and innovation-driven, often support larger firms with technology in areas like pipeline connection and “dredging, a process by which waterways are scraped or sucked free of sediments.
Several companies came to promote their expertise in public transport, though no current deals between Egypt and Belgium exist.
“We prefer to open doors and let businessmen do their work, said Van de Velde. “That’s what we call economic diplomacy.
A daytrip to Alexandria saw the mission visit a handful of Egyptian and Belgian port authorities, Oriental Weavers, which uses Belgian-made machines, and Schréder, a Belgian public lighting company known for its work on Rome’s Coliseum and Paris’s Champs-Élysées.
Along the way, three Egyptian businesspeople were promoted or inducted into the Belgian royal order: Farid Khamis of Oriental Weavers, Onsi Sawiris of Orascom and Hosna Rachid, head of Unilever Egypt.
Prince Philippe heads four such delegations each year, Van de Velde said.
Earlier this year, a Belgian mission visited Vancouver and Seattle; trips to Argentina and Uruguay in October and Singapore and Indonesia in November will follow.
Belgium has not sponsored a trade tour of Egypt in nearly a decade. They decided to come this year in part because Egypt was named one of the “Next 11 growing markets by Goldman Sachs investment bank in 2005.
“It’s the moment to be here, Van de Velde said.
