Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 4 : Belgian Prime Minister on Friday pitched the Port of Antwerp-Bruges as a gateway for Indian exports into the wider European market, as the India-EU Free Trade Agreement opens up greater market access and lowers tariffs on goods traded between the two sides.
Addressing the India-Belgium High-Level Dialogue on the India-EU Free Trade Agreement in Mumbai, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said Antwerp-Bruges' location gives exporters access to a large share of the European market.
“Two-thirds of the European purchasing power is in trucking range of Antwerp. What arrives in our city is not at the edge of the European market; it is inside the European market,” De Wever said.
He said the trade agreement could provide the foundation for substantially expanding commercial links between India and Belgium.
“The free trade agreement is a foundation. So much can be built on it,” he said.
De Wever said the agreement would scrap or reduce tariffs on more than 95 per cent of Indian and European goods exports, covering products including textiles, clothing, footwear, machinery and automotive components.
He also highlighted the existing role of Antwerp-Bruges in handling Indian food and pharmaceutical shipments into Europe.
“Almost all Indian shrimp entering Northwest Europe comes in through the port of Antwerp,” he said, adding that Belgium could become a wider entry point for Indian food products into the European market.
On pharmaceuticals, De Wever said Antwerp-Bruges offers specialised cold-chain infrastructure.
“The port of Antwerp is the first port in the world to guarantee an unbroken cold chain. The entire logistics chain for medicines runs from quay to warehouse without a single interruption,” he said.
The Belgian Prime Minister also identified maritime infrastructure, dredging and green hydrogen as areas with scope for greater cooperation.
“India is opening maritime services and dredging further than in any previous trade agreement,” he said, adding that Belgian dredging and infrastructure companies already have experience working in India.
On clean energy, he said, “India has ambitious plans for the production of green hydrogen to support the energy transition. Belgium intends to become the northwest European import hub for green molecules. There are so many obvious matches.”
De Wever also said a full delegation from the Antwerp-Bruges port community, including companies from terminals, logistics, chemistry and energy, would visit India in February next year to pursue further cooperation.
“We are not coming to discuss what we might do. We are coming to agree on what we are going to do together,” he said.
De Wever's remarks came during the India-Belgium High-Level Dialogue on the India-EU Free Trade Agreement, held in Mumbai during his three-day official visit to India.
De Wever, who took office in February 2025, is visiting India for the first time as Belgian Prime Minister and is accompanied by Belgium's Minister of Defence and Foreign Trade Theo Francken, along with a high-level delegation of officials and business leaders.
India and Belgium have also moved to deepen cooperation in defence, trade, clean energy and technology.
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with De Wever on Thursday, the two countries set a target of doubling bilateral trade over the next five years.
They also signed a Letter of Intent on Defence Cooperation and a separate MoU between the Belgian Security and Defence Industry Association and the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers to strengthen industrial cooperation and facilitate access to Belgian markets and expertise.
India-Belgium bilateral trade stood at USD 10.92 billion in 2025-26, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.