Princess Astrid will be accompanied by a ministerial delegation with Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Euro Affairs, Foreign Trade plus Federal Cultural Institutions, Hadja Lahbib, Minister-President of the Government of Flanders, Jan Jambon, and Brussels State Secretary responsible for Urbanism and History, European and International Relations and Foreign Trade, Pascal Smet. Following the signing ceremony, Princess Astrid as well as the delegation will participate in the particular ribbon cutting ceremony from the Hydrobingo, the world’s 1st hydrogen powered ferry. The Hydrobingo was realised through a joint venture of Tsuneishi (Japan) and CMB from Belgium. Alexander Saverys, the TOP DOG of CMB will take part in the ribbon cutting wedding ceremony. In the mid-day, Princess Astrid and the formal delegation will visit the Slot of Nagoya to commemorate the sustainable partnership involving the Port of Nagoya, the biggest car exporting port on the planet, and the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, the largest car importing port in the world. The delegation is going to be welcomed by Yuji Kamata, Executive Vice President of the Nagoya Port Authority, within the presence of the CEO of the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, Jacques Vandermeiren and witness the signing ceremony of the revival of the MOU between the Slot of Nagoya and the Port of Antwerp-Bruges on the occasion of the merger of the ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge. Aim of the visit of the Belgian economic mission to Nagoya is to emphasise the Belgo-Japanese partnership in the field of the thoroughly clean energy transition in the automotive and maritime sector. From December 5 to nine, Her Royal Highness Princess Astrid of Belgium, symbolizing His Majesty the King, is leading the Belgian economic mission to Japan. On 7 December, many visits to businesses with public officials are scheduled in Nagoya in order to explore investment and economic for you to strengthen the partnerships in between Belgium and Japan. Follow the Belgian Economic Mission to Japan on social networking: #BEmissionJPN The full programme and all useful information on the Belgian economic mission to Japan are available on the following website: https://www.belgianeconomicmission.be Princess Astrid and the official delegation will start having a visit over lunch in order to Suzuka International Racing Program, famous for Formula 1 . Suzuka has a longstanding friendship contract with Spa Francorchamps within Belgium. The visit will put emphasis on the role of race circuits within innovating the ecosystem of the a automotive industry, crucial to understanding the climate ambitions towards carbon neutrality in 2050. Princess Astrid and the delegation will meet the Governor of Aichi Prefecture, H. E. Hideaki Omura to highlight the importance of the cooperation agreement that the 3 Regions of Belgium have along with Aichi Prefecture.
