“What’s blocking?“, we don’t know. But it has the merit of loosening tongues.”Me, if it weren’t for Awex, I would be nowhere“, continues our interlocutor from Namur. “And there, they want to cut budgets. We’re going to cut resources for something that brings in a lot of money! But cut down on other things instead!“, he says.
gull“We have to call a spade a spade, the money flowing through the walls, it’s over, we can no longer live beyond our means”
“Jeholet (the Walloon Minister of the Economy, MR, Editor’s note) wants to cut at all costs. But, without Awex, we would no longer benefit from prospecting, advice, contacts. This is a huge time saving. We are warned of the ‘red flags’, of what to be wary of, in complete transparency, of what we can trust, we obtain appointments easily. There, I was able to meet the management of Einstein Hospital very easily“, he continues. Welcoming, moreover, the role of Princess Astrid in making things easier. “People like to dream. A princess weighs in the balance, it gives importance. You are someone in their eyes, here, since you are knighted by the Belgian royal family. It makes things easier“, he continues, with a touch of humor.
“But there, the politicians, including Jeholet, they are coming, they are going to bring out the cheese grater… While there are businessmen invested here. Big profiles, Belgians who make money for the country. I’m afraid he’ll do something stupid by cutting Awex’s budget too much in the future. And there are several of us who think so.”he adds. “It cuts all the time. I can understand the reluctance of agencies (like Awex, hub.brussels or the Foreign Trade Agency, Editor’s note) to support projects“, another slips to us.
Philippe Kehren, CEO of Solvay: “We need to stop putting so many constraints on our industries in Europe”
A legitimate doubt?
For his part, Pierre-Yves Jeholet assumes and does not hide his desire to cut public spending. “The Awex budget is an important budget which has its reasons for being. But as in all sectors, there will be efforts to be made“, he explains to us during a discussion. “We must call a spade a spade, the money flowing from the walls, it’s over, we can no longer live beyond our means“, he says.
And when we meet Pascale Delcominette, the administrator of Awex, during the official reception, the question is annoying. She keeps smiling but the general message is scary. “There is the end of the recovery plan, the indexation of salaries, we are looking at all that… It will be fine but yes, like everywhere, we will have to make efforts“, she finally blurted out, before heading off to meet the members of the delegation. To discuss, network, release the pressure a little.
Princess Astrid on an economic mission to the heart of São Paulo, the city of “helicopter taxis”
Note that the Awex budget, in 2023, was 82.5 million euros. But it included funds from the stimulus plan. It was 71 million euros in 2022 and, even if the 2024 report has not yet been published, it should be around these amounts this year. It remains to be seen concretely how much Awex could lose next year.
Finally, note that Walloon exports amounted to $53.7 billion, with growth of 5.4% over the period 2019-2024, including 33.9% only for the pharmaceutical and chemical industry. Specialties for Wallonia, which are “challenged” by India. But this is good, the next economic mission will take place in March, in this most populous country in the world.
