The Belgian Delegation accompanying the ambassador and the Consul General also included Mr. Wouter Vanhees, the Trade & Investment Commissioner of Flanders Investment & Trade and Ms. Emmanuelle Timmermans, Trade & Investment Commissioner of Wallonia Export and Investment Agency. The visit was aimed at exploring potential opportunities for collaboration, knowledge exchange, and fostering diplomatic and educational ties between Belgium and India.

The esteemed guests were given a tour of the campus and its modern facilities. They also met with university leadership, faculty, and students, and H.E. Mr. Didier VANDERHASSELT personally interacted with the students of the LLM and MBA programmes.

Gujarat Maritime University has a strong commitment to promoting maritime education, research, 

and industry collaborations in Gujarat and India. The university offers a range of postgraduate, and doctoral programs in the domains of law and management. The visit of H.E. Mr. Didier VANDERHASSELT and Mr. Frank Geerkens aimed to identify potential areas of collaboration in research, training, and capacity building between GMU and Belgian academic institutions and industries.

Following the recent signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Gujarat Maritime University and the APEC-Flanders Training Centre, 

both institutions are expected to engage in a series of collaborative efforts aimed at strengthening maritime education, research, and industry partnerships.

The MoU and the collaboration of GMU and APEC serves as a catalyst for fostering a long-term partnership between India and Belgium to enhance the quality of maritime education, research, and industry collaborations.