Trade mission

Trade Mission needs students!

In the subject Trade Mission you represent a company or organisation abroad as a VUB student. As a student, you will have to convince companies to finance you in order to carry out an assignment abroad. A big challenge! But your chances of success increase considerably through the intercultural skills and finesses you learn during the preparation of the project. 

You will also need these entrepreneurial skills in the second challenge of the project, when you actually go on a mission and have to bring it to a successful conclusion. In addition to entrepreneurial and intercultural skills, you will also carry out market research and interact with business partners from other countries. An unparalleled learning experience!  Are you curious to know more? 

Develop yourself internationally on a Trade Mission 

Are you a VUB graduate who likes to undertake and is not afraid of leaping into the unknown? Do you want to sharpen your intercultural skills by living in the context of international business? Then the Trade Mission is something for you! 

Following the annual tradition, Inisol offers committed VUB students like you the opportunity to represent a Belgian company in important, growing economies abroad. Each year, different countries are involved. For 2023, for instance, they chose to explore the Indian and Senegalese markets for three calendar weeks. The countries for 2024 are Ivory Coast and Kenya.

As a motivated master's student you possess a broad knowledge and you look forward to putting all those academic insights into practice. The VUB Trade Mission project would like to help you with that! The project stimulates you to further apply your accumulated economic, technological and linguistic skills through a relevant project abroad. You will carry out this project for a Belgian company. You can count on the academic guidance of Prof. Dr. Michaël Dooms and Prof. Dr. Geerts. You will also receive professional support from the Solvay Business School and its alumni, Flanders Investment & Trade, the Belgian embassies, the federal and regional ministers and the Foreign Trade Agency. This extensive professional network guarantees you a successful project! 

In concrete terms, there are various assignments that you carry out as part of your project on a Trade Mission. For example, the company you are working for may ask you to conduct local market research. As part of that research, you will write recommendations for a successful marketing mix, track down potential suppliers and customers, make an analysis of the distribution and storage possibilities, carry out research into opportunities within the company's sector, and so on. There is a wide range of possibilities. What you do, you determine in consultation with the company you are working for. For example, the company may want to investigate the impact of the corona pandemic. In that case, they may ask you to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on the market conditions of the country you are working in, with a focus on the products and/or services the company offers. Your tasks may also include research on the impact of COVID-19 on the logistics chains, a pre-feasibility analysis of re- or near-shoring of production and logistics activities, the analysis of the state of affairs, tracing potential (new or alternative) suppliers and customers and researching new opportunities. One thing is certain: this is an interesting international challenge that will help you grow as a student to the maximum. So don't hesitate and apply for the Trade Mission 2025 until April-May!

Develop your business internationally via the VUB Trade Mission project 

Are you an entrepreneur who would like to offer master students a first professional experience? Would you like to know how your company performs abroad? Would you like to be represented at an international level and build a powerful network? Moreover, would you like to link science to practice? Then the VUB project Trade Mission is something for you! 

Following the annual tradition, Inisol - the Initiation Group Solvay, the association of master students in commercial engineering dedicated to engaged economic students - offers the opportunity to represent your company in important, growing economies abroad. For this purpose Inisol works together with, among others, Flanders Investment & Trade (FIT), the Belgian Embassy on the spot and the Foreign Trade Agency to obtain professional advice and make the necessary contacts. The Trade Mission offers master students the opportunity to put into practice the large dose of knowledge they acquired in the field of technology, language skills and economy. They receive guidance from an academic and professional team. Every year, about twenty companies participate in each Trade Mission. They receive a detailed report at the end of the project. But organised cooperation is also necessary throughout the process. Therefore, frequent consultation moments between a representative of the participating company, a representative of Flanders Investment & Trade, the student involved and the academic guidance are important. To make the project as successful as possible, we are always looking for new companies. So that is where you come in! 

Concretely, if you wish to participate in the project, one of the Master students from the Trade Mission Team will work with you. The student does this by carrying out an assignment in which your company plays the central role. Some examples of assignments are recommendations for a successful marketing mix in the country where the student is conducting research, the impact of COVID-19 on that country with a focus on the products/services you offer, research into the opportunities within your company's sector and research into potential suppliers and customers. We determine the exact assignment for your company in consultation with you. Moreover, you choose how this cooperation will take place. We strongly recommend that your company offers the student a good internal training, in addition to the necessary self-study. 

During the mission, we communicate regularly about the evolution of the assignment to be carried out. This makes it possible to supervise the student and to adjust the assignment if desired. At the end of the mission, the students draw up a detailed final report, which is accompanied by an oral explanation. This explanation takes place in the presence of Prof. Dooms or Prof. Dr. Geerts, and yourself as the client. The final report explains all the actions needed to bring the assignment to a successful conclusion. The information obtained, analyses, results achieved and conclusions drawn are included in a structured manner. Your company therefore receives an accurate and thorough report that covers all aspects of the described assignment. We guarantee this, as this final report is part of the students' graduation requirements. 

Finally, your participation in the costs of this project amounts to €4,000. This includes all travel and accommodation costs. In agreement with FIT, part of this may be subsidised. It is clear that this unique cooperation can be a real added value not only for the students, but also for you as a company. So don't hesitate and join us! Do you still have additional questions? Then download the brochure via this link. If you are curious about how this year's project is going, click here. Are you curious about how the project evolved in previous years? Then click here.

Trade mission 2024 - 33rd edition

This year, the trade mission team in collaboration with Inisol is organising two trade missions to Abidjan (Ivory Coast) and Nairobi (Kenya) for the 33rd edition. The missions will last 3 calendar weeks and will take place in spring 2024. Specifically, the trade mission to Ivory Coast will take place from 4 March to 22 March, and the mission to Kenya from 25 March to 12 April.

Preparations for the trade missions already started in the summer months preceding the academic year. Practical matters such as accommodation, local transport and communication facilities were also arranged in advance. In this way, the final execution of the mission and accomplishment of the business assignment immediately get the focus. Interim reports to the client take place before, during and after the mission. Students submit the final report no later than eight weeks after their return.