THE JURY
On Tuesday 27 January, it will be announced ....
But no winner without a jury of course. Therefore, we would like to introduce you to our jury:
Co-chairs
Isabelle Grippa - CEO of hub.brussels
Isabelle Grippa is the CEO of hub.brussels, the Brussels Agency for Entrepreneurship. She began her professional journey with a degree in International Relations at ULB (l’Université Libre de Bruxelles), followed by a complementary master’s degree at the Institute for European Studies.
She started her career within Brussels institutions — specialising in socio-economic matters —first as a parliamentary assistant, then as coordinator of the Brussels New Deal for employment and training for the Government.
As economic adviser to two successive Minister-Presidents, she was responsible for launching and coordinating the Brussels Strategy 2025, and joined Actiris — the Brussels Regional Employment Office —afterwards for a short period. She also integrated the management board of SRIB – the Brussels Regional Investment Company – as well as several boards of regional business programs.
A Brussels lover, mother and stepmother of six, Isabelle became General Director of hub.brussels in September 2018, making her the youngest CEO of a Brussels institution.
Together with her teams, Isabelle passionately advocates for the values she holds dear: entrepreneurship as a driver of positive impact for society and a lever for individual empowerment, the need to make it accessible to all, and Brussels as Belgium’s best asset on the international stage.
Piet Demunter - CEO at FLANDERS INVESTMENT & TRADE
Piet Demunter is an experienced executive with a background in business management and strategic development. He holds a Master’s degree in General Management from Vlerick Business School and a License in Germanic Languages from the Catholic University of Leuven.
Currently, Piet serves as CEO at Flanders Investment & Trade since August 2025. In this role, he is a member of the Executive Committee and a member of the Board of Directors of Flanders Investment & Trade.
Prior to his current role, Piet was acting CEO (since September 2024) and COO at Flanders Investment & Trade (since January 2024). Till December 2023 Piet was the Chief Operating Officer at Brussels Airport Company, where he oversaw business development, asset management, and operational processes. He also served as Chief Business Development Officer, responsible for business development, real estate development, and logistics. Before that, he was Director of Strategic Development, leading strategic projects, business development and overseeing sustainability and public affairs.
In earlier roles at Brussels Airport Company, Piet was Head of Airport Development, Head of Cargo and Senior Project Manager. His career began at Unilever Belgium, where he held various HR positions.
Piet Demunter is married to Nele De Greef and they have two children.
Michel Kempeneers - Director General International Affairs at AWEX
Michel is actually leading the International Affairs Department of the Trade & Investment Public Agency of Wallonia Region, Belgium.
Involved in all the upper management of the organization, he supervises the strategy of three main departments : Géographic, Sectorial and Trade Fairs & Events organization. He supervises also the network of Trade Commissioners based in 90+ countries, representing Wallonia Region and Companies, attracting also foreign investors.
Around 250+ people in Brussels, Namur & worldwide, are in charge of these departments in Belgium. Moreover, our 70+ offices abroad, leaded by Trade commissioners and Commercial secretaries, are in charge of the realization of approx.. 150 trade and investment events annualy (trade fairs, international conferences, invest lead generations …).
Member of the Board, Michel was former COO Overseas (2015-2020), Director for Asia-Pacific Dept (2008-2015). He knows quite deeply well all these countries and acts as a coach for exporting companies and investors coming from Asia. He was also regional director at the proximity office in Liège province area (1999-2008) in charge of Companies’s strategic guidance, export projects, advices and orientation for growth strategy.
Fluent in French (mother tongue) and experienced in English, Spanish and Dutch, he has 30+ years experience in export and invest strategy consulting of big and small companies.
He is graduated from High Business School (HEC), University of Liège ++ Masters degrees at University of Brussels (ULB) in International Politics and Developing countries.
He was First graduated at Belgian Foreign Trade Prize in 1991.
He is happy father of three daughters.
Members of the jury
Nele Derynck
Head of Non-Tax Legislation, Belgian Customs
Tom De Ridder
Expert VAT, Customs & Trade compliance and winner of the Customs Pro Award 2023
Pieter Haesaert
Global customs & trade expert at AEB
Jeroen Dhanens
Director Corporate Affairs & Communications at Japan Tobacco International (JTI) for Belgium and Luxembourg
Thierry Piraux
Employed at Central Administration - Customs Legislation Department - Advisor, in charge of the Union Customs Code (reform) & e-commerce Customs regulations
Frederik Cappelle
Partner, Global Trade & Customs | Tax, Legal & Accountancy KPMG in Belgium
One by one relevant experts who make up an independent jury.
As part of the Customs Pro Award 2025, the public can cast their votes for one of the eight nominees.
The online voting takes place on the website www.customsproaward.com/vote.
The online voting period runs from Monday, November 3, 2025 at 8am until Wednesday, December 3, 2025 at 6pm.
The winner of the Customs Pro Award will be announced during the Customs Pro Award on Tuesday 27 January 2026 at the KPMG offices in Zaventem.
Our partners
