Located in the heart of Europe, Belgium is a small, open economy of 11,5 million inhabitants.

Every year the value of the Belgian exports amount to the equivalent of 80% of the country’s GDP. Diversification and open trade is the best protection against current geopolitical tensions and economic volatility.

As trade is one of the key drivers of the country’s wealth and prosperity, Belgium has every interest in ensuring smooth international trade and investment flows.

Critical infrastructure forms the backbone of global trade. How can a country like Belgium protect its critical infrastructure to ensure the resilience of the flow of goods, services,and people?

With the “Building blocks of the global energy system” roundtable we would like to showcase the successful presence of three Belgian industrial actors in Oman, active in the support of its energy transition.

The longstanding presence of AvH/Deme and Port of Antwerp-Bruges in the Port of Duqm and the strategic partnership between Fluxys and OQGN is to be seen as fundamental building blocks for the development of a new global energy system. Furthermore, since 2020, DEME and state-owned energy company OQ, have been developing Oman’s frontrunning green hydrogen production project, HYPORT Duqm, which will be enhanced by the infrastructure build by the rich Omani-Belgian cooperation.

It clearly showcases successful public private partnerships which were initiated by the Government of Oman more than a decade ago. By attracting a world renowned energy and infrastructure builder and developer, a world class port manager and a multinational transmission network operator, the government of Oman was already preparing ground for the implementation of its 2040 vision.

The World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2024 would be the right place to highlight this cooperation and to show the world this tangible success in pursuit of the global energy transition.

The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded the world of the importance of a thriving innovation ecosystem and resilient supply chains to ensure patients have rapid access to life-saving medicines. This lunchtime session will include a panel discussion among leading biopharma executives, moderated by Trevor Mundel, President Global Health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The panel will be composed of Belgium’s Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, Michel Demaré (Chairman of Astrazeneca), Paul Hudson (CEO of Sanofi), Julia Spencer (AVP of MSD) and Tineke Van Hooland (Deputy Secretary General of the Belgian Life Science Industry Federation). As part of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU, the panel will engage with an audience of life sciences leaders and specialists on the challenges and opportunities facing the European biopharmaceutical industry.

The session will be introduced by Prime Minister De Croo.

In a year when citizens will cast their votes in elections across the world –  the European elections, but also elections in the USA, India, and Belgium – it is timely to turn our attention to the art and science of democracy and decision-making.

Democratic societies rely on fact-based worldviews and science, but also on narratives that can bring together large, diverse communities. At a time when democracies are straining to cope with ongoing crises and long-term existential challenges, this topic is more important than ever. We will explore the role of fact and fiction in democracies, notably the role of science and fact-based worldviews.

How can research and also independent, quality media contribute to better governance and decision-making? What role will AI play?

This debate will be hosted at the Belgium House together with the EU’s European Research Council (ERC), during the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos. It serves as a kick-off ahead of the Nobel Prize Dialogue on 5 March 2024 in Brussels, co-organised by the Nobel Prize Outreach and the ERC, and under the auspices of the Belgian Presidency of the EU.

Money is a wonderful invention, but in its current form outdated. It is time to think about something new.
Money is the blood system of economies, yet its nature has not evolved through numerous industrial revolutions.
Only its shape has for instance adapted to the internet and to the ubiquity of smartphones.
What if money had memory? What would we do if we were able to look through to the origin or the destination of our money transfers?

Technology virtually enables anyone to print their own money, as medium of exchange. Can this ability be used for targeted community support, charitable donations, economic policies or for broad social purposes?
The web of payment systems connecting entities such as individuals, corporations, governments, and not-for profit organisations bears resemblance to the architecture of a neural network, in which electric impulsions would be transactions and neurons these entities. What would a super-br.AI.n tell us about our societies and economies if it were able to see even only parts of this network?

We invite you to read the white paper, authored by Belgian tech company Unbox, the provider of infrastructure for programmable exchange. Read it here.