The Minister of Shipping and Road Transport & Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari met the Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium Mr. Alexander De Croo, in Mumbai yesterday to discuss bilateral issues concerning the maritime sector. Shri Gadkari sought greater participation of Belgian companies in Sagarmala projects, inland waterways and development of industrial clusters. He talked about the immense opportunities that exist in India in the areas of coastal shipping, inland water transport, cruise, new port development, smart-port industrial city and development of green ports and urged the Belgian delegation to further strengthen the cooperation that already exists between the two countries in the maritime sector. The Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium recalled the expeditious steps taken by Government of India in setting up the JNPT Antwerp Port Training Centre, which is now functioning well.
He assured that Belgium would extend full cooperation for the development of the maritime sector in India. He further said that these issues can be discussed in detail in the forthcoming Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union (BLEU) meeting, which is slated to be held in May 2017. Another high-level visit of Belgian delegation is also scheduled to visit India in November 2017.The meeting was attended by Shri Ravindra Agrawal, Joint Secretary (Sagarmala), Ministry of Shipping, Shri Neeraj Bansal, Chairman In-charge, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Mr Jan Luykx, Ambassador of Belgium to India, Mr Peter Huyghebaert, Consul General of Belgium to India, Mr. Marc Van Peel, President of Port of Antwerp, Mr Kristof Waterschoot, Managing Director APEC & PAI, , Mr Luc Arnouts, Commercial Director Port of Antwerp, Baron Mr Eddy Bruynickx, Honorary CEO of the Port of Antwerp and Mr Jürgen Marchand, Trade Commissioner, Flanders Investment and Trade.