Econieuwsen0609

Good news from Belgium (the economy & business) –
November/December 2009


1. Foreign investments in Belgium

This section was prepared in collaboration between the Federal Public
Service (FPS) Foreign Affairs and the Liaison Cell Federal-Regions Foreign
Investments. The Liaison Cell was created in 1995 as a result of the
Cooperation Agreement “Foreign Investments” of 7 February 1995. Its
mission is to raise important issues concerning the investment climate in
Belgium to policy makers, and create synergies between all the Belgian
authorities involved in the attraction of foreign investments. The following
authorities are represented in the Cell: FPS Foreign Affairs, FPS Economy,
FPS Finance, FIT, AWEX, BEA and the Ministry of the Brussels-Capital
Region. Its chair is held by the Regions on a rotating basis and its
secretariat is ensured by the FPS Economy.
Contact:
Secretariat of the Liaison Cell - FPS Economie – Vooruitgangstraat 50 rue du
Progrès - B-1210 Brussels
tel : 02/277.67.98 - [email protected]

Notional interest deduction, more flexible

Carry-over

When a company does not have sufficient income to claim all of the notional
deduction to which it is entitled during a tax period, the balance is carried over to the
following tax period. The carry-over of the unused amount of the notional interest
deduction can however only be carried over for the following seven years (= tax
periods)
As a result of this seven year time limit, the order in which the deduction is done is
important. It is more advantageous for companies to claim first the older deductions,
before claiming those for the more recent years.
The Minister of Finance has indicated that for the available notional interest
deduction of previous tax periods and deductible for later tax periods, it can be
understood that the oldest amounts are deducted first, and that the taxpayer can
deduct the notional interest formed in earlier years and the notional interest of the
current year in the most advantageous order.
Rate

The rate of the notional interest deduction is calculated on the basis of the rate of the
10-year government bond (or ‘OLO’). The notional interest rate for tax year 2011
(i.e. accounting year ending on 31 December 2010 or later in 2011) is however
limited to 3,8%.
For SME’s the rate is increased by half a percentage point. The rate for the
assessment year 2011 will be 4,3% for SME’s.
http://minfin.fgov.be/portail2/belinvest/index.htm
Belgium, World champion in chemical and plastics industry

The government, essenscia (the federation of the chemical industry and life sciences)
and companies have joined forces to promote the Belgian chemical industry to
foreign investors. The project is called “Belgium, a world champion for chemicals
and plastics today and tomorrow”. In addition, the government, essenscia and the
industry are also setting up a High Level Group with the objective of strengthening
the investment climate in the chemicals sector.
The Belgian chemical cluster is the second largest in the world after Houston and is
also highly integrated and diversified, which provides major opportunities for
synergies. Eleven of the top 15 of the global chemical concerns have production
plants in Belgium. In terms of its contribution to the total economy the chemical
industry in Belgium is twice as large as in the average European Union country,
bigger even than in Germany, which is traditionally the chemicals country. Belgian
enterprises directly target investment in research and development in order to find
innovative solutions for the world’s major challenges, such as food supplies, water,
health, climate change, economical use of energy and natural raw materials. With
the world population continuing to grow, the demands on the chemicals sector for
sustainable products will only increase in the coming decades.
http://www.essenscia.be
See also the campaign, “Belgium, the place to be for biopharmaceutical R&D and
manufacturing”: http://www.investinbiopharma.be
Danish shipping company Maersk includes Antwerp in its itineraries to the
Far East

Since the end of 2009 the Danish shipping company, Maersk Line, has included
Antwerp in one of its itineraries to South East Asia, Northern China and South Korea.
The service will be assured by 10 ships with a capacity of between 8,400 and 8,600
TEU.
On this service Antwerp will be the last loading port in Europe after Bremerhaven,
Hamburg, Rotterdam and Felixstowe. Destinations in the Far East include Tanjung
Pelepas, Busan, Xingang, Dalian, Qingdao, Kwangyang and Shanghai. The ships will
be handled at the Deurganck Terminal of PSA Hessenoordnatie.
The Scheldt port is clearly increasing in importance to the Danish shipping company.
Recently the decision was also taken to send two trans-Atlantic services to Antwerp.
http://www.lloyd.be

Antwerp favourite location for international retailers

According to the international real estate agent, CB Richard Ellis, Antwerp is the
favourite location in Belgium for international retailers. Antwerp has a splendid
shopping axis from its attractive Central Station across the Meir to the
Nationalestraat. Besides that, CB Richard Ellis says that Antwerp also excels in city
marketing and that its image as a fashion city is an increasing commercial success.
http://www.cbre.com

Finnish group Stora Enso centralizes its sales activities in Belgium

The Finnish group Stora Enso is a global paper, packaging and forest products
company producing newsprint and book paper, magazine paper, fine paper,
consumer board, industrial packaging and wood products. Stora Enso has decided to
centralize its sales department for the Benelux, the Iberian Peninsula, France and the
British Isles in Langerbrugge (Port of Ghent) and at the Vrasenedok (Port of
Antwerp).
Langerbrugge, in the Port of Ghent, is home to the group’s showpiece, the world’s
biggest machine for newsprint paper. Operating from Langerbrugge, 30 employees
will coordinate the sale of paper and magazine paper across Western Europe.
http://www.storaenso.com

American hotel chain Hilton plans new investment in Belgium

The American hotel chain Hilton is to open a new luxury hotel in Ghent in two years
time. After Brussels (2) and Antwerp, this will be the fourth Hilton hotel in Belgium.
The new complex will have 190 rooms, including 40 luxury studios intended for
longer stays. There will also be a wellness centre and a small swimming pool
connected to the new hotel. Project developer and contractor CCR, from Heusden in
the Province of East Flanders, will build the complex.
http://www.hilton.com

Ford factory in Genk is the next to best in Europe

A poll shows that of all seven Ford factories in Europe, the Ford factory in Genk, in
the Province of Limburg, is the best after the one in Cologne, Germany. It scores 9.4
in the “Ford Production System-audit”. Decisive elements are productivity, quality,
teamwork and safety. In 2003, the year restructuring was announced, Genk was
ranked in first place.
http://www.ford.be
http://www.fordgenk.be

American investor Warren Buffett’s wife’s fund invests in Belgian company

The American foundation Medicines360, in San Francisco, and Uteron Pharma
Operations S.A. in Liege have signed an important strategic partnership agreement
for the development and commercialisation of a hormonal IUD for long-term
contraception. This IUD was developed by Uteron Pharma, a spin-off of the
biomedical group Mithra Pharmaceuticals, which in its turn is a spin-off of the
University of Liege and specialises exclusively in women’s health.
In the framework of this partnership Uteron Pharma Operations, which is a 100%
subsidiary and commercial branch of Uteron Pharma, will ensure the final
development and production of this new hormonal IUD. This will take place at the
group’s new production site in Liege, Odyssea Pharma. For its part Medicines360 will
be responsible for the clinical tests in the United States and Europe.
The end-goal of the partnership is to have the hormonal IUD, which is based on
Levonorgestrel, registered with the American (FDA) and European authorities as a
reversible long-term contraceptive, and subsequently to commercialise it all over the
world, including in developing countries.
The partnership involves an investment of tens of millions of euros. The market for
this sort of product in 2009 is estimated at about 500 million euro and is growing
annually by 20 to 30%.
http://www.uteron-operations.com
http://www.mithra.be

Japanese pharma company Takeda sets up new commercial operation in
Brussels

Located in Osaka, Japan, Takeda is a research-based global company with its main
focus on pharmaceuticals. The largest pharmaceutical company in Japan and one of
the global leaders of the industry.
Executing territory expansion in Europe and other priority markets is an important
step toward further globalizing their operations and enhancing their ability to bring
important medicines to patients who need them said Alan MacKenzie, Executive Vice
President - International Operations.
Also, Nordics and Benelux are strategically important regions in Europe. Norway,
Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and Luxembourg have a combined pharmaceutical
market size which accounts for five percent of the European pharmaceutical market.
The creation of these commercial subsidiaries will further increase Takeda’s reach in
the regions.
Overall, the new subsidiaries will accelerate Takeda’s expansion efforts for core
products and reinforces Takeda’s global operating infrastructure for the future launch
of new products in these regions.
http://www.takeda.com/

Chinese Huawei group invests in Louvain-la-Neuve

The Chinese group Huawei, which delivers new generation networks to telecom
operators all over the world, opened a new R&D centre in Louvain-la-Neuve in the
Province of Walloon Brabant on 19 December 2009. This is the group’s fifth R&D
centre on the European continent.
Huawei has been active in Belgium for two years. Initially the group was based in
Diegem, but was on the lookout for a location for an R&D centre in a university
environment. The choice fell on the Science Park at Louvain-la-Neuve, in the New
Tech Center building (Einstein Park).
The R&D centre in Louvain-la-Neuve will specialise in the application & software
segment.
http://www.huawei.com
http://www.uclouvain.be/parc
Mons, ready to welcome a Chinese incubator

A "service centre for Chinese enterprises" has just been opened in the Initialis Park in
Mons (Hainaut province). AWEX will assign a permanent member of staff of Chinese
origin to it.
The centre has opened in the immediate proximity of the head office of one of the
first Chinese investors on the site, Reach Hangzhou, a company playing an
intermediate role for Chinese companies in applying the Reach standards.
This office will be a Wallonia "one stop shop" for Chinese entrepreneurs.
For further information: [email protected]
http://www.investinwallonia.be



2. Contracts abroad for Belgian companies

Belgian chemicals company Solvay Works on Solar Impulse, the first long-
distance plane to fly on solar energy
The Solar Impulse is the first long-distance plane that will be 100% powered by solar energy, which will be picked up by solar cells on the wings of the plane and loaded into batteries. What is revolutionary is that the plane will be able to continue to fly by night as well as by day. The Belgian chemicals company Solvay has contributed to the construction of this airplane. More than 6,000 components of the Solar Impulse contain materials from Solvay, such as Polyamide-imide Torlon®, polyetheretherketone KetaSpire® PEEK, Primospire ® SPR, Solef®, F1EC en Halar® ECTFE. The airplane, which has the wingspan of an Airbus A340 (63.40 meter) but weighs only 1,600 kilograms, made its first real test flight early in December. It is hoped that the Solar Impulse will be able to fly around the world by 2012. http://www.solvay.com/strategynew/solarimpulse/0,,44242-2-0,00.htm http://www.solarimpulse.com/ Belgian green power company Enfinity concludes contract in India
The solar energy company Enfinity, in Waregem in the Province of West Flanders, is specialised in the development, management and financing of renewable energy projects and especially projects in wind and solar energy. Enfinity focuses its activities on investments in solar energy and wind energy in countries with a specific incentive programme. Recently Enfinity signed a contract for the installation of solar parks in the South East of India. In partnership with the Indian group, Titan, the Belgian company will develop solar power installations with a total capacity of 1,000 megawatt peak. That is a major part of the 20,000 megawatt peak that India aims to develop by 2020. The project occupies an area of more than 12 km². The project will be spread over five years. http://www.enfinity.be White House website runs on Belgian software
American President Barack Obama uses Belgian software. In fact the White House website runs on Drupal, a creation of the Belgian Dries Buytaert (31). According to Buytaert half a million websites worldwide run on this open source software. Drupal is an open source content management system (CMS). That is web server software that makes it easy to build and display web pages. Many modern CMSs, including Drupal, offer a "back-end" interface with which managers can adapt the content and design of their website without any programme knowledge. Drupal’s popularity has grown over the years. From July 2007 to June 2008 Drupal was downloaded more than 1.4 million times from the website http://drupal.org. In the meantime a large community has contributed to Drupal’s development, since the software can be downloaded for free and anyone who wants to can work on it in order to improve it. In 2007 Drupal won the "2007 Overall Open Source CMS Award". It ended second in other categories like "Best PHP Open Source CMS" and "Best Open Source Social Networking CMS". In 2008 Drupal got the “Open Source CMS Award Winner” and “Best PHP Based Open Source CMS”. In 2009 it carried off a “Webware 100 Award” in the Social & Publishing category for the third year in a row. Two years ago Buytaert set up Acquia, a company that maintains Drupal websites. The firm periodically checks whether the website is still safe and whether it could work faster. http://www.whitehouse.gov http://drupal.org
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33463174/ns/technology_and_science-internet/
http://techpresident.com/blog-entry/whitehousegov-goes-drupal
http://buytaert.net/whitehouse-gov-using-drupal
http://buytaert.net/gartner-puts-drupal-in-visionaries-quadrant

Belgian company Vyncke concludes three contracts in Singapore

Vyncke Energietechniek in Harelbeke, in the Province of West Flanders, has landed
three projects for green power. Amongst other things, Vyncke Energietechniek,
which is specialised in green industrial power stations for biomass, will supply a
wood-fuelled boiler to the Kim Hock Recycling company. The second commission
consists of an installation for Colben Energy, which will convert waste products from
the palm oil industry into electricity for the national grid. Finally, a small installation
will be built for the botanical gardens in the centre of Singapore.
http://www.vyncke.be/
http://www.nieuwsblad.be/Article/Detail.aspx?articleid=EP2I2J4V

Belgian company rakes in contracts for the construction of bowling alleys in
Morocco and Senegal

The Belgian company Valcke Bowling Service, in Wevelgem in the Province of West
Flanders, has pocketed contracts in Senegal and Morocco for the construction of
bowling alleys and is in negotiations in other North and West African countries.
Until recently this family company was active only in Belgium, the Netherlands,
Switzerland and France. During the Belgian economic mission to Morocco, in
November 2009, the company signed an agreement for the construction of twelve
bowling alleys in the Tamaris Aquapark near Casablanca. The owners of the
amusement park intend the investment to increase the attraction of the park and to
keep it open in the winter. In 2010 a bowling alley will also be built in the
magnificent Sea Plaza project in Dakar, Senegal (http://www.seaplaza.sn).
http://www.valckebowling.com

Belgian company Mithra Pharmaceuticals to distribute its products in
Morocco as of 2010

Mithra Pharmaceuticals is a spin-off of the University of Liege. It was founded in
1999 and specialises exclusively in women’s health.
In the framework of Prince Philip’s economic mission to Morocco from 22 to 26
November 2009 the company signed a contract with the Moroccan firm, Health Care
Promotion, for the distribution of its products.
The company already has a presence in 38 countries. This new contract in Morocco is
a first for Mithra in North Africa and will be a foot in the door towards other North
African countries and Sub-Saharan Africa.
http://www.mithra.be

Belgian company supplies heating appliances and a ventilation system for
the highest building in the world in Argentina

The company Jaga, in Diepenbeek, is going to deliver the heating appliances and a
ventilation system for the highest tower in the world. This is a spiral-shaped building
that will rise 1 whole kilometre out of the sea off the coast of Buenos Aires - a
floating city in which 160,000 people will be able to live and work. And they’ll need
just as many radiators. Besides the radiators, Jaga has also been asked to develop a
ventilation system.
In 2010 building will start – if everything goes according to plan – on a tower that is
to become the highest in the world. The highly futuristic-looking building should be
ready for Argentina’s 200th birthday in 2016. By then there will be apartments,
offices and shops on the 200 floors and everything will be linked to the mainland via
an undersea railway. 7 artificial islands will support the construction. The project is
headed by the Argentinean architect, Julio Torcello.
In the world of ecological or energy-saving heating Jaga is a well-known player. It
also supplied the appliances for the Federation Tower in Moscow which, at 506
metres, is the highest tower in Europe.
http://www.jaga.be

Agfa HealthCare signs four-year agreement with Chinese partners for
distribution of radiography solutions

Agfa HealthCare has signed a new four-year distribution agreement with its Chinese
partners, responsible for the sale, distribution, installation and servicing of Agfa
HealthCare’s solutions in the People’s Republic of China.
The contract has an estimated value of around US$500 million
"The Chinese government will invest over 124 billion US dollars in healthcare over
the coming three years and will build 5000 new hospitals, primarily in rural regions,"
states Jo Cornu, CEO of the Agfa-Gevaert group. "Agfa HealthCare will play an
instant and important role in this project.”
http://www.agfa.com

Belgian architecture firm charged with design of tourist centres in Morocco

L’ATELIER–SOCIETE D’ARCHITECTES SC-S.A. is active in the design and realisation
of projects in Belgium, Europe (Poland, Slovakia and Italy) and North Africa (Tunisia
and Morocco).

The architecture firm, which is based in Liege, was founded some 20 years ago and is
regarded very highly both in Belgium and abroad for its record of achievements in
the field of logistical infrastructure (L’Oréal, Janssen Logistics, Trilogis), commercial
centres (IKEA, Galerie St-Lambert in Liege), recreational infrastructure (concert
halls, Standard Liege’s training centre for young footballers etc.) and many others.

L’ATELIER set up a subsidiary in Marrakech in 2007. In the same year a technical
study bureau was set up in Tunis, too. As part of the Plan Azur 2010 competition,
which the Moroccan government launched with the aim of attracting ten million
tourists by 2010 and building six seaside resorts, L’ATELIER was commissioned to
design the architectural and town planning concept for three of the six resorts:
ESSAOUIRA – MOGADOR
MANSOUR LAKE CITY – OUARZAZATE
PORT LIXUS – LARACHE
The projects comprise touristic infrastructure: resorts with golf courses, hotels, villas,
yacht marinas, etc.
Other projects are underway in Fès, Tangier, Marrakech, Martil and Tétouan, as well
as in Tunisia (Tunis Radès, Tunis Hamam Lif, Bizerte …)
http://www.latelier.be



3. General economic information about Belgium
Karel De Gucht gets important Trade portfolio in the European Commission

The Belgian Karel De Gucht has been given the Trade portfolio in the new European
Commission. He succeeds Baroness Catherine Ashton, who was appointed as the new
High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy and Vice President of the
Commission.
In addition, De Gucht will be the coordinator of the industrial relations with other
world powers.
De Gucht will also take over part of the Industry portfolio and will coordinate the
Trans-Atlantic Economic Council.
As European Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht will be responsible for the EU’s
foreign trade policy and will be the spokesperson of the biggest trading partner in the
world. This will include:
- promoting economic development and solidarity in the world - negotiating and concluding trade agreements on behalf of the 27 EU Member - cooperation with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and other multilateral organisations to break down international trade barriers - monitoring compliance with the existing (international) trade policy In principle the European Parliament will give the new Commission a vote of confidence on 26 January 2010. http://europa.eu

The Financial Times declares Didier Reynders third best Minister of Finance
in Europe

The British newspaper the Financial Times (FT) has declared the Belgian Didier
Reynders the third best Minister of Finance in Europe after the French Minister,
Christine Lagarde, and the German Minister, Peer Steinbrück.
A jury from the FT assessed 19 ministers. Besides a general ranking the newspaper
also drew up a list based on political and economic criteria and a credibility score.
Didier Reynders gets third place in the general ranking. For economic affairs he is
second. Incidentally, according to the paper the Belgian economy is doing better
than its neighbours. Politically he shares eighth place with his Italian colleague, Giulio
Tremonti. For credibility Reynders ends up ninth.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3f36c9c4-d2d0-11de-af63-00144feabdc0.html

Belgian best young entrepreneur in the world

At the world Junior Chamber International (JCI) congress in Tunisia on 19 November
2009, Patrick Decuyper, CEO of the sun and wind energy company Enfinity, in
Waregem in the province of West Flanders, received the Creative Young
Entrepreneur Award (CYEA), an annual international award for entrepreneurs
organised by the JCI and Flanders DC, an organisation of the Flemish authority which
aims to promote creative enterprise. The prize is awarded to the best young
entrepreneur selected from more than 100 candidates from more than 20 countries.
The criteria include creativity and innovation on the one hand and socially
responsible enterprise on the other.
http://www.express.be
http://www.enfinity.be
http://www.jci.cc
http://www.jciwc-hammamet2009.com
http://www.flandersdc.be

Belgian arms manufacturer FN Herstal produces a black box for firearms

The Belgian arms manufacturer FN, in Herstal (Province of Liege), has designed and
developed a black box for firearms. This innovative appliance was presented at
MILIPOL, the international trade fair for internal state security, in Paris.
The FN black box detects, identifies and counts shots, measures burst rates and
burst lengths, records firing sequences and detects stoppages due to failure of cycle.
Storing such information facilitates maintenance, which greatly increases weapon
reliability and availability.
The device can also transmit useful information to the chain of command during a
mission. It includes the weapon’s identification number and can therefore indirectly
identify the soldier. When it is linked to a GPS it can transmit its identification and
location data to the highest command levels via the soldier’s communications
apparatus.
The FN black box is a moulded appliance that fits in any weapon type. It is provided
with a non-exchangeable battery that lasts 10 years and has a recording capacity of
100,000 rounds.
http://www.fnherstal.com/index.php?id=573
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13639_3-10398967-42.html
The Belgian company Electrawinds fuels private cars with waste animal fat –
a world first

Electrawinds, the Belgian renewable energy producer, has succeeded in running a
private car with a converted engine on waste animal fats for 24 hours at its biofuel
power station in Mouscron in the Province of Hainaut. The fat was sourced from
slaughterhouses and fat rendering plants. The same biomass is purified in the
Electrawinds power stations in Mouscron and Ostend, in the Province of West
Flanders, to produce a clean fuel that generates electricity. This provides 85,000
families with green electricity.
For this fun experiment, which was baptised “Biofuel Racing Challenge”, Electrawinds
staff used their free time to completely convert an Audi A4 into a sustainable racing
car. Despite this world first, Electrawinds does not intend to commercialise the
initiative. The company only wanted to show that renewable energy is more than just
wind turbines and solar panels and that green electrical power can also be produced
from waste products.
http://www.electrawinds.be
Hot Cuisine America, a subsidiary of the Belgian UNIVEG group, receives
Entrepreneurship prize in New York

On 14 November 2009 UNIVEG received the Hot Cuisine America (HCA) in New York,
the prestigious BACC Entrepreneurship Award. The prize is awarded annually by the
Belgian-American Chamber of Commerce to a company that demonstrates insight
into the American market, perseverance, successful marketing and ecological
awareness. UNIVEG Hot Cuisine America got the prize for its policy of working with
advanced production methods to produce top quality products.
Early in 2008 UNIVEG Hot Cuisine America, a subsidiary of the fruit and vegetable
concern UNIVEG, which is based in Swedesboro, New Jersey, started the production
and supply of freshly prepared ready-made meals which surpassed the quality
standards of both the USDA and the FDA. By reconciling European and American
production techniques, UNIVEG Hot Cuisine America is able to make high-end meals
to suit North American consumers.
http://www.univeg.com
Japanese Nippon Export Award for Agfa-Gevaert

The image creation group Agfa-Gevaert from Mortsel (in the Province of Antwerp)
has won the Nippon Export Award in Japan for the quality of its printing plates. These
days Agfa-Gevaert competes with leading Japanese suppliers with its unique and
environment friendly product.
http://www.agfa.com/en/gs/news_events/latest_news/archive/20091213_nippon_a
ward.jsp

Company from Antwerp wins European Best Event Award in Milan

Twins|Events & PR, a company from Antwerp, is specialised in the organisation of
events from concept development to realisation.
On 26 November 2009 Twins|Events & PR went off with the European Best Event
Award in Milan for the “Happy Smurfday Euro Tour”.
The 50th birthday of the Smurfs, the brainchild of the Belgian artist Peyo, was
celebrated in no less than 15 European countries under the name “Happy Smurfday”.
The concept was produced in cooperation with UNICEF Europe and consisted of
nightly Smurf invasions, happening press conferences, a special birthday exhibition,
an online public competition and cooperation with 15 European celebrities. All of
which was backed up by a custom-made website. In addition to that, this project
made more than 250,000 euros in aid of UNICEF’s educational projects.
Besides the European Best Event Award the “Happy Smurfday Euro Tour” also
bagged the silver ERMIS PR Award in Athens a few weeks earlier for the organisation
of the event in Athens.
http://www.twins.be
http://www.besteventawards.com
http://www.smurf.com

Port of Antwerp organises “Antwerp Port Promotion Days” in various cities

On 1 December 2009 the Antwerp Port Authority, Gemeentelijk Havenbedrijf
Antwerpen, organised an Antwerp Port Promotion Day in Budapest, Hungary, and on
2 December another in Vienna, Austria. The aim of this type of event is to establish
contacts, share experiences and strengthen cooperation. Amongst others,
representatives from the logistics and industrial sector, private companies from
Antwerp and the port authorities were present.
Antwerp is the second port in Europe and the sixth in the world for international
maritime traffic. In 2008 the port handled almost 190 million tons of maritime goods
traffic. A good 16,000 sea-going ships and another 61,000 river vessels call in at
Antwerp annually. Antwerp is the market leader for steel, project cargo, fruit and
forestry products and is an important Ro-Ro port, but it also plays a crucial role for
dry bulk, like coffee and tobacco, and liquid bulk.
Antwerp is the largest chemicals and petrochemicals centre in Europe (and the
second in the world) and is the most important provider of storage space of all the
European ports. The many logistics companies in and around the port - there are
over 350 European distribution centres in the Antwerp region - not only offer storage
space but also carry out countless added value activities for all sorts of goods,
including steel, cars, tobacco, coffee and fruit, and take care of distribution for the
Western European market and overseas destinations.
http://www.portofantwerp.com
Port of Antwerp elected “Best dry bulk port”

The Port of Antwerp was chosen by the trade’s International Bulk Journal as “Best
dry bulk port”. The nominated ports were judged amongst other things on the efforts
they have made to handle bulk goods in an efficient, safe and environment-friendly
manner, the quality of their logistical follow-up, customer service, investments in
port infrastructure and management approach towards generating local and
international business. The Port of Antwerp was judged best for these parameters.
http://www.portofantwerp.com
Port of Antwerp freezes port dues

In response to the global economic crisis, the Antwerp Port Authority has decided to
freeze its port dues and concession fees in 2010. Some dues will even be lowered.
Antwerp Port Authority will keep its dues and fees at the 2009 level. Most of the dues, in fact, will be frozen at the 2008 level. Furthermore, a 10% reduction will also be granted for transshipment of conventional/break-bulk cargo, such as steel, fruit, paper and wood, for which Antwerp is the leading port in Europe. With these measures the Port Authority seeks to combat further losses in freight volumes and employment, while extending a helping hand to shipping companies that are having to deal with the particularly sharp recession. These measures form part of an overall plan for a competitive port, thus enabling Antwerp to reinforce its position as the second-largest port in Europe. Antwerp port currently provides more than 180,000 jobs in Flanders and contributes nearly 60% of the total added value that the Belgian ports generate for the national economy. http://www.portofantwerp.com

Wallonia is the first logistics region in Europe

According to a study by Cushman&Wakefield, published by Logistics in Wallonia and
AWEX, Wallonia has become the first logistics region in Europe. The study
established a ranking of best European locations for logistics and distribution, base
don macro-economic criteria.
Like in previous editions of the study, published in 2004 and 2006 by the Vlaams
Instituut voor de Logistiek (VIL), several Belgian provinces appear in the top tier of
the ranking. This is why:
Excellent access to the most important European markets; Outstanding transport volume and infrastructure, close to the most important ports or with excellent multimodal connections to those ports; Availability of very productive, highly qualified and multilingual work force. http://www.investinwallonia.be http://www.logisticsinwallonia.be/files/gallery/comparison2009primelogisticslocationsabridgededition1260364171.pdf

Source: http://diplomatie.belgium.be/en/binaries/econieuwsen0609_tcm312-94235.pdf