• Home
• Contact

For investors

Let our regional advantages be your competitive edge!

With around 90 000 inhabitants, East-Belgium adjoins the borders of the Netherlands, Germany and the Grand-Duchy of Luxemburg. The region offers a series of advantages not found in such a convenient constellation elsewhere, advantages which can bring a competitive edge to any business considering either start-up, relocation or expansion:

1. Advantageous geographical position

Lying in the heart of northwestern Europe, your East-Belgian company site would be within 4 trucking hours of more than 40 million potential consumers. This represents roughly 20 % of the combined buying power of the expanded European Union.

This convenient geographical situation, with regard to such important European manufacturing, service and population centres as the cities of the Ruhr and Rhineland, Aachen, Liege, Brussels and Luxemburg, is a vital factor in the region´s economic life.

2. Excellent infrastructure

East-Belgium is connected directly with the pan-European motorway network via the E40 (Brussels-Liege-Cologne) and the E42 (Lille-Namur-Trier). Five airports, Europe´s second-largest freshwater port (Liege) as well as several major rail stations (with TGV connections) are within a brief journey´s reach. East-Belgium offers attractive, well connected Industrial and Commercial zones with available infrastructure to meet a wide variety of requirements
.

3. Multi-skilled, highly trained workforce

Thanks to a regional mandate for primary, secondary and higher education, as well as vocational training and employment issues, the relevant ministries in German-speaking East-Belgium are in close contact with the region´s commercial and industrial pulse. This results in speed and flexibility to meet changing or developing demands. To high-quality schooling may be added a diversity of further education opportunities: several universities and technical high schools, as well as a variety of academies, training centres, design, research and development institutes and industrial parks can be found in the surrounding area.

4. Multi-lingual population

East-Belgium lies on the junction of four language regions (German, French, Dutch and the Luxemburg dialect), which translates into a large proportion of the population being fluent or competent in various combinations of these, as well as having a sound working knowledge of English. The cultural identity of the region also serves as a positive vector for exchange and trade, combining aspects of both Germanic and Romanic cultural mentality.

5. Stable industrial relations

A sound consultative basis to industrial relations between employers and employees guarantees social stability while supporting economic advancement in East-Belgium.

6. High quality of life

The "in-between" geography of East-Belgium provides for fast and easy access to dense urban markets and industrial production areas both inland and abroad, yet without any of the disadvantages of actually having to live there.  The richly diverse and beautiful natural landscape of East-Belgium is matched by the variety of leisure and sporting activities available there all the year round, while a tradition of hospitality and superb gastronomy can only add to the charms of this already highly attractive region.

If we have whetted your appetite, please feel free to contact us for any further information you may require.