Belgian economic mission to Türkiye: Brussels companies strongly represented

A true bridge between Europe and Asia, a major geostrategic player in the Caucasus and the Middle East, an ally within NATO, the OSCE and other international organisations, and a market of 85 million inhabitants: there is no shortage of reasons to take an interest in Türkiye. No fewer than 428 Belgian companies participated in the royal economic mission to Istanbul and Ankara from 10 to 14 May, including 50 Brussels companies.

“It is possible to do business in Türkiye in practically every field of activity, since the country has evolved from a production economy into an economy based on new technologies.” With these words, our Trade Commissioner in Türkiye, Stefano Missir di Lusignano, highlights the diversity of exchange sectors and the complementarity between the Turkish and Brussels economies, particularly in industry, new technologies, logistics and high value-added services.

Since 2019, Brussels exports of goods to Türkiye have experienced contrasting developments, with increases and decreases from one year to another (peaking in 2023), reaching €40.5 million in 2025. A relationship that remains volatile, yet structurally promising: Türkiye is in fact the Brussels Region’s 18th largest client.

These exports mainly concern:

• pharmaceutical products (74% of total Brussels exports to Türkiye in 2025);
• orthopaedic articles and appliances, splints and prosthetic items (14.6% of total exports in 2025);
• machinery, appliances and electrical equipment (4.2% of total exports in 2025);
• food products and beverages (1.5% of total exports in 2025).

It should be noted that 90% of goods exports therefore concern the healthcare sector.

As regards services, Belgium exported €907.9 million to Türkiye in 2024. As a reminder, the Brussels Region represented 24% of Belgian service exports in 2024.

What is the purpose of an economic mission to Türkiye?

In mid-May, Türkiye put on its finest attire to welcome a large Belgian delegation led by Her Majesty Queen Mathilde. Organised twice a year in countries outside the EU identified as promising for Belgian companies, princely — and now royal — missions pursue several objectives.

From a political point of view, the aim is for example to strengthen economic and diplomatic relations between Brussels and the host country, encourage cooperation with institutional actors, showcase Brussels expertise in strategic sectors and position Brussels as an international hub, European decision-making centre and innovation platform.

From an economic perspective, the role of hub.brussels and its Flemish (FIT) and Walloon (AWEX) counterparts is, among other things, to support Brussels companies in their market development, promote Brussels expertise in promising sectors (energy, technologies, services, innovation, etc.), develop economic relations and identify investment opportunities in Brussels.

“During this mission, we focused on three sectors in particular: digitalisation, life sciences and defence, areas that have been expanding rapidly over the past twenty years in this country constantly searching for new technologies”, explains Stefano.

For their part, companies focus on strengthening existing commercial relationships with their partners, exploring opportunities offered by the market in their respective sectors and meeting new business partners, distributors and clients.

A ministerial-level programme over just a few days

The programme of an economic mission is always extremely busy in order to seize as many opportunities as possible within just a few days. This mission was no exception: 35 activities were organised by the three regional institutions.

hub.brussels notably offered its delegation:

• a seminar dedicated to international financing opportunities for Belgian companies in Türkiye through multilateral banks and Turkish financial institutions;
• a seminar on the range of legal, fiscal and regulatory opportunities available in Brussels for Turkish companies wishing to sell on the single market and/or establish themselves in the Brussels Region;
• roundtable discussions on innovation, technologies, digital transformation and energy.

During an economic mission, however, one of the most important aspects remains the preparation of direct meetings between companies (B2B).

“The companies accompanying the delegation want to meet companies already present on the market in order to establish targeted contacts. Thanks to the remarkable work of the entire team, we managed to organise no fewer than 150 meetings.”

These meetings, organised like clockwork, are intense but fruitful, as explained by Yliès Bouhjar, CEO of Meda Bright:

“We’ve had quite a few meetings back-to-back since this morning, it’s intense! Including many Turkish companies we didn’t necessarily have scheduled appointments with. These are golden opportunities to seize, and we’re delighted!”

Interested in taking part in the next mission?

Consult our agenda on the hub.brussels website and specify your sector and target export market!