Belgium, a love brand?

The Expo was brought to a close almost two months ago with outstanding visitor and sales figures, and to the great satisfaction of all those who took part. As you will already be aware from the media coverage, the Belgian pavilion was a huge success and its sale to the city of Qingdao has brought the event to a fantastic end. However, as well as this, we have also seen that Belgium has the potential to be a ‘love brand' as some marketers call it - a very strong brand that people feel a bond with, and that consequently sells very well...

And this is doing our economy, and our image, a lot of good. Large and small Belgian companies that previously had not yet gained a foothold in Shanghai are doing business there today. And the term ‘Belgium' means much more to millions of Chinese people today than it did in April 2010, before the Expo.

Even more reason to focus on the opportunities offered by a structure that can advertise, in a more permanent way and separately from our country's affairs, Belgium as a country that is good to work and invest in. I am confident that this type of more permanent structure for the promotion of our country during international events will benefit Belgium as a brand.

I would like to once again take this opportunity to express my special thanks to the partners and sponsors of our Belgian pavilion for their enthusiasm and support. Without them, none of this would have been possible.
This final newsletter contains articles about the results achieved by our Belgian pavilion, but also about future international events that present an opportunity to promote our country as a brand. I hope you enjoy reading this final newsletter.

Leo Delcroix
Commissioner-General of the Belgian government
Expo 2010 Shanghai