Jambon dreams of a Flemish pavilion at the Dubai Expo

The Belgian Pavilion is a special piece of architecture, which is published by the weekly magazine time out It was hailed as “one of the coolest buildings” in the gallery. The facade shows the three regions of Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels responsible for foreign trade.

Gambon said in front of the VRT camera that he would like to see a Flemish pavilion at the World’s Fair someday. But at the moment we are operating in a federal context, where we are “in charge” of foreign trade. However, visiting tourists seem to be mainly interested in typical “Belgian” products such as chocolate, waffles and chips.

The exhibition in Dubai is the first global exhibition in an Arab country. According to the Flemish Prime Minister, Flanders should be present here, on the one hand to gain ideas, for example on how to make our society more sustainable, and on the other hand to publicize our innovations. It sounded like “you meet the whole world here”.

The UAE has been highly dependent on oil for many years, but it is increasingly diversifying. This creates opportunities to do business. In response to criticism of Dubai over human rights violations, Prime Minister Jambon reiterated his stance which he also declared in China. “Let’s raise these difficult issues through trade relations,” he pleaded.

• Podcast: What does our country have to do at the World Expo in Dubai?

Jambon took an extensive tour of the Belgian pavilion on Sunday, sitting on a Classified Cycling bike, attended by cyclist Victor Campinaarts. The bike ride is performed using virtual reality glasses, in which the visitor is shown images of Flanders, such as the Limburg path “cycling through the trees”.

Other Flemish technologies will also be discussed at the exhibition, such as the research center Imec, which can use artificial intelligence to identify an object and analyze the materials it is made of. Professor Stephen Latry of the University of Antwerp explained that this technology is already being used by Recupel to separate waste streams. What we show here at Expo is a show for the public, but it also creates potential for businesses. In the circular economy, the use of technology is still very limited, certainly the use of artificial intelligence.”