It’s a little known fact that Belgium is Britain’s sixth largest trading partner – much bigger than any of the BRIC countries which get so much attention. Now, the British Chamber is launching a new award programme to highlight the success of British exporters in the Belgian market, and create more business opportunities for our members.

The new awards were announced in November by Glynis Whiting, President of the British Chamber, at the glittering ‘Golden Bridge’ export awards in London. We are partnering with our friends at the Belgium Luxembourg Chamber in Great Britain (BLCC) who already run this highly successful awards programme for Belgian and Luxembourger exporters to the UK. The first accolades to British exporters will be awarded in November 2012.

We will be working closely with UK Trade & Industry (UKTI) and the British Embassy, as well as local chambers of commerce in the UK, to identify British companies already exporting to Belgium, as well as those interested in starting. And we’ll also be launching a package of services to provide a ‘soft landing’ in Belgium for UK firms, with the help of chamber members.

As ever, we want our expert members to get involved both as advisers and to help identify interested companies. We’ll be starting to develop our plans early next year – so if you think you can help, let us know!