Flanders Investment & Trade has ten Science & Technology Offices spread across the globe. As connectors, they put technology companies from Flanders in touch with the right partners in their geographical focus area. They also attract foreign players to invest in our region. This reinforces Flanders’ position as a tech region on the world map.

There are ten Science & Technology Offices globally: in New York, Palo Alto, Paris, London, Copenhagen, Munich, Mumbai, Singapore, Guangzhou and Tokyo. Each S&T Office is responsible for a geographical focus area and lays an emphasis on one or more of three focus areas: digital tech, health tech and climate tech.

These FIT offices aim to reinforce Flanders’ position as a tech region on the world map. This can be done by putting technology-driven companies from Flanders in the various geographical focus areas in touch with the right partners, thus giving them an edge in foreign markets. But also the reverse, by attracting foreign players and persuading them to invest in our region. In particular, this involves technology-driven players that can complement and enhance the innovative and economic fabric of Flanders. Lastly, the offices also connect Flemish companies, research centres, entrepreneurial organisations, incubators and accelerators with foreign players – the latter may be in the same sector, prospects, partners, distributors, potential investors, venture capitalists or just human talent.

A talented team
That human talent is, of course, crucial for the proper operation of the S&T Offices too. The Technology Attachés (TAs), along with the Science & Technology co-ordinator, play a crucial role in FIT’s tech mission. They build up an extensive network of foreign tech companies, venture capitalists, knowledge and research centres, clusters, incubators, accelerators, etc. This way, they create new connections to the Flemish ecosystem.

Our S&T Offices welcomed three new climate tech attachés last year:

Kim Demeyer, Technology Attaché in Singapore / Ralph Moreau, Technology Attaché in Palo Alto / Maarten Lambert, Technology Attaché in Copenhagen

From 1 March 2022, a climate tech deputy will start in Mumbai with a focus on India. For the full TA team, you van visit the FIT website.

https://www.flandersinvestmentandtrade.com/en/strategy/tech-makes-flanders-tick

Filip De Weerdt, Science & Technology Coördinator in Brussel