artnet News reached out to Anne Vierstraete, managing director of Art Brussels, for her response to a previous report about Independent art fair’s plans to launch a Belgian edition in 2016, in Brussels. (See Independent Art Fair Heads to Brussels).

Vierstraete writes:

“With regards to Independent’s announcement to join us in Brussels, I feel it just goes to prove how attractive our city has become to the international contemporary art community.

There is a common precedent across the globe of smaller fairs popping up around larger ones once a scene is cemented. However in this case, the Brussels market has been solid for a long time and those in-the-know have been making the most of that at our fair for many years.

On a local level, in Belgium we have more collectors per capita than any other country in the world. We have an unrivaled proximity and connectivity with so many of the other European art capitals which means we easily connect with the best-of-the-best. Art Brussels was one of the first ever contemporary art fairs so we enjoy very long standing relationships with collectors, artists, curators, and museum directors from around the globe who respect our experience and curatorial approach, and continue to make this a priority in their calendar.

As you know, Art Brussels continues to attract established galleries alongside very young and emerging exhibitors—many of whom are “unusual suspects”—reinforcing our profile as a discovery fair, and the place where collectors are able to identify artists at the very beginning of their careers. For 2015, more than 50% of the fair’s 191 galleries are young and emerging galleries who launch new artists at the fair.

It seems that WE have established OUR city as THE place to discover new artists.”