EXPORTRÅDET - SWEDISH TRADE COUNCIL Presentation Belgium

In Sweden: Head office in Stockholm 22 regional export consultants 40 trade commissioners regular visits to Sweden Abroad: 60 offices in more than 50 countries Via partners and networks we cover over 100 countries 508 employees of whom 371 abroad – Turnover 538 MSEK (2006) – Owned by Swedish government and industry SWEDISH TRADE COUNCIL

ONE YEAR SWEDISH TRADE COUNCIL - In 2006… … and the result was that… Swedish companies in more than cases were able to enter a new foreign market or expanded on an existing We make things happen! questions on exports were answered visits to our websites per day meetings with customers business development assignments

Trade Commissioner Maria Hilding Economy Cecilia Hörberg Export Information Gunilla Andersson EU Madeleine Koskull Rickard Eksten + trainee BeLux Mathilde Wehlén Pär Skånberg + trainee Project Leader Hosuk Lee-Makiyama SWEDISH TRADE COUNCIL IN BELGIUM Madeleine KoskullRickard Eksten Export Program: EU Advice Brussels Export Consulting

BELGIUM – ON THE CROSSROAD OF THREE CULTURES Source: Eurostat, Belgique Portail Fédéral, The Economist Anglo-saxon Romanic Germanic Capital: Brussels Population: 10,3 million inhabitants (Sweden: 9 million) Surface: km 2 (approx. same as Småland) Prime minister: (Guy Verhofstadt, VLD party) (liberals) Constitution: Monarchy - King Albert II head of state Official languages: Flemish (60%) French (40%) German (approx.1%) GDP 2006:296 billion Euros Imports 2006:257 billion Euros, of which 5,2 billion from Sweden Exports 2006:268 billion Euros, of which 3,7 billion to Sweden Fact Pack

BELGIUM IS A FEDERAL STATE WITH THREE REGIONS 1. Flanders  Inhabitants: 6 million  Main industry: Chemicals and plastics, automotive, life sciences, logistics and food  The region provides 60% of the national GDP 2. Brussels  Inhabitants: 1 million  Main industry: Financial and diplomatic center 3. Wallonia  Inhabitants: 3,3 million  Main industry: Logistics, biotechnology, aeronautic and automotive components Source: Fact Pack 1 2 3

BELGIUM HAS A STRONG INTERNATIONAL PROFILE Belgium is the world’s fifth Open Trade Economy  Hong Kong, Singapore, Luxembourg and Ireland are ranked before Belgium. The export and import value represents approximately 80% of BNP 60% of EU purchasing power within 500 km of Belgium 1,700 European headquarters of MNC International profile  EU institutions  NATO  120 international government organizations  Approximately 1,400 non-governmental organizations  159 embassies and 2,500 diplomats Source: Banque National de la Belgique, The Economist, Invest in Brussels, Economic Freedom of the World 2005 annual report 500 KM Fact Pack

SWEDEN’S MOST IMPORTANT TRADING PARTNERS 2006 Imports (%) 1. Germany 2. Denmark 3. Norway 4. Netherlands 5. United Kingdom 6. Finland 7. France 8. Belgium 9. Russia 10. Italy Exports (%) 1. USA 2. Germany 3. Norway 4. United Kingdom 5. Denmark 6. Finland 7. France 8. Netherlands 9. Belgium 10. Italy 10,6 10,3 8,5 7,0 6,9 6,4 5,1 4,6 3,4 17,9 10,5 8,3 6,6 5,9 4,9 3,9 3,5 3,3 Source: SCB Fact Pack

A positive business climate; attractive fiscal system and investment incentives Excellence in infrastructure and accessibility A qualified workforce, flexible and multilingual Real Estate: available and affordable FOUR GOOD REASONS TO DO BUSINESS IN BELGIUM Business Environment

The most important incentive is Belgium’s long-standing tradition of welcoming foreign investments. The general principle is one of ”global equity”: no discrimination is made between domestic and foreign companies.  Corporation  Real estate and equipment depreciation system  Special tax agreements: fiscal rulings  Low marginal corporate tax rate  Notional Interest Deduction (unique system)  Shareholder  No taxation on capital gain  Management  Attractive fiscal system for expats A POSITIVE BUSINESS CLIMATE; ATTRACTIVE FISCAL SYSTEM & INVESTMENT INCENTIVES Source: The Economist Country Forecast Belgium 2005, Invest in Belgium, Invest in Flanders, Invest in Wallonia Business Environment

EXCELLENCE IN INFRASTRUCTURE & ACCESSIBILITY - Airports Brussels Airport – Zaventem: Worldwide passenger and cargo services Ostend – Bruges Airport: Mainly cargo services Deurne Airport: European passenger services (e.g. London, Berlin, Dublin, Geneva) Liege Airport: Top ten European air freight hub Charleroi Airport: Passenger terminal; hub a.o. to Ryanair Brussels National Airport has the fastest air-cargo handling and distribution centre in the European Union with a turnover of 700, 000 tons (2006) Source: Invest in Flanders, Invest in Wallonia, Invest in Belgium Business Environment

EXCELLENCE IN INFRASTRUCTURE & ACCESSIBILITY - Ports Antwerp: Second largest port in Europe, fourth largest worldwide. Largest petrochemical complex in Europe, second largest worldwide Zeebruges: Leading port in the car sector ( cars) Ghent: 23,9 mln. tonnes seaborne cargo traffic (wide variety of cargo) Ostend: Handling goods and passenger services Liège: Second largest European River Port Strepy-Thieu: Most advanced boat lift t All the ports in Belgium are fully integrated with the road and rail networks and, as such, are a prime example of multimodality Source: Invest in Flanders, Invest in Wallonia, Invest in Belgium Business Environment

EXCELLENCE IN INFRASTRUCTURE & ACCESSIBILITY - Railroads Density of network, km / km² 2006 Source: IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2005 Belgium Germany United Kingdom Netherlands France Japan Ireland USA Belgium’s railway network is one of the most concentrated in the world, providing easy transport to every commercial and industrial centre from Scandinavia to Turkey Business Environment

EXCELLENCE IN INFRASTRUCTURE & ACCESSIBILITY - Motorways Frankfurt Warsaw Moscow Helsinki Oslo Lisbon Madrid London Stockholm Prague Frankfurt Warsaw Moscow Helsinki Oslo Lisbon Madrid London Stockholm Prague City Berlin Warsaw London Madrid Lisbon Frankfurt Oslo Stockholm Helsinki Moscow Prague Road distance Drive time (h) Moscow The Belgian motorway system is modern and well developed. Seven international expressways connect the country to the French, German and Dutch motorways Source: Invest in Flanders, Invest in Wallonia, Invest in Belgium Business Environment

A QUALIFIED WORKFORCE, FLEXIBLE AND MULTILINGUAL Percentage of population fluent in foreign languages Belgium’s workforce is multilingual and more than half of the population speaks three foreign languages Source: Invest in Flanders, Invest in Wallonia, Invest in Belgium Business Environment

REAL ESTATE: AVAILABLE AND AFFORDABLE €/sq.m/Year Source: Cushman & Wakefield 2005 Office space across the world - Location cost in each country Germany (Frankfurt) Ireland (Dublin) Sweden (Stockholm) USA (New York) Italy (Milan) France (Paris) Japan (Tokyo) United Kingdom (London) Belgium (Brussels) Netherlands (Amsterdam) Spain (Madrid) Business Environment

THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY General Information:  The automotive industry is Belgium’s fourth largest industry with 11% of the total manufacturing industry *  Ca 1 million cars and commercial vehicles where produced in Belgium 2006  The great majority are exported, mainly to Germany, UK, France and Spain Major companies:  Four important international companies have production in Belgium. The Belgian company Van Hool produces commercial vehicles.  Ford in Genk  General Motors in Antwerp  Volvo Cars & Volvo Trucks in Gent  Volkswagen in Brussels  Van Hool in Bree and Koningshooikt Market Opportunities Source: Federation of Belgian Enterprises, Agoria, Febiac Antwerp (General Motors) Genk (Ford) Gent (Volvo) Brussels (Volkswagen) * The manufacturing industry in Belgium has a production value (turnover) of 1749 billion SEK (2006) Koningshooikt (Van Hool) Bree (Van Hool) Bold = Head office

THE LOGISTICS INDUSTRY General Information:  There are more than 400 European Logistics Centers in Belgium Major companies: Caterpillar Logistics, Frans Maas, Schenker Logistics, Vos Logistics, TNT, DHL, Fedex The main multimodal logistic parks: Antwerp, Ghent, Zeebrugge, Oostende, Liège, Central Ardenne, Athus, Charleroi, Mons, Dry-Port Strengths:  Central position in Europe  Neighbors easily reachable by air, road, rail or waterways  60 % of the European market reachable within 500 km of Belgium Market Opportunities Source: Cluster Transport & Logistics Wallonia, Flanders Institute for Logistics

THE (PETRO-) CHEMICAL INDUSTRY Market Opportunities General information:  The chemical industry is the second largest manufacturing sector in Belgium. The chemical industry represents 1/5 of the total turnover in Belgium and 20% of the total export in Belgium  Flanders has:  500 chemical companies, direct employees, 30 billion € turnover Major companies: BASF, AGFA, Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline Strengths:  Antwerp: second largest chemical cluster in the world  3.6 million m³ independent tank storage capacity  m² storage capacity for hazardous cargo  6 LSP’s specialised in storage, handling and repackaging of plastic granulates  8 tank storage companies  1474 storage tanks Source: Invest in Flanders,

LARGE BELGIAN COMPANIES & INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES WITH HEAD QUARTERS IN BELGIUM Källa: Swedish Trade Council Market Opportunities Belgian companiesInternational companies BelgacomShurgard ProximusPioneer BASEHonda InbevCoca Cola Duvel MoorgatCaterpillar Solvay Fedex Delhaize GroupPfizer ZetesJohnson & Johnson GodivaToyota Van HoolNippon Shokubai

A LONG TRADITION OF SWEDISH SUBSIDARIES IN BELGIUM - Totally more than 200 Swedish related companies in Belgium! CompanyEmployees City 1. Volvo Cars Gent NV4500 Gent 2. Securitas NV4100 Brussels 3. Securitas Systems4000 Brussels 4. Atlas Copco Coordination Center2250 Wilrik 5. Atlas Copco Airpower2220 Wilrik 6. Hennes & Mauritz1600 Brussels 7. Volvo Europe Trucks1557 Gent 8. IKEA Belgium1500 Zaventem 9. Schenker600 Antwerpen 10. Volvo Parts Gent591 Gent Källa: Swedish Trade Council Market Opportunities

… which contributed to… the fact that more than 200 Swedish subsidiaries and several international companies have decided to settle in Belgium as starting point for the EU market Situated in the heart of Europe Strong international profile A positive business climate Excellence in infrastructure & accessibility A qualified workforce, flexible and multilingual Real estate is available and affordable BELGIUM PROVIDES CONSIDERABLE MARKET OPPORTUNITIES STC Belgium is the natural partner for all Swedish companies who wants to establish or develop their business in Belgium Summary