Wallonia Foreign Trade and Investment Agency

What Wallonia Foreign Trade and Investment Agency does

The Wallonia Foreign Trade and Investment Agency — operating as AWEX (Agence wallonne à l'Exportation et aux Investissements étrangers) — is a public economic interest grouping (EPIC) wholly owned by the Walloon Regional Government in Belgium. Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Brussels (with administrative seat at Place Sainctelette 2, 1080 Bruxelles; VAT BE 0267.314.479), the agency employs between 251 and 500 staff and operates under CEO Pascale Delcomminette. Its statutory mandate is two-fold: supporting the international development and export activities of companies based in Wallonia (the southern, French-speaking region of Belgium), and attracting foreign direct investment into the region.

AWEX delivers services through four primary digital surfaces — the AWEX Export Platform (export.walloniaexportinvestment.be), the institutional AWEX Global site, the My AWEX client portal, and the AWEX-INFO newsletter — alongside a physical network of regional centers across Wallonia and 90 international experts abroad. Its service portfolio covers 14 industrial verticals (Aeronautics/Aerospace, Agriculture/Forestry, Agri-food, Chemistry, Defense/Security, Digital, Energy, Environment, Industry, Infrastructure/Construction, Fashion, Design, Life Sciences/Medical, Transport/Logistics). The Business Days by Wallonia programme provides quarterly B2B matchmaking through 30-minute expert 'speed-dating' sessions and 2-day targeted meetings. Two sub-brands — EXPLORT (international immersion programmes and trade-talent recruitment) and INVEST in Wallonia (foreign direct investment attraction) — extend AWEX's scope beyond traditional export aids.

The business model is public-sector rather than commercial: AWEX is funded through Walloon Regional Government budget allocations rather than user fees or commercial contracts. Services are made available to eligible Walloon businesses through regional centers under public access conditions, with pricing for core services not publicly disclosed. Reach is differentiated between the domestic regional center network (for Walloon SMEs and enterprises) and the international expert network (for cross-border business development and FDI targeting). A 2026-2029 strategic roadmap governs the current operating cycle, and the agency runs an annual Wallonia International Business Awards programme to anchor its institutional brand.

Name

Wallonia Foreign Trade and Investment Agency

Legal name

Agence wallonne à l'Exportation et aux Investissements étrangers

Website

https://awex-export.be

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Wallonia Foreign Trade and Investment Agency (AWEX) is a public Walloon Regional Government agency that supports companies based in Wallonia, Belgium with export development and attracts foreign direct investment, operating across 14 industry sectors through regional centers and a 90-expert international network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Trade Promotion Services

SIC

Foreign Governments (8888)

akta.pro primary industry

Export Promotion & Market Access Support (BPADAMAC)

Keywords

• Export development services
• Foreign investment promotion
• B2B matchmaking programs
• International trade missions
• Government trade agency

Headquarters

HQ city

Molenbeek-saint-jean

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Government-funded public services: As a public government agency (AWEX - Agence wallonne à l'Exportation et aux Investissements étrangers), the organization is funded by public resources to support Walloon companies' international development. Revenue model is based on government budget allocation rather than commercial revenue generation.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Wallonia Foreign Trade and Investment Agency (AWEX) is the official public agency of the Walloon Regional Government that supports Walloon companies in developing their international business through export advisory, financial assistance, market intelligence, sectoral support across 14 industries, trade missions, and B2B matchmaking events. It also attracts foreign direct investment into the Walloon Region through its INVEST in Wallonia platform and recruits internationally-trained trade talent via the EXPLORT programme.

Product overview

AWEX operates as a multi-platform government agency providing export and investment services to Walloon companies. The core AWEX Export Platform (export.walloniaexportinvestment.be) serves as the primary digital gateway to services including aids, sector information, and event calendars. The Client Portal enables existing clients to manage dossiers online. The organization maintains three sub-brands: AWEX Global (institutional), EXPLORT (immersion programs), and INVEST in Wallonia (foreign investment attraction). Business Days by Wallonia offers B2B matchmaking with 90 international experts. The agency covers 14 industry sectors including Aeronautics, Agri-food, Digital, Energy, Life Sciences, and Transport-Logistics.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• EXPLORT: International immersion programs and export support services for Walloon companies
• INVEST in Wallonia

Products and services

• AWEX Export Platform

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI): Germany's federal economic development agency providing market intelligence, export support, and FDI promotion. A scaled European incumbent with the same export-promotion + investment-attraction dual mandate as AWEX.
• Business France: France's national agency supporting international development of French companies and FDI attraction. Closest large-scale European TPO peer, with broader geographic mandate than AWEX but a directly analogous service portfolio and event-driven GTM.
• ICEX España Exportación e Inversiones: Spain's national trade promotion agency supporting Spanish companies' internationalisation and FDI. Comparable in offering full-lifecycle export services, sector specialisation, and government-funded B2B event programmes.
• Enterprise Singapore: Singapore's government agency driving enterprise internationalisation and investment. A benchmark TPO peer with strong international expert network, event-driven matchmaking, and government-backed support programmes mirroring AWEX's structure.
• Switzerland Global Enterprise (S-GE): Switzerland's official export and investment promotion agency. Operates the same dual mandate of supporting domestic companies abroad and attracting FDI, with a comparable regional-centre and expert-network GTM model.

Direct peers

• Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA): Dutch agency dedicated to attracting foreign direct investment, operating as part of the broader Holland internationalisation network. Comparable for its investment-attraction mandate, which overlaps directly with AWEX's INVEST in Wallonia sub-brand.
• hub.brussels: Brussels-Capital Region's agency for international trade support and enterprise development. Highly comparable as a Belgian regional trade promotion counterpart serving a different territory but with overlapping service offerings.
• Belgian Foreign Trade Agency (BFTA / AABS): Belgian federal-level agency coordinating international trade policy and export promotion. Operates one tier above AWEX in Belgium's institutional structure and provides comparable export support services at the national level.
• Flanders Investment & Trade: The official export and investment promotion agency of Flanders, Belgium's other major region. Directly comparable to AWEX in mandate (export promotion + FDI attraction), sub-brand structure (FIT, Flanders Investment & Trade), and target clients (regional SMEs seeking international expansion).

Others

• European Commission — DG GROW / EU Export Helpdesk: EU-level trade support ecosystem that AWEX explicitly links clients to. Acts as an adjacent enabling ecosystem rather than a direct competitor, but increasingly overlaps with national/regional TPO services in market access, EU business opportunities, and trade intelligence.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/awex_belgium
• Facebookfacebook.com/awex.belgium

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Wallonia Foreign Trade and Investment Agency