The Belgian Delegation accompanying the ambassador and
the Consul General also included Mr.
Wouter Vanhees, the Trade & Investment Commissioner of Flanders Investment
& Trade and Ms. Emmanuelle Timmermans, Trade & Investment Commissioner
of Wallonia Export and Investment Agency. The visit was aimed
at exploring potential opportunities for collaboration, knowledge exchange, and
fostering diplomatic and educational ties between Belgium and India.
The
esteemed guests were given a tour of the campus and its modern facilities. They also met with university leadership, faculty,
and students, and H.E. Mr. Didier VANDERHASSELT personally interacted with the
students of the LLM and MBA programmes.
Gujarat
Maritime University has a strong commitment to promoting maritime education,
research, and industry collaborations in Gujarat and India. The university offers a range of postgraduate, and
doctoral programs in the domains of law and management. The visit of H.E. Mr.
Didier VANDERHASSELT and Mr. Frank Geerkens aimed to identify potential areas
of collaboration in research, training, and capacity building between GMU and
Belgian academic institutions and industries.
Following the recent signing of the Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) between Gujarat Maritime University and the APEC-Flanders
Training Centre, both institutions are expected to engage in a series of
collaborative efforts aimed at strengthening maritime education, research, and
industry partnerships.
The MoU and the collaboration of GMU and
APEC serves as a catalyst for fostering a long-term partnership between India
and Belgium to enhance the quality of maritime education, research, and
industry collaborations.