In the beginning of December 2024, the Education & Training team of the Egmont Institute co-organized in close collaboration with the Federal Public Service (FPS) Foreign Affairs an Exchange of Expertise on Human Security & Health for Indo-Pacific countries. Building on the discussions from the EU-Indo-Pacific Summit held in Brussels earlier this year, this training, was organized to the attention of Brussels-based diplomats from the Indo-Pacific region. The main aim was to strengthen Belgian international cooperation and to further strengthen EU-Indo-Pacific collaboration in the domain of Human Security and Health.
To this respect, multiple speakers were involved in this programme to present opportunities for cooperation in the domain, as well as Belgium’s global health leadership, notably in innovation, biotechnology, nuclear medicine, academia, foreign trade and as a logistical and expertise hub. Field visits were organized in this framework. Firstly, to the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, where participants could get a glimpse of its numerous contributions to global health and scientific research, as well as the international cooperation it fosters in the domain. Then, to the EEAS, where they got to learn about the role and political priorities of the EU’s diplomatic service and more specifically about the EU–Indo-Pacific Strategy in the field of Human Security and Health. And finally, a last field visit to GSK’s Belgian Headquarters, hosting the world’s largest vaccines production site!
