SAN ANTONIO – The city of San Antonio is hosting the princess of Belgium as part of a mission tour of Texas. Her Royal Highness Princess Astrid of Belgium met with Mayor Ivy Taylor Tuesday in front of the International Center.
“We’re just so excited that her royal highness and the delegation made a stop during their Texas tour,” Taylor said,
Taylor presented Princess Astrid with a certificate that named her mayor of San Antonio for the day.
The Belgium federal secretary of state for foreign trade, His Excellency Pieter de Crem, joined the princess in leading the Belgian economic mission to San Antonio in hopes of spinning off new technologies.
“There are also a lot of brains here in San Antonio, and we bring those brains together to be very active in new scientific developments in medicine in pharmaceuticals, but also in food and agriculture,” de Crem said.
“I think we’re all hopeful that we’ll develop more fruitful relationships for the future,” Taylor said.
Tuesday’s tour included a visit to the Alamo and a ride on the river barge. The princess and her delegation are also visiting Austin in Houston.
"We have a region that's called the Texas of Belgium, and it is one of the most active economic regions in Western Europe so Texas is very much on our mind,” de Crem said.