Belgium Prince to strengthen bilateral ties with India

New Delhi, Mar 22 : Belgium Prince Philippe has arrived in India eyeing upon strengthening the bilateral ties between the two nations.

Prince Philippe, who arrived here on Saturday along with Princess Mathilde and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Steven Vanackere, will visit Mumbai and Pune.

Prince has come to India with a large mission and two countries are expected to sign around 28 agreements during his current visit.

This is the fourth such Belgian trade and industry delegation visiting India.

The economic mission is multi-sector with clusters in automobile, aeronautics, transport infrastructure, clean technology and renewable energy, bio-pharma, audiovisual and diamonds.

Belgium has emerged as one of India''s most important trading partners in the European Union (EU).

Belgium is presently India''s third most important European trading partner. Total bilateral exports between both the countries exceeded 8.8 billion Euros in 2008.

Trade in gems and jewellery constitutes about 75 percent of the bilateral trade.

Belgium has emerged as the 21st largest investor in India and the 9th largest within the European Union.

Belgium is the prime logistical hub for Indian goods traded with Europe. A number of Belgian firms are involved in development of infrastructure for ports, roads and railways in India.

Both India and Belgium have bilateral treaty to avoid dual taxation, a bilateral investment treaty, a cooperation agreement in the area of science and technology, and transport agreements.