The Belgian Association of Parallel Importers and Exporters (BAPIE), representing the parallel trade sector of medicines in Belgium, is delighted to announce that Pieter Boudrez has joined BAPIE to become President of the association from 1 January 2024. He will take over this position from Mr. Tanguy Schmitz who is retiring after more than 20 years of successful work and policymaking on behalf of BAPIE in Brussels.
Reacting to his appointment, Pieter stated: “I am honoured and delighted to represent the BAPIE members. There are lots of opportunities ahead of us in Belgian policy-making to defend and reinforce the parallel trade sector of medicines as a stable and solid partner to promote competition inside the single market and alleviate shortages, which become year after year a major public health issue in Belgium, which impacts the life of a growing number of patients and their families.”
Pieter brings to BAPIE more than 20 years of experience in Belgian advocacy and policymaking. Prior to joining BAPIE, he led for more than 6 years the advocacy activities for better access to affordable medicines as a Director Public Affairs at Medaxes, the Belgian association for generic and biosimilar medicines. From May 2017 to December 2022, he was appointed Chairman of the Board at BeMVO, the Belgian Medicines Verification Organisation in charge of preventing falsified medicines from entering the legal supply chain. Previously, Pieter worked for more than 10 years as a consultant at Hudson, HICT and Deloitte, where he was responsible for project management for customers in the healthcare sector, bringing a profound knowledge of public administration, pharma sector, hospitals and pharmacies in the larger Belgian healthcare eco-system together.
Pieter holds a Master’s degree in Political Sciences and Public Management from the Catholic University of Leuven (KUL) and Leiden University, the Netherlands.
According to Tanguy Schmitz, BAPIE President, “ I am very proud to see Pieter taking over: he combines the enthusiasm of the youth and the wisdom of experience. Under his presidency, no doubt that our members will reinforce the single market of medications in our country and be able to decrease further the shortages of medications experienced by the patients”.
BAPIE members and staff are extremely grateful to the outgoing President, Tanguy Schmitz, for his dedication and hard work over the years. He contributed greatly to expanding the impact and expertise of BAPIE across the Belgian health institutions and the wider stakeholder community.
