•  Our mission is to maintain and develop close and co-operative relations between Britain and Belgium in accordance with British Government policies and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office Strategy.
  
  
•  We employ UK and locally recruited staff. We are a service and advice organization.
   We provide services to:
  
  - the general public in Britain and Belgium
  - businesses in Britain and Belgium; and
  - the British government.
  
  
• The British Ambassador, Rachel Aron, directs the Embassy work. She took up her posting in November 2007.
  
  
• The Embassy attaches importance to our relations with the British community in Belgium.

Trade and investment section

• This takes a large proportion of the Embassy resources. We have a Director for Trade & Investment, three Trade Officers, one Investment Officer and one Investment Adviser, and three Trade Advisers. The Europe Marketing Team for Investment is also based in our Embassy. All are an integral part of UK Trade and Investment. The Trade and Investment Section also covers Luxembourg
  
  
• Our services to business include advice, introductions and market research. We support British exporters, joint ventures and two-way investment. British business visitors, the majority from small and medium-sized companies new to the Belgian and Luxembourg markets, call the Embassy for market information and assistance. Trade missions from the UK and sponsored trade exhibitions are a regular feature. Our Investment team also advises Belgian companies looking to invest in the UK.
  
  
• We are closely involved with the British Chamber of Commerce and we keep in touch with the major companies established in the market as well as with Belgian investors in the UK. The Trade & Investment team regularly visits local companies and assists them.

Political and public affairs section

• Some of our services are specifically for the British Government agencies including the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, the Treasury and the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
  
  
• We provide information, analysis and advice on political and economic developments in Belgium and for some part also Luxembourg.
  
  
• We liaise with Belgian authorities on issues of concern to the British Government.
  
  
• We organize visits to Belgium by members of the Royal Family, British Ministers and senior officials, MPs and VIPs.
  
  
• We offer information, advice and support to the Belgian Government and civil society on developments and practice in the UK.

Public Diplomacy Work

• Our aim is to show how Britain is a long-standing, reliable and valuable partner of Belgium in all areas. We also seek to promote Britain as a modern, dynamic, multicultural, and innovative society.
  
  
• We are responsible for the Embassy website.
  
  
•  We provide information about Britain. We issue press releases on newsworthy events, and provide the Belgian media with articles and photographs of general interest on the UK.
  
  
•  We supply and distribute publications and posters on various aspects of the UK to members of the public on request.
  
  
•  We answer general enquiries from members of the public about the UK.

CONSULAR SECTION

• Sometimes things can and will go wrong for British nationals abroad. That is when we offer our help and advisory services. We assist British nationals who are in hospital, those who have been arrested and those who have been assaulted or robbed. We are also able to assist friends and relations if a British national dies in Belgium.
  
  
• The consular section also provides birth and death registrations and notarial services.

MANAGEMENT SECTION

• To enable the rest of the Embassy to do its work, Management Section provides support services. The Section's aims are customer service and value-for-money. The Management Sections of the Embassy and of the UK Permanent Representation to the EU and of the UK Delegation to NATO have been joined and the Joint Management Office working for the three missions is located at the Embassy.
  
  
• The Section is responsible for the employment of locally-engaged staff and for matters like staff welfare, security, accommodation, maintenance and furniture, transport, payment of accounts, IT and communications systems.

BRITISH COUNCIL

• We work closely with the British Council, which develops educational and cultural relations between Britain and Belgium & Luxembourg but a lot of its work is also very much oriented at EU institutions. They have offices in Brussels where they also run language courses.
  
  
• A particular focus of the British Council's work is to promote British education, and they provide a wide range of information on opportunities to study in the UK.

OTHER UK MISSIONS IN BRUSSELS

There are two other UK diplomatic missions present in Brussels: the UK Permanent Representation to the EU and the UK Delegation to NATO.

CONCLUSION

In Belgium, the Embassy represents The United Kingdom. We aim to be helpful, courteous and efficient. We welcome your feedback: please email us at info@britain.be.