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Making Brussels a model of economic transition
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immediate actions aimed at the public weakened by the crisis, improving the attractiveness of Brussels,... But also accelerating the redeployment towards economic transition and the development of an impact economy (relocated and decarbonated production, circular and regenerative economy, social and democratic entrepreneurship).
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ould you please tell us about the missions and services of hub.brussels? hub.brussels is the Brussels Agency for Business Support. It offers a wide array of free advice, services and tools to ensure the success of entrepreneurial projects, with challenges ranging from setting up a legal entity to finding the right funding sources. There have been many challenges in this year of health crisis, during which we have had to reinvent ourselves and adapt the agency’s services to this unprecedented situation in order to be able to respond quickly to the needs of the companies affected.
The crisis has made many people aware of the urgent need to change the way our economy works. hub.brussels is participating in this paradigm shift by making the economy a lever for positive societal change for the people of Brussels. The economy must be at the service of people and not the other way round. © hub.brussels
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Interview of Mrs. Isabelle GRIPPA, CEO of hub.brussels
hub.brussels also supports businesses wishing to export beyond the country’s borders, just as it promotes foreign investment in Brussels. For these services, we can count on our network of economic and commercial officers that provide solid support for our companies abroad, covering more than 140 countries from 90 offices.
What are the projects for 2021? This review of our agency’s activities is just the first step in the transition of hub.brussels. Internally, we have launched a reflection on our next roadmap, a working outline that will gradually and ambitiously integrate the challenges of transition into all hub. brussels services. This transition roadmap should be completed by spring 2021. We are starting a major transformation, a great evolution, to make Brussels a model of economic transition. 2021 will of course also be a year of recovery for our companies, which have gone through very difficult months and with whom we will continue to be by their side day after day to help them get back on their feet and redeploy their activities.
How has hub.brussels repositioned itself during this health crisis? hub.brussels was mobilised from the very first days and refocused its activities to deploy, within a very short and mediumterm timeframe, support actions for entrepreneurs that meet their information and support needs.
More information on www.hub.brussels
New services have been created, others have been completely rethought, initiating a transition articulated around four axes: universality or how to inform and raise awareness among all Brussels residents, accessibility or how to support the most vulnerable groups in order to access entrepreneurship, attractiveness or how to make Brussels a capital of economic, social and environmental innovation that is particularly attractive for entrepreneurs, and finally the transition, how to help entrepreneurs evolve towards an economy that respects the planet and people. Thanks to its international network and its cluster dedicated to medical technologies lifetech.brussels, hub.brussels has also been strongly mobilised to assist the Brussels health sector in the development and supply of protective equipment for its hospitals, rest homes, companies, etc. E-health and medical devices were already priority sectors for the Brussels Region, but with the arrival of the coronavirus, things took on a different dimension.
© hub.brussels
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Our team of 330 people works hard to make innovation and entrepreneurship accessible to people in Brussels, and to create a urban economy capable of supporting innovation, internationalization and socio-economic impact.
What place do you give to economic transition in the activities of hub. brussels? The aim of our refocusing is to ensure the long-term future of the Brussels company. This means accompanying the recovery with
hub.brussels is on the front line to support Brussels companies impacted by the health crisis.
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