Antwerp Port: Successful Trade Mission to India

During the trade mission to India a collaboration agreement was signed between Antwerp Port Authority and the Madras Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI), and Princess Astrid of Belgium opened the exhibition of 17th-century baroque art in Mumbai.

A delegation from the Antwerp port community headed by HRH Princess Astrid of Belgium visited India from 23 to 30 November 2013. The Antwerp port community is very much aware of the growth opportunities in India, and so is carrying out targetted investment in close collaboration with the Indian business world and the local authorities. During the royal mission there were various initiatives to promote trade and business relations between the two regions.

Antwerp strengthens relations with collaboration agreement

In Chennai a collaboration agreement was signed between the Madras Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Antwerp Port Authority in the presence of Princess Astrid and representatives of the federal and regional governments. With this agreement, Port Authority chairman Marc Van Peel and MCCI president T. Shivaraman seek to strengthen the good relations between the two organisations and confirm the privileged position which the port of Antwerp holds in the Indian maritime world.

MCCI and Antwerp Port Authority recognise the mutual economic interest and have committed themselves to expanding existing relations and developing new ones with a view to boosting the development of both regions. As the oldest chamber of commerce in southern India, MCCI is a highly valued partner.

Exclusive Antwerp exhibition opens in Mumbai

During the trade mission in Mumbai the exhibition entitled “Masterpieces from Antwerp, Exclusive Paintings and Engravings from the 17th Century” was ceremonially opened by Princess Astrid and various port representatives. The exhibition includes priceless paintings from the collection of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, together with prints from the Print Cabinet of the Plantin-Moretus Print Cabinet, also in Antwerp.

Works by Flemish baroque masters such as Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, Jacques Jordaens and David Teniers can be admired. The exhibition runs from 27 November 2013 to 9 February 2014 in the prestigious Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya Museum.

For the port of Antwerp as the driving force behind the exhibition, this is a unique opportunities to showcase the good relations between the two cities and their ports. “These prints and paintings are real Flemish ambassadors that bear witness to the good relations between Mumbai and Antwerp,” explained port alderman Marc Van Peel. “They symbolise the determination to collaborate in the economic, cultural and educational fields and to further strengthen the Antwerp-India network.”

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Press Release, December 4, 2013