Flemish Prime Minister Jan Jambon paid a visit to the Belgian pavilion at the start of the Flemish week at the Expo in Dubai on Sunday. Nevertheless, Jambon hopes one day to have its own Flemish pavilion at an Expo.
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The Belgian pavilion is a special piece of architecture, which the weekly magazine Time Out is hailed as ‘one of the coolest buildings’ at the Expo. The facade shows the three regions of Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels, which are responsible for foreign trade.
Jambon said in front of the VRT camera that he would like to see a Flemish pavilion at the world expo one day. “But for now we are working in a federal context, where we are ‘in charge’ for foreign trade.” However, the visiting tourists appear to be mainly interested in the typically ‘Belgian’ products such as chocolate, waffles and chips.
The Expo in Dubai is the first ever world exhibition in an Arab country. According to the Flemish Prime Minister, Flanders should be present here, on the one hand to gain ideas, for example on how to make our society more sustainable, and on the other to publicize our innovations. “You meet the whole world here,” it sounded.
The Emirates have been heavily dependent on oil for many years, but are increasingly diversifying. And that creates opportunities to do business. In response to the criticism that human rights are being violated in Dubai, Prime Minister Jambon reiterated his position, which he also proclaimed in China. “Let us raise these difficult issues through trade relations,” he pleaded.
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Jambon was given an extensive tour of the Belgian pavilion on Sunday, during which he took a seat on a bicycle from the company Classified Cycling, in the presence of cyclist Victor Campenaerts. A ride on the bicycle is done with virtual reality glasses, in which the visitor is shown images of Flanders, such as the Limburg course ‘Cycling through the Trees’.
Other Flemish technology will also be discussed at the Expo, such as the research center Imec, which can use artificial intelligence to recognize an object and analyze which materials it is made of. That technology is already being used by Recupel for separating waste flows, explained Professor Steven Latré of the University of Antwerp. ‘What we are showing here at the Expo is a showcase for the general public, but it also creates potential for companies. In the circular economy, the use of technology is still quite limited, certainly the use of artificial intelligence’.
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