Princess Astrid wraps up Belgian mission to the UK at waste management and energy centres

The first Belgian economic mission since the corona pandemic went to the United Kingdom to tackle two main goals: human rights and climate change. Princess Astrid wraps up the five-day mission this Thursday 12 May in London.

At 11 AM (London time), the Belgian princess visits the start of the construction of Rivenhall Integrated Waste Management Facility (IWMF) and Energy Centre in Essex. The government delegations includes the Energy minister, Tinne van der Straeten; the vice-president of the Walloon Government and Economy minister, Willy Borsus; the State Secretary of the Brussels-Capital Region, Pascal Smet; and Minister-President of the Government of Flanders, Jan Jambon.

The Belgian princess and ministers are welcomed by Fernand Huts, President of Katoen Natie Group, and Paul De Bruycker, CEO at Indaver Group, besides Fabian Leroy, President BoD Indaver. 

Indaver develops waste treatment infrastructure in European countries, including the UK, and currently has facilities and operations in Belgium, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Portugal. 

The welcoming act is followed by a speech of Jambon scheduled to 11.35 AM.

Regarding the mission, Energy minister van der Straeten tweeted this week Belgium and the UK are working towards decarbonisation and future energy interconnection in order to strengthen energy security and sustainability.

"Together, we can turn the North Sea into one large energy plant," she said. ​ 

Human Rights

Belgium and the United Kingdom have also stated the importance of doing business respecting human rights.

“The UN Guiding Principles (UNGPs) on Business and Human Rights are universally recognised as the framework for preventing, addressing and remediating business-related human rights abuses,” said the energy minister.

The Belgian Federal Government adopted a National Action Plan to implement the UNGPs, drawing on expertise from various governmental departments as well as stakeholders.

Thirty-three concrete actions were put forward, including one to make companies and other stakeholders aware of the subject of “companies and human rights” in the context of Belgian economic missions abroad.

Concrete cooperation

During this economic mission to the United Kingdom, Belgium signed nine cooperation agreements regarding the import of Bruges beers and Liège chocolate; projects to strengthen both Belgian and British energy sectors, besides the expansion of rail freight services. Moreover, a memorandum concerning GDPR obligations has also been signed.

For the director of the Foreign Trade Agency, Fabienne L'Hoost, these agreements show the "close ties" between the two countries after the "difficult times" due to the Brexit and the corona pandemic.

(VIV) ​ #FlandersNewsService 

 © BELGA PHOTO (VLAD VANDERKELEN)