Ambassador of Kingdom of Belgium Jan Luykx on Tuesday said Belgium and Nagaland can collaborate in the field of IT and renewable energy following the guidelines of the memorandum of understanding signed between Belgium and India in the two sectors.
Luykx was speaking at a programme organized to welcome him by the department of IT&C, Department of Power and Kohima Smart City Development Ltd Company at the conference hall of Directorate of IT&C in Kohima.
The ambassador, who met Nagaland Governor and Chief Minister earlier, expressed optimism for some collaboration in some areas.
“I’ve got a good feel of the state of Nagaland,” he stated.
Stating that Belgium is in the centre of Europe and is similar to India in the context of being multi-cultural and with different political entities, Luykx said, “We know a lot about developing cities and about challenges related to developing a city but obviously smart cities involve from top level IT to basic infrastructural needs like sewage. We have a lot of knowledge on these.”
“We are already involved in building smart cities in some other states in India so it is possible we can work together here in Kohima.”
The ambassador further mentioned that Belgium’s economy is driven by private sector, adding the government can facilitate contact and give information but it’s up to the private sector to act.
According to him food processing and tourism are very important in the context of Nagaland.
Investment and Trade Commissioner for Flanders, Alexis said he was amazed by the enthusiasm of the young entrepreneurs in the state who want to work hard, contribute and change things.
Speaking on the possibilities of synergies, he specifically mentioned Flanders in Belgium known for its logistics hub, infrastructure and connectivity. “Here we can learn from each other,” he stated.
“In order to work together first of all we need matchmaking of the companies, which we can do through trade fairs or by bringing parties together through trade missions,” Alexis said.
For smart cities, he assured to definitely contact some cities in Belgium for collaborations.
Alexis further opined that India can re-develop and do much more as global service provider in the field of IT sector because it has smart and dynamic entrepreneurs in ITC.
Advisor, Power, Tovihoto Ayemi, expressed hope that avenues will be explored in the coming days with Belgium in the power sector with the visit of the ambassador. He stated that the state Power department is interested to introduce new technology in the State and requested the ambassador to initiate steps for foreign collaboration.