In Lipetsk, on February 16, at My Business Сenter, a meeting was held between leading small and medium-sized business entrepreneurs and the economic and trade attache of the Walloon region and the Brussels-Capital Region of the Kingdom of Belgium in Moscow, Gerard Segers.

In his opening remarks, Anatoly Goltsov, President of the Lipetsk Chamber of Commerce and Industry, emphasized the importance of the meeting for the development of economic ties between the region's leading small and medium businesses and Belgian colleagues. In his speech, Mr. Goltsov spoke about the activities of the My Business Center and the Union "Lipetsk Chamber of Commerce and Industry", which serve as a link for the development of cooperation between the Lipetsk region and Belgium.

Gerard Seghers stressed that the purpose of his work in Russia is to build bridges between entrepreneurs. And if big business is doing it successfully, then small and medium-sized businesses have certain concerns about the demand for their products in the Western market. But it is precisely such structures as the Trade Representation of the Regions of Belgium and the "My Business" center that help to remove possible fears and concerns about entering foreign markets and find reliable partners in both countries.

Dmitry Stepanov, Deputy Head of the Export Support Center of the Lipetsk Region, noted that last year Lipetsk small and medium-sized enterprises supplied their products to 43 countries of the world and expressed hope for a return visit of regional exporters to Belgium after the removal of COVID restrictions.

Director of Metal Trade company Stanislav Kamenetsky said that his company already supplies its products to the EU countries and is ready to build its own plant in Belgium.

Representatives of other Lipetsk organizations present at the meeting spoke about plans for the development of trade relations and expressed their desire to find partners in Belgium.

As a result of the meeting, an agreement was reached on organizing a business mission of Lipetsk enterprises to Belgium in order to study the Western market and the possibility of concluding export contracts.

Chamber Press Service on the Basis of Information from Lipetsk