Record semester for Walloon exports

Record semester for Walloon exports

Wallonia’s exports reached 22.6 billion euros in the first semester of 2018, representing a half-year record, and an increase by 8.4% compared to the same period in 2017, the Walloon Agency for Exports and Foreign Investment (AWEX) announced Wednesday. Walloon foreign trade fared especially well outside of the Old Continent, for exports outside the EU increased by 22.4%, while EU deliveries only rose by 5%. This evolution rejoices AWEX. "This is a second reason for being satisfied: our businesses, which are smaller than our neighbors’, took up the challenge of distant export trade," its general director Pascale Delcomminette said.

During the first semester, Walloon exports performed better than the whole comparison tray, Flanders included (+ 6.4%).

It would seem that neither trade frictions nor the problems that some emerging countries have had to face weighed too heavily on Walloon sales abroad. As an example, just a few months away from Brexit’s scheduled date, exports to the UK by companies from the south of the country record an increase by nearly 9% over the first six months of 2018.

In 2017, Walloon exports had exceeded for the first time the 40-billion-euro bar, reaching nearly 42 billion euros.

The Brussels Times


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