Nick Kleingeld-MPI Belgium Chapter/President Elect

As you know, I am Dutch, born in Germany, brought up and educated in the UK and living in the French speaking part of Belgium since 1981. My children are quadrilingual Belgians and I am very proud to live in this wonderful country.

Here are my thoughts on the continuing segregation of Belgium:

APARTHEID IN THE BELGIAN MEETING INDUSTRY

Belgium, is a country that was looking for its identity for a long time. Belgium is sometimes criticized for being too neutral. The Flemish people have little in common with the Dutch and the Walloon people have little in common with the French. The Flemish people have a great deal in common with the Walloon people; the Walloon people have a great deal in common with the Flemish people. Belgians are intelligent, well educated, have a sense of humour, a great culture, a great food culture, they live to eat as opposed to eating to live. Belgian Gastronomy, Belgian chocolate, Belgian Waffles and Belgian Beer are some of the things for which Belgium is making a name for itself.

Belgians are great researchers and great technicians, great traders and great designers, Belgians are great builders and great artists, Belgians have flair! Belgians are modest but

well able to state their case and defend their causes.

If Belgians have one weakness, it is, that they don’t make enough noise. In order to be heard one needs to make as much noise as possible.

Thanks to the European Union and Brussels’ role as capital of Europe, Belgium is well on its way to becoming a BRAND.

Brussels and Belgium are two words one cannot dissociate and two words that are vital

for the marketing of the BRAND.

However much the different cultures and language barriers are cited as obstacles in daily life, there is an economic necessity to work together and appear to the world as “one team one mission”.

The rest of the world has no time to listen to trivialities, and Belgium has no time to cater to the whims of politicians whose only agenda is to be elected or re-elected and serve a mandate, where they have power to make decisions which are so often nonsensical and serving the few instead of the many. Belgium has no time for politicians, who are not keeping the “big picture” In focus, politicians not making decisions to serve the greater goal, decisions less easy to measure and with a more long term approach, thus less satisfying for the ego.

I hope the politicians who made this decision can be convinced to “think again”.

Belgium is a too valuable product to be squandered by some senseless politicians whose only goal in life is to destroy what is great only because it was not their idea.