"Flanders is the powerhouse for us in Belgium"

The port of Antwerp is an important hub for the global economy - and a partner of Duisburg's inland port. Together they want to survive the tough competition. The ports are also cooperating on the future topic of "green hydrogen".

Brussels is the first place on many people's agendas when they think of Belgium. After all, the Belgian capital is omnipresent as the EU's center of power. And yet, along with Flanders and Wallonia, it is only one of three regions that make up our neighboring country. While Wallonia has had to contend with the loss of coal and steel, Flanders has access to the North Sea and the port of Antwerp. For Markus Bangen, head of the Port of Duisburg, this region is clearly "the powerhouse for us in Belgium". And this needs to be expanded.

For Bangen, a good partnership is the basis of the business relationship between the ports of Duisburg and Antwerp. "We both have our strengths, and they complement each other very well," he says in the "Wirtschaft Welt & Weit" podcast. Antwerp is looking towards the sea, Duisburg towards supplying the Rhine-Ruhr conurbation.

When it comes to the future topic of green hydrogen, the ports are focusing on cooperation: the transformation of the industry can only be achieved with the help of imports, explains port boss Bangen. Antwerp is one of the hotspots for handling hydrogen, and existing pipeline connections will also be used for this in the future.

Unexcited cooperation

Against the backdrop of global competition, both sides are "very aware that we are currently fighting for our location". For Bangen, this can only be done together: the cooperation with the port of Antwerp is calm and on an equal footing - according to the motto: "We just do it and are happy when it's successful."

Is this "Belgian understatement" the reason why many Germans know so little about our direct neighbor? Sabine Schmitz from the Belgium Center at Paderborn University wants to change this and brings us a little closer to the different regions, language communities and parliaments of the Belgians in the new podcast episode. And she reports on further economic potential - in the semiconductor industry, for example.

Different ways of dealing with Chinese investors

In this podcast episode, host Mary Abdelaziz-Ditzow talks to Sabine Schmitz and Markus Bangen about Belgian characteristics, shared future opportunities and the different ways of dealing with Chinese investors in Germany and Belgium.

Markus Bangen is the CEO of Duisport, Duisburger Hafen AG. He has forged many economic ties with our Belgian neighbors, especially with the port of Antwerp.

Sabine Schmitz is a professor at the University of Paderborn and Chairwoman of the Belgium Center there. The aim of the institution is to bring Germany and Belgium closer together - in many different disciplines such as history, culture and, of course, business.