Belgium (source: Wikimedia commons)

Japan

Tokyo – On May 12, addressing and presiding over the Seminar on investment opportunities in Belgium, Prime Minister Charles Michel and Deputy Prime Minister Kris Peeters, highlighted the recent measures taken by the Federal Government of Belgium to support the business and investment climate and strengthen Belgium’s attractiveness as a gateway to Europe.

One of the key notes at the seminar was the presentation of BELGIUM AND ITS NEIGHBOURS’ BUSINESS CLIMATES COMPARED 2015 edition, a comparison of business climates in Belgium and other European countries, which was delivered by Mr Masatomo Nomura, Chair of the BJA Investment Committee.

This study of studies looks at the four areas:

 As the pages on global attractiveness show, there is a rather big gap between the perception of Belgium and reality. In other words, the recognition of ‘Belgium’ as a brand is low, but in reality the Belgian economy is highly globalised and investors discover pleasant surprises afterwards.

 The pages on headquarters and holding companies show that Brussels is one of the leading cities in Europe for business. Not only because of its central location in Europe, but also because of its internationally open business culture and the ease of doing business, reasonable level of office rent and an investor-friendly tax regime, Belgium is a highly regarded location.

 When it comes to logistics, Belgium ranks number 1 in Europe because of the strong combination of excellent infrastructure, accessibility and superb cost efficiency for distribution.

 Concerning research and development, Belgium is in the top five countries in the world for the quality of scientific research institutions. The quality of mathematics and science education is among the top 3 in the world. University-industry collaboration is very active, which shows potential to bring the results of research to the market.

Download the report from our Blog: Belgium and its neighbours business climates compared 2015 (BJA) 

More details from the BJA at:  BJA News Flash – 2015 BJA Investment Publication