Mumbai : Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever landed in Mumbai today after concluding his New Delhi leg of the visit, where he was received at the airport by Maharashtra’s Minister of Marketing and Protocol, Jayakumar Raval. His Mumbai schedule includes meetings with stakeholders from the diamond, ports, and logistics sectors — engagements expected to give a further push to economic ties between the two countries.
A century-old diamond partnership
Belgium — specifically Antwerp — and India share one of the oldest and deepest trade relationships in the global diamond industry. India’s cutting and polishing hubs, most notably Surat, work in close tandem with Antwerp’s role as a global centre for diamond certification and trade compliance. This partnership was reaffirmed earlier this year at the Indo-Belgian Diamond Forum held in New Delhi, where the event highlighted the India-Belgium diamond corridor, which combines India’s manufacturing capabilities with Antwerp’s position in certification, compliance and global diamond trade. The forum drew participation from major industry bodies including GJEPC and HRD Antwerp, whose Paul De Wachter noted that Belgium and India have been partners in this sector for decades.
Ports and logistics: an expanding relationship
On the ports and logistics front, the Port of Antwerp-Bruges — Europe’s second-largest port — has been steadily deepening its India engagement. Seven direct shipping lines and over 800 connections link Antwerp-Bruges to Indian ports, making it an essential gateway for goods traveling between the two regions, and the port holds the largest market share in Northwestern Europe for trade with India. Notably, Antwerp-Bruges serves as the leading destination for Indian steel imports.
The two sides have also invested in skill-building, with the Antwerp/Flanders Port Training Center having trained over 20,000 professionals globally since 1977, and setting up a dedicated JNPA-Antwerp Port Training and Consultancy Foundation in India that runs regular courses for Indian port employees. On the institutional side, Port of Antwerp-Bruges International is working with India’s Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways to explore how the port can support India’s major ports in reaching the targets set out in the Maritime Vision 2030-2047.
Given this existing foundation, De Wever’s Mumbai engagements are likely to focus on translating these institutional ties into fresh commercial opportunities — whether through new diamond-trade initiatives, port-modernization projects, or expanded logistics partnerships between Belgian and Indian firms.