International cooperation

As part of its international policy, the Brussels-Capital Region may conclude partnership agreements with other equivalent levels of government abroad. 

Since its creation in 1989, the Region has signed around thirty bilateral agreements with cities and regions abroad. Through these agreements, the Region aims to undertake concrete projects that help to strengthen its international image and/or its expertise in key areas. To find out more about the bilateral agreements, visit the section dedicated to these agreements.

In addition to the bilateral agreements, there are also other types of specific development cooperation agreements: in that case, it is not a question of enhancing the image or strengthening the expertise of the Brussels-Capital Region; on the contrary, it is a question of supporting cities and regions abroad by providing them with advice, expertise, funding and partners useful to their own development. The Brussels-Capital Region currently has development cooperation agreements with the following entities:

• the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra Region in Morocco – Agreement signed in 2001;
• the City-Province of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – Agreement signed in 2016;
• and the Governorate of Ramallah and Al-Bireh in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) – Agreement signed in 2024.

The content of these partnership agreements defines the scope of the Brussels-Capital Region’s direct (or governmental) bilateral cooperation, which means they authorise the Brussels administration to provide financial and technical support for projects carried out by equivalent partner administrations. This may involve exchanges of civil servants or experts with a view to increasing knowledge in a specific field, seeking international funding, particularly for the implementation of larger projects, or exchanging best practices. 

The specific areas the direct bilateral cooperation focuses on are limited to the External linkcompetencies devolved to the Brussels-Capital Region.

Another cooperation instrument used to support partners in the Brussels-Capital Region is the call for projects “SOUTH”. This call for projects, which is launched every year (or even twice a year), has a defined theme and a predetermined budget to be distributed between the various projects selected following a well-established procedure (see regulations, form and annexes that have to be provided). Projects must take place in the partner regions of the Brussels-Capital Region. 

This instrument therefore falls under indirect bilateral cooperation, seeing as the Brussels-Capital Region grants subsidies to Belgian non-governmental cooperation actors (NGCAs) so that they can implement their projects themselves and via their local partner(s). 

The call for projects “SOUTH” was first launched in 2013. The winners of each edition, as well as the projects funded and the amounts awarded, can be viewed below.