The Société du Quartier de l’Innovation de Montréal (QI) and the Wallonia Export-Investment Agency (AWEX) signed a partnership agreement allowing commercialization-ready Walloon or Quebec businesses to develop their presence and network on an international scale.
This exchange program will make each region’s infrastructure available. In this way, Quebec businesses wishing to test the Belgian market will be able to benefit freely from the welcome offices provided by AWEX. These centres offer a series of services, particularly the presence of a multilingual manager, administrative and logistics advice, and assistance in understanding the Walloon business culture. Conversely, Walloon businesses that wish to test the waters of the Quebec market will be directed towards the most appropriate of the QI partner accelerators/incubators in order to establish their presence on Quebec soil.
“It is with great pleasure that, as Walloon Minister of Economy, Industry, Innovation, and New Technologies, I support this partnership agreement between the Quartier de l’Innovation de Montréal and the Wallonia Export-Investment Agency. Wallonia and Quebec have had a long-standing association through an extremely dynamic and multi-faceted economic cooperation agreement. Through my initiative, the Walloon government recently launched a new technology support program with an overall budget of 500 million euros over 5 years. This is the ideal occasion to promote the internationalization of the 1,300 Walloon businesses in this sector on the road to Quebec, our most important institutional partner in North America,” declared Jean-Claude Marcourt, Vice President and Minister of Economy, Industry, Innovation and New Technologies of the Walloon Government.
“I welcome this partnership, which, I’m certain, will pave the way for an outstanding and productive collaboration. In this 21st-century economy, in which networking and the transfer of knowledge beyond borders have become essential, investing in entrepreneurship, research, and innovation falls perfectly in line with the direction that the Quebec government has chosen. This agreement also meets the objectives of our Digital Economy Action Plan, which will encourage the creation and growth of innovative and cutting-edge new businesses,” said Dominique Anglade, Quebec Minister of Economy, Science and Innovation and Minister responsible for the Digital Strategy.
“This agreement will facilitate the internationalization of Walloon businesses that will benefit from adapted infrastructure and guidance, not to mention the networking power offered in this way. This formula has proved to be effective and has generated much success for our business in America with the help our partners in Philadelphia, Houston, and San Francisco. Thanks to the support of the QI, the first Walloon business, CREO2, will set up in the Griffin Camp in September to develop its activities in the Quebec market. Our hope is that, through this partnership, Montréal business will go in the opposite direction and take an interest in Wallonia,” added Pascale Delcomminette, CEO of AWEX.
“The signing of this agreement with Wallonia is just the beginning of a series of partnerships that the Société du Quartier de l’Innovation de Montréal hopes to develop with major international networks. These major agreements will allow our start-ups to operate abroad and have a global impact. They will also strengthen the role of the QI as an important gateway for European businesses that wish to settle in North America,” explained Damien Silès, Executive Director of the Quartier de l’Innovation de Montréal.
AWEX and the QI are committed to promoting Quebec and Wallonia, as well as the hosting infrastructure available to young businesses. The latter will conclude an occupancy agreement directly with the selected partner once AWEX and the QI have established a first point of contact
