Close relations have been developed since 2005 between AWEX, the Wallonia Foreign Trade and Investment Agency and the prestigious Texas A&M University in the United States. It's in this context that the town of Bastogne and the Idelux inter-municipal economic development authority visited the municipalities of Bryan and College Station, which are home to the university, from 23 to 26 February. This visit enabled them to enter into three sizable agreements with the Texans.
The first concerns funding for the "Aggies go to War" exhibition specifically dedicated to the participation of soldiers from Texas A&M in the Battle of the Ardennes, the 70th anniversary of which will be remembered this year. Memories of this Battle are still very much alive in the hearts of the Americans who lost 76,000 soldiers there. Texas A&M University and the local authorities will inject 750,000 USD into financing this exhibition, which will be officially inaugurated on 13 December this year in Bastogne. Over 1,000 Texans have already booked their air tickets for the occasion! The Expo will stay close to the new "Bastogne War Museum" for two years before finally being installed on Texan soil.
In addition to the historic and commemorative aspect, such a unifying project will help create a climate of confidence particularly favourable to the development of commercial relationships. The final exhibition hall will therefore specifically be dedicated to highlighting the strong human links, as well as their economic impact, that already unite Walloons and Texans, in order to generate interest and a possible desire to invest.
The second agreement twins the towns of Bryan and College Station with the town of Bastogne, which already hosts approximately 50,000 American visitors each year.
Finally, Idelux signed a cooperation agreement with the Research Valley Partnership (the municipalities of Bryan and College Station economic development agency), mainly relating to agriculture, equine research and satellite management of agricultural land.
