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| Newsletter Invest in Brussels Autumn 2011 |
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Dear Reader,
Here, with our compliments, is the latest investment news from Brussels.
Please contact us if you want more information.
Sincerely,
The Invest in Brussels team
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| Highest score ever for Belgium on Competitiveness Report |
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| The Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum ranks Belgium n° 15 in the world, the highest score ever for the country. Belgium moves up five places from its 2010 ranking, doing even better than France, Luxemburg and Australia. Switzerland is once again the best performer. The World Economic Forum gives credits notably to the Belgian education and health system, the port infrastructure and the development of the country’s financial markets.
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| Belgium best-poised to attract non-EU brains |
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| A comparative study (UK, Germany, The Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy and Belgium) by Deloitte in September 2011 demonstrates that the Belgian immigration process is by far the fastest and the easiest to comply with. Considering both the little time it takes to process a work permit application and the favourable conditions for obtaining work permits for highly skilled employees, it is relatively easy for third-country nationals to find employment here.
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| EC study shows that Belgian SMEs are back on track |
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| A study released early-October by the European Commission finds that the Belgian SME community is climbing back to pre-crisis levels in terms of value added and employment, and is actually expected to grow in numbers. This reflects, says the Commission, “a good track record of policy action over the last year”. Belgium’s administrations have been active in all small business policy areas at both federal and regional level, with a strong focus on sponsoring entrepreneurship. Special attention is now being concentrated on the promotion of entrepreneurial skills and opportunities.
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| Brussels-based Microsoft Innovation Center starts out to help start-ups |
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| The Brussels Microsoft Innovation Center (MIC) is now operational, providing incubation support to start-ups in fast-growing areas like cloud computing and SaaS. Following a series of ‘boostcamp’ sessions, the first two certification events were fully booked out. The Brussels MIC is jointly financed by the Brussels Capital Region and a number of private partners. Earlier this year Microsoft also inaugurated a Brussels-based Cloud and Interoperability unit as part of its Executive Briefing Center for European Innovation.
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| Brussels 6th most attractive European city for European entrepreneurs |
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| A study by real estate specialists Cushman and Wakefield shows that Brussels is still an attractive investment destination for European entrepreneurs. A poll of 501 CEOs of European companies ranks Brussels 6th of 36 European cities. Brussels’ multilingualism, its easy access to markets and clients, and its international transport links are seen as the main incentives to invest in the region.
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| Brussels rates N° 2 on world conference city list |
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| The latest analysis by the Union of International Associations (UIA) shows that Brussels hosted no less than 474 international congresses in 2010. This makes the city N° 2 in the world after Singapore (596 events) and ahead of Paris (320) and Vienna (224). The city’s appeal has risen dramatically since 2006, when Brussels attracted just 271 such events. Following the inauguration of ‘The Square’ congress complex in 2009 in the centre of Brussels, plans are now underway to develop the Heizel site, scene of the 1958 World Expo, on the edge of the city.
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| Brussels much more than a service city |
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| Figures from Volkswagen’s Brussels operations, the single production site for the Audi A1 ‘mini’, show that the city’s environment and work ethic also suit manufacturers well. Latest data indicate that, over the first nine months of this year, the Brussels site produced 88,594 units, well on the way to achieving the company’s 2011 target of 120,000 vehicles.
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| A healthy trade environment |
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| Belgium comes out smelling of roses in the 2011 Bribe Payers Index published by Transparency International, the global NGO leading the fight against corruption. The country ranks third in this influential survey, which examines the negotiating behaviour of the 28 countries around the world that account for nearly 80 per cent of international trade (goods, services and investments). With a score of 8.7 out of 10, Belgium arrives 0.1 points behind the Netherlands and Switzerland and ranks ahead of Germany and the UK. Transparency International asserts that “foreign bribery has significant adverse effects on public well-being around the world. It distorts the fair awarding of contracts, reduces the quality of basic public services, limits opportunities to develop a competitive private sector and undermines trust in public institutions.”
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| Growing trade links with the PRC |
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| The Brussels Invest & Export agency delegation, recently returned from a federal trade mission to China, has announced a series of developments regarding Chinese investments in the Brussels-Capital region. Drawing on the agency’s incubator facilities, three companies have confirmed their plans to establish operational bases in Brussels: the Shenzhen YouYuan Investment Corporation Limited, primarily engaged in mushrooms cultivation and trading, the China Asia United Group Corporation, also of Shenzhen and active in seafood processing and trading, and the luxury goods China Euro Business Services Corporation Limited of Hong Kong. In response to the growing interest in Brussels as a continental springboard for European operations, Hainan Airlines is now operating six connections a week with Brussels, four linking Peking and two Shanghai.
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| The other airport: Brussels South |
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| Most business visitors to Brussels come through the Region’s Brussels National airport located in the city’s eastern suburb of Zaventem. But the Region has a second, low-cost entry point: Brussels South airport, a 45-kilometers (30-mile) car or shuttle drive from the city centre. A key hub in the Ryanair network, with a functional terminal inaugurated in 2008, Brussels South has been rated the “second best low-cost airport” by the Skytrax.com website. Now Ryanair’s chief executive Michael O’Leary has gone on record saying that Brussels South is “the model for many other airports” in the countries of the European Union. “When we started here in 2001, the place was empty, not a single passenger in sight. But now the airport, with a support team of 6,000 workers, will be handling six million passengers a year.”
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| Some exceptional newcomers |
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--MCLAREN--
Coinciding with the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix in early-September, McLaren Automotive opened its first Continental European showroom on Brussels’ Louizalaan/Avenue Louise. Key exhibit is the new McLaren MP4-12C (value > 200,000 euro). Reasons for the choice of Brussels were the city’s central location and its status as the administrative capital of Europe.
--BMW--
Next year, the automobile giant BMW will be developing its Leuvensesteenweg/Chaussée de Louvain site in Evere, Brussels, with the addition of a 12,000 square meter showroom and a service centre. The investment reflects an expected sales increase of 50%, involving the recruitment of 12 additional employees. With a budget of € 25 million for this expansion, BMW clearly sees Brussels as a prime destination for future investment.
--ELECTROLUX--
Electrolux, the Swedish household goods producer is moving its European headquarters to Haren, Brussels. The move involves 400 jobs.
--EVERIS--
As a specialist in IT consultancy and outsourcing services, the everis company has established a Brussels subsidiary to service the city’s important community of international institutions and public-sector corporations.
Speaking at an inaugural ceremony in early-October Benoît Cerexhe, Brussels Region Minister of Economy and Employment, said the decision reflected the key attributes of Brussels: its central location, easy accessibility by road, rail and air, its role as an international capital and its cosmopolitan character.
Headquartered in Spain, everis employs a team of 10,000 professionals in operations in Europe, the USA and Latin America. The team of 70 professionals already working for the Brussels subsidiary is expected to rise to over 100 in the course of the coming year.
A consortium led by everis has been awarded three contracts by the European Commission, with a total value of € 392 million, for the development, research and support of information systems.
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| Interest in the incubator |
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| Demand for the incubator services of Brussels Invest & Export continues to grow. Companies taking advantage of our three-month charge-free offer – office facilities, help with business and financial plans, risk assessments, marketing and services support, etc – include Civic Agenda EU, the British lobbying and events company, French life sciences consultants Alcimed, the Korean NXMH ICT company, and ICT consultants Ineat Conseil of France. All four are in the meantime establishing Brussels-based companies, with NXMH investing nine million euro in a Belgian holding.
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| Please find out on our website what we do/did to attract more foreign investors to Brussels.
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To know more about our services to potential investors, go to
www.investinbrussels.com
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Brussels Invest & Export
- TEL. 02/8004046
slenaerts@mrbc.irisnet.be
- http://www.investinbrussels.com
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