Belgian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce (BCECC)

It’s official: The Belgian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce (BCECC) has reached a structural collaboration agreement with Flanders Investment & Trade (FIT), Flanders’ agency for international enterprise. The agreement was signed on 3 October 2017 by Bernard Dewit, Chairman of the BCECC, and Claire Tillekaerts, CEO at FIT, during an official ceremony at the Hotel Errera in Brussels. Flanders’ Minister-President Geert Bourgeois also attended the ceremony, formally sealing the reinforced collaboration. This partnership is embedded within ‘Vlaanderen versnelt!’ (‘Flanders accelerates!’), Flanders’ internationalization strategy.

The BCECC and FIT will work closely together to support the internationalization plans of Flanders-based businesses even better and in a more streamlined way. This will be done, among other things, through seminars, conferences and trade missions.

In good company

In addition to the BCECC, another 16 organizations will be enhancing their collaboration with FIT. These include business organizations, chambers of commerce, federations and clusters. Each signed an agreement with FIT to help gear up the internationalization of Flanders-based companies:

• Agoria
• B-Hive
• Belgo-Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry
• DSP Valley
• essenscia
• Euka
• Flanders Cleantech Association
• FEVIA Vlaanderen
• Fedustria
• Vlaams-Chinese Kamer van Koophandel
• VIL
• Flanders.bio
• Startups.be
• Voka
• Unizo
• VKWLimburg

These structural partnerships are valid for the period of 2017-2021. Their scopes go beyond earlier project-based collaborations, while the funding is split 50/50 between the partners and FIT. Every year, the partnerships will be evaluated based on pre-defined key performance indicators (KPIs). That way, their impacts can be measured objectively.