MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Belgian heir and businessmen on trade tour in Uruguay

Belgian throne, Prince Philippe

The heir to the Belgian throne, Prince Philippe and a delegation of a hundred businessmen are currently visiting Uruguay until Friday as part of a Latin-American trade and investment tour.

On Wednesday Prince Philippe met with Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez and visited a free zone development area which is partly owned by Belgian interests and has turned out to be a very successful undertaking. On Thursday the royal and the delegation together with representatives from Kateon Natie enterprises, a Belgian company, visited the port of Montevideo, partly under concession to that company and later listened to a conference from Uruguay's port authority. The Belgian delegation represents over fifty corporations, as well as commerce chambers and industry federations. It includes representatives from such diverse sectors as construction and infrastructure; investment, banks and financing; environment, health; ports, dredging and logistics; nuclear energy, electricity and other alternative energies. Over 180 business meetings have been arranged for the Belgian delegation with local companies and representations coordinated by the Belgian Trade Office from the embassy and Uruguay's Trade Promotion Services. But it was not all harmony. Uruguayan sources are quoted saying that the Belgian government has not come to "pressure" Uruguay to prevent the tender of a second container terminal in the port of Montevideo, which would openly compete with Katoen Natie enterprises who currently have exclusive rights. "They are only interested in expanding trade and other venues of investment". The Belgian corporation and the Uruguayan government have different interpretations on the concession contract to manage Montevideo's container terminals and conditions to open the market to competition. Belgium is a country with a long and recognized expertise in logistics and port administrations, two qualities the Uruguayan government is interested in promoting from Montevideo for the region. "They are quite similar countries in spite of the fact one is in Europe and the other in South America", said Joris Thys, Katoen Natie CEO in Uruguay.