Our Work

The Embassy of Belize in Brussels maintains a primary and resident accreditation to the Kingdom of Belgium. Further to this, the Embassy is accredited to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Republic of France, the Kingdom of Spain, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, and the Russian Federation. The Embassy is tasked with pursuing development cooperation, investment and trade opportunities with these countries as well as promoting Belize as a tourism destination.

The Embassy of Belize in Brussels also serves as the Mission of Belize accredited to the European Union. The European Union and its Member States are the most important development and trading partners of Belize. In this context, the Mission acts to further the interests of Belize in its engagement with the institutions of the European Union, including the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council.

The Mission also works to ensure that the development priorities and objectives of Belize are effectively represented to the European Union and that Belize maximizes the opportunities to access development cooperation. Belize engages with the European Union both in a bilateral and regional context. Belize has accessed grant aid through the European Development Fund (EDF) and currently through the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument – Global Europe (NDICI – Global Europe).

Belize has benefited from the Accompanying Measures for Sugar and the Banana Accompanying Measures, which provided financial support to those respective industries and their wider communities. Belize is also a party to the European Union – CARIFORUM Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), which provides the overarching framework for trade relations with the European Union.

The Embassy of Belize in Brussels also functions as the non-resident Permanent Mission of Belize to the World Trade Organization and works alongside the Directorate General for Foreign Trade of Belize to advance issues pertinent to Belize’s trade priorities. Ensuring that the ongoing Doha Development Round yields real benefits for developing countries and that the rules of the multilateral trading system are fair and equitable for small states are among the key priorities of Belize in its interactions with the World Trade Organization.

As a small developing country, coordinating positions and advancing common interests within regional groupings is imperative not only to promote regional interests and consolidate regional integration, but also to amplify Belize’s voice on the international plane. Belize is a member of the Central American Integration System (SICA), the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM), the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

These regional groups have become a key platform for engaging with the European Union on a bi-regional basis. Belize is also a member of the Organization of African, Pacific and Caribbean States (OACPS), which promotes the development and trade interests of its members particularly vis-a-vis the European Union. The OACPS also coordinates the implementation of the Cotonou Agreement and the new Post-Cotonou Agreement, for which signing and entry into force is pending. The unity and solidarity of the OACPS, as a cross regional bloc of developing countries, has been critical to its success. This grouping was a crucial source of international support for Belize in its efforts to attain the grant of independence in 1981.