INVEST IN BELGIUM

Belgium and its regions: presentation of an economic powerhouse in Europe

1

RIGA – 7/9/2017

INVEST IN BELGIUM

Belgium At the border of 3 main European cultures

• 11 million inhabitants

• Official languages: French, Dutch, German

• Independent since 1830

• Federal state since 1981

• Head of state: King Philippe

• Capital: Brussels

2

INVEST IN BELGIUM

7 main advantages Springboard for a pan-European development

3

Global gateway to key markets/Ideal test market

Accessibility from all Europe & Worldwide

International decision centre

International talent pool and innovation centre

Competitive real estate

Advantageous business environment

High quality of life

INVEST IN BELGIUM

Belgium is the 3rd most globalised country in the world

KOF Index 2015 measures 25 variables indicating degree of integration into world economy KOF stands for Konjunkturforschung (Business cycle research)

4

91.3 91.24 91

82.96 82.76 82.65

74.81

65.87

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Ireland Netherlands Belgium UK France Germany USA Japan

KOF Index of Globalization 2015

INVEST IN BELGIUM

Trade relations with Latvia

€ M 2014 2015 2016

Export 280,7 367,8 354,3

Import 122,1 109,2 104,9

Trade balance 158,6 258,6 249,4

Export % -1,5 31 -3,6

Import % -26,1 -10,5 -3,9

INVEST IN BELGIUM

A perfect assessment & test market

• Gateway to European market

• Multi-cultural population

• European diversity challenge on a small scale

Importation 83,1% GDP

Exportation 84% GDP

Source : The World Bank 2014

6

INVEST IN BELGIUM

Belgium connected to Europe

75 % of the EU

market (GDP)

40 % of the

consumers

7

INVEST IN BELGIUM

Belgium connected to Europe

• Paris – 1 hour 25 23 connections / day

• London – 2 hours 01

11 connections / day

• Amsterdam – 1 hour 50 12 connections / day

• Cologne – 1 hour 47 4 connections / day

• Frankfurt – 2 hours 59 4 connections / day

European High Speed Trains

8

INVEST IN BELGIUM

Belgian airports Europe and the world in a flap of wings

Brussels Airport

• International crossroads connecting the capital of Europe with the world

• Located at about 12 km (8 miles) north east of Brussels. Direct connection by train (up to 4/hour) to the city centre (20’), busses links to NATO, the European Commission and the city centre

• Landing of most long-haul international flights with connections to major hubs such as

London, Amsterdam and Frankfurt , 2 daily flights to New-York and daily services to Toronto, Mumbai and Delhi

• Awarded “ World Routes Award” in the category 4m – 20 m passengers (2014)

• Awarded the “Airport of the Year Award” at the Shanghai World Air Cargo Awards (2015)

9

INVEST IN BELGIUM

Belgian airports Europe and the world in a flap of wings

Brussels South Charleroi Airport (Cargo airport)

• 200 ha Business park : “Aeropole” • Focussing on regular charter flights • Low cost flights & operations, high efficiency • Neighbouring Aero-Industries test base

Liege Airport (Cargo airport)

• Centre of Amsterdam – Paris – Frankfurt triangle • 1st European Airport focussing on cargo • Operating 24/7 • European hub of TNT-Express Worldwide • Low cost, extra fast & efficient operations

International Airport Ostend-Bruges

• Cargohub for Africa and Middle-East • Top facilities for perishables, outsourced cargo and livestock • EU veterinary inspection post • Charter flights on selected destinations • Flexible 24/7 airport operations • Fast turnarounds • Runway 3200 m/10500 ft

10

8

327 407 482 561 591

0

500

1000

1996 2002 2006 2009 2013 2014

Cargo volumes evolution (thousands) Liege Airport

2.96 3.94 5.2 5.9 6.5 6.79 6.44

0

5

10

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Number of passengers (millions) Brussels South Charleroi Airport

INVEST IN BELGIUM

Belgian Seaports Port of Antwerp

• 2nd largest port in Europe • N°1 chemical port (BASF, Dow, Bayer, …)

Port of Zeebruge

• High end deep sea port in Flanders • European hub port for automative industry (new cars)

Port of Ostend

• Fast growing ro-ro port • Important role in the realisation of a European

short sea container network

Port of Ghent

• Versatile port for distribution to Belgium and Northern half of France

• Largest recycling paper plant in the world

11

INVEST IN BELGIUM

Belgian Inland Ports Port of Brussels

• 6th largest inland port of Europe • 2nd inland port of Belgium

Port of Liège

• 3rd largest in Europe • Close to seaports of Antwerpen en Rotterdam

Port of Charleroi

• Direct canals connections to Brussels and Antwerp

Port of Namur

• Junction between East & West Inland Ports

Port of Meerhout

• Container Terminal nearby Antwerp

Port of Genk

• TriModal Platform Water-Rail-Road

12

INVEST IN BELGIUM

Brussels, International government capital European Institutions

• European Commission • European Council • European Parliament • Committee of the Regions • European Economic and Social Committee

Highest Concentration of Diplomatic Missions • NATO headquarters

• 1 500 International Professional Federations

• Representation of most European Political Parties and Regions

13

INVEST IN BELGIUM

Belgium, International business hub

Major multinationals have their decision centre in Belgium:

• Approximately 2 300 foreign companies have set-up European HQ or sales subsidiaries in Belgium

• Brussels is the best conference city in Europe and the second best conference city worldwide (Source : UIA Conference Cities Ranking 2014)

• 5 000 diplomats, 15 000 lobbyists and 1 500 international press members

14

INVEST IN BELGIUM

Education & skills Higher education and training

For information :

Russia 38 China 68 India 90 Brazil 93

Sources : World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2015 – 2016

Language Skills

For information :

India 6,57 China 5,43 Russia 4,32 Brazil 2,48

IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2015

15

2.86

3.67

4.25

4.79

7.05

8.26

8.68

Japan

France

UK

USA

Germany

Belgium

Netherlands Country Rank

Netherlands 3

Belgium 5

USA 6

Germany 17

UK 18

Japan 21

France 25

INVEST IN BELGIUM

An unique hotspot for lifelong learning “Best country in the world for academic research” The Scientist, November 2007

16 Outstanding Universities • Universities meet the needs of a competitive economy : Belgium ranked 6th out of 61

(IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2015)

• Strong interaction between teaching and research • Management schools ranked 2nd out of 140

(Global Competitiveness Report World Economic Forum 2015 – 2016)

• 7 universities are classified in the Academic Ranking of the World Universities 2015 by Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Worldwide renowned Research Centres • IMEC: nano-electronics • SCK-CEN: peaceful applications of nuclear science • ITM: Institute of Tropical Medicine • VIB: life sciences • Welbio: fundamental life sciences • VITO: sustainable technologies • Cenaero: high-tech industry, mainly in aeronautics • iMinds : Interdisciplinary Institute for Broadband Technology • … and many others

16

INVEST IN BELGIUM

EU innovation performance

Source: Innovation Union Scoreboard 2015 – European Commission, DG Enterprise and Industry

EU member states’ innovation performance

17

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

INVEST IN BELGIUM

Louvain-La-Neuve, Science Park Health , Environment, Engineering

18

INVEST IN BELGIUM

Liège, GIGA 3 facilities (Total: 4 000m²)+ LabHotel (300 m²)

19

INVEST IN BELGIUM

Gosselies , The complete innovation chain Research, tech platform, tech transfer, training, companies

20

INVEST IN BELGIUM

Leuven, smart hub Gasthuisberg

One of the largest university hospitals in Europe < 2,000 beds Campus Biomedical Sciences

Focus on ICT and biotechnology Option International, DSP Valley, … Innovation and Incubation Centre Leuven.Inc

Bio-incubator I and II (devpt) ReMynd, OncoMethylome, Thrombogenics, Formac

Arenberg Science Park

Arenberg Bio-incubator

Largest nanotech R&D centre in Europe + Convergence Centre in NanoBio Houses Intel, Samsung, TI,…

IMEC

Large R&D intensive park DocPharma, ICOS, Hitachi, Honeywell, Philips,…

Haasrode Science Park

Established in 1425 30,000 students LRD Tech Transfer Office

K.U.Leuven

21

INVEST IN BELGIUM

Ghent, smart hub Bio-incubator I & II

24 x 250 m² spaces Houses Ablynx, ActoGeniX, Algo-Nomics, Biomaric, BIP, Peakadilly Yakult

Science park

Bio-focused companies, e.g. Bayer Biosciences, Innogenetics, Devgen, Cropdesign,…

VIB

World centre for R&D in biotech Staff > 1,100

University of Ghent

World-class university 28,000 students Biotech and biomedical expertise

Inst. For Biomedical Tech

Combining engineering with biomedical expertise, drug eluted stents,… Staff 80, campus Univ. Hospital

22

INVEST IN BELGIUM

Cost-effective office market

Source : Cushman & Wakefield, Office Space Across the World 2014

Office (prime rent location)

Total Occupancy Cost euro/m²/year

23

2122

895

718

593

556

540

506

439

485

395

393

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500

London West-End

Paris

Geneva

Stockholm

Milan

Munich

Amsterdam

Madrid

Dublin

Warsaw

Brussels

INVEST IN BELGIUM

Industrial areas

Source : Cushman & Wakefield, Marketbeat Industrial Snapshots Q1 2015

Prime industrial rents €/m²/year

24

193

139

83.4

70

66

60

60

52

47

0 50 100 150 200 250

London (Heathrow)

Zurich

Frankfurt

Dublin

Warsaw

Madrid

Amsterdam

Paris

Brussels

INVEST IN BELGIUM

Ease in establishing a business • Belgium ranks first among the EU27 countries for the fewest number of days

required for establishing a new business. • On-line start-up possible

Source: IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2015

25

4 4 5

6 6 6

13

15

19

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Belgium Netherlands France Denmark USA UK Spain Germany Luxembourg

INVEST IN BELGIUM

Baltic companies in Belgium

INVEST IN BELGIUM

An open country for expats

• 140 000 European foreigners live in Brussels

• Life cost is cheaper than in most of the other European capitals

• Wide range of international schools, offering English, American and Japanese programs

• High quality health care system

27

INVEST IN BELGIUM

Brussels High quality of life at a reasonable cost

Based on the indicators of OECD Better Life Index 2015, Brussels ranks 13th of 36 OECD members

In the cost of living index of more than 100 cities worldwide, Brussels is far more affordable than many major cities

Cost of living NY = 100

28

129.3

118

101.2 101 100 93 93

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Source : OECD Better Life Index, 2015 Source : fDi Intelligence from the Financial Times Ltd, 2014

Rank Country

1 Australia

2 Norway

3 Sweden

7 United States

9 Netherlands

12 United Kingdom

13 Belgium

14 Germany

15 Austria

16 Ireland

17 Luxembourg

18 France

20 Japan

36 Turkey

INVEST IN BELGIUM

Paldies!

29

Thomas CASTREL Jean-Philippe SCHKLAR

Economic Counsellor for Flanders Economic Counsellor for Wallonia

and Brussels

BELGIAN BEERS

DEFINITION

• Beer is defined as a fermented, alcoholic beverage with 4 main ingredients:

- water

- grain

- hops

- yeast

• Then flavour can be added : e.g. chocolate, sugar, honey…

A VERY BRIEF HISTORY

• First evidence around 6000 BC in Babylonia

• Egyptians and Romans improved receipes

• The Normans carried it to England

they added hop

• Middle ages: church involved

• Became popular all over the world

BELGIUM AND BEER CULTURE

• First prove during Roman age : beer called ‘mede’ honey based

• During Middle Ages: abbeys and monasteries were actually breweries

• Water was often contaminated in big cities people and even children

drank beer (1% alcohol, brown, called table beer)

• Typically Belgium: politics and church influenced communities

• Every small town had at least 5 or 6 bars

BELGIAN BEER FACTS

• Production: 18,5 million hectoliters/year

• 60% for export

• Consumption: 8,5 million hectoliters

• Nr of breweries: 150 professional

(+ unknown amount of microbreweries)

• Taxes for government: 183 million euro

• Employment: 5000 direct, 62.000 indirect

• Around 1500 commercial beers

BEER TRIVIA

• You can’t get sick of beer!

• The glass is not important

• but beer temperature is

• Biggest brewery in the world is Belgian:

AB Inbev (409 million hl)

• Cenosillicaphobia : the fear of an empty glass

• A small word about ‘Trappist’

RODENBACH VINTAGE 2014

RODENBACH VINTAGE 2014

• Typically Flemish beer

• Coloured red – brown

• Complex flavour: sour, bitter

• You can taste: oak, honey, apple, caramel and vanilla

• 7% alcohol

• Rodenbach brewery (°1821)

• Sometimes served with little shrimps

OUDE GEUZE

OUDE GEUZE

• Beer from Brussels area, only brewed in this area (Valley of the river Senne)

• Blend of old and new beers, called Lambiek

• Difference between Oude (Old) and Normal Geuze: sugar

• Brewery Hanssens

• 6% alcohol

• colour is amber

OUDE GEUZE

MOINETTE BLONDE

MOINETTE BLONDE

• Blond, cupperlike beer 8,5% alc

• Moinette comes from ‘moëne’ swamp

• Fresh, some sweet influences

• Brewery Dupont: known for it’s Saison beers

THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION