Wallonia Export & Investment Agency

What Wallonia Export & Investment Agency does

Wallonia Export & Investment Agency (AWEX), legally Agence wallonne à l'Exportation et aux Investissements étrangers, is a public-interest establishment (EPIC) of the Walloon Region of Belgium headquartered at Place Sainctelette 2, 1080 Brussels. Operating under the authority of the Walloon Government, AWEX executes a statutory mandate to support Walloon companies in international trade and to attract foreign investment into the Wallonia region. Its core activity is human-advisory export and investment facilitation rather than technology product development, with service delivery distributed through a global network of Centres d'Entreprises à l'Étranger (CEC) trade advisors.

AWEX organizes its offering around four branded portals and programs. EXPORTfrom Wallonia delivers personalized export support, strategic advice, and networking to Walloon companies entering foreign markets. INVEST in Wallonia markets the region to foreign investors and assists with large-scale project development. EXPLORT the World runs an international internship and mission program that develops future international-trade professionals in support of Walloon firms. DISCOVER Wallonia (via the Wallonia.be portal) promotes the region's economic, cultural, and tourism assets internationally. The agency's 2025 operational footprint included 301 new client companies, 272 companies conquering new markets, 1,438 participations in prospection actions, and 6,405 files processed by CEC offices worldwide, with an 8.31/10 client satisfaction score.

AWEX is funded through the Walloon regional government budget and does not charge clients directly for its services, generating no commercial revenue. The go-to-market model is enterprise field sales executed through the CEC network and dedicated portals, targeting two primary business-unit segments — Walloon exporters and foreign investors — alongside secondary segments of young professionals seeking international internships and the academic sector. The agency has no private shareholders, no funding rounds, and no M&A activity disclosed; its 2026–2029 strategic roadmap is the principal forward initiative, designed to concentrate resources on the highest-value internationalization opportunities for Wallonia.

Name

Wallonia Export & Investment Agency

Legal name

Agence wallonne à l'Exportation et aux Investissements étrangers

Website

https://awex.be

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

AWEX is the Walloon Region of Belgium's public export and investment agency, supporting Walloon companies in international trade and attracting foreign investors to Wallonia through a global network of trade advisors and four service portals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Brussels

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. Public funding: As a public government agency (Agence wallonne), AWEX is funded through public funds and government budgets rather than commercial revenue generation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

AWEX is a public government agency that supports Walloon companies in international expansion through personalized strategic advice, market research assistance, networking opportunities, and export procedures support. It also attracts foreign investors to Wallonia by providing business environment assessment, regulatory navigation, and project development support. The agency operates a worldwide network of trade advisors (CEC) and runs the EXPLORT internship program to develop future international trade professionals.

Product overview

AWEX operates as a unified platform offering four interconnected services: EXPORTfrom Wallonia supports local companies in international expansion, INVEST in Wallonia attracts foreign investment, EXPLORT the World develops future international trade professionals through internships, and DISCOVER Wallonia promotes the region's assets. These services work together to strengthen Wallonia's international competitiveness through coordinated export assistance, investment attraction, talent development, and regional promotion.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• EXPORTfrom Wallonia

Quantifiable outcome

• 272 companies conquered a new market
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Wallonia.beminorOthersAWEX collaborates with the Wallonia.be portal to showcase Wallonia internationally, including success stories of Walloon companies abroad, innovations, cultural talents, and tourism offerings.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Swiss Global Enterprise (S-GE): Swiss official agency for export promotion and location promotion. Comparable public-agency structure offering export consultancy to Swiss SMEs and promoting Switzerland as a business location to foreign investors.
• Flanders Investment & Trade (FIT): Belgian regional export and investment promotion agency for Flanders. Direct structural counterpart to AWEX, operating with the same model (export support, FDI attraction, international trade advisor network) but serving the Flemish Region.
• Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA): Dutch agency focused on attracting foreign direct investment into the Netherlands and supporting Dutch companies abroad. Directly comparable dual-mandate agency model, with international offices serving European investors.
• Enterprise Ireland: Irish government agency supporting Irish-owned enterprises in international markets and helping overseas companies establish operations in Ireland. Same public-agency, dual-export-and-FDI model as AWEX, with a global advisor network.
• Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI): German federal agency for foreign trade and investment promotion. Same combined export-support and FDI-attraction mandate as AWEX, with a global office network advising German SMEs and promoting Germany to foreign investors.
• ICEX España Exportación e Inversiones: Spanish public agency supporting Spanish companies' internationalization and promoting Spain as an investment destination. Same dual-mandate, public-agency model with international office network comparable to AWEX.
• JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization): Japanese government-related organization promoting trade and investment between Japan and the rest of the world. Closely comparable model: public agency supporting exporters, attracting FDI, with extensive global office network.
• Business France: French national agency supporting French companies' international development and promoting France as an investment destination. Closely comparable model: public agency, dual export-support and FDI-attraction mandate, international advisor network.
• hub.brussels (Brussels Export & Investment Agency): Belgian regional agency supporting Brussels-based exporters and attracting investment to the Brussels-Capital Region. Same sub-national export/investment agency mandate as AWEX, just for a different Belgian region.

Broad incumbents

• Belgium Foreign Trade Agency: Federal Belgian agency responsible for foreign trade policy coordination and support. Overlaps with AWEX's export-support mandate but at the national level, sitting above the three regional agencies.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries3 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 Export & Investment Agency