1. Industrial & Innovation Policy BELGIUM

2. Belgium

3. Agenda Introduction Political System Economic Profile Industrial policies

4. 1. Introduction Belgium in Europe

5.  Introduction Situated in the centre of Western Europe Very small: ca. 32.500 km² Population: ca. 10.000.000 Capital: Brussels Neighbours: The Netherlands, Germany, France, Luxembourg & UK

6. 2. Political system 1830: independence: unitary state BUT: language border! => Flanders / Wallonia / Oostkantons 5 state reforms – 3 Communities – 3 Regions

7.  Communities & Regions

8.  A structure on 3 levels Federal state + 3 Regions + 3 Communities 10 Provinces 589 Communes

9.  Competences Federal state: Federal state: – Everything that affects the interests of all belgians: foreign affairs, national defence, justice, finance,… – Responsabilities vis-à-vis the EU and NATO Communities: Communities: – Matters relating to the people: language, culture, education,… Regions: Regions: – Territorial matters: town planning, employment, environment,… – Foreign trade!!  Problems!!!

10. 3. Economical profile a) Geographical situation b) General Economics c) International cooperation d) Economic problems

11. a) Geographical location Lack of mountains + border to North Sea In the centre of the «industrial square»: Ruhr -- Randstad Holland -- Nord-Pas de Calais -- Lorraine- Saarland in the centre of European ”megalopolis”, a major urban and economic corridor (Liverpool – Genua)

12. b) General economics - real economic grotwh 2003: 1,0% - inflation 2003: 1,3% - GDP per capita: > 13% => relative wealth - revenue per worker: 62.560 € ( 20% higher than EU average)

13.  GDP in Belgium

14.  Import & Export 50% of export: neighbours 25% of export: other EU members Foreign investment! Ups and downs of economy –-- fluctuations of our neigbours BelgiumEU average Export (% of GDP) 76,5 %32,2 % Import (% of GDP) 72,9 %31,0 %

15.  Import & Export 40% of export: 3 large groups – Transport equipment – Machinery & appliances – Chemical & pharmaceutical products Other 60%: large variety – Diamonds, carpets, comic books & childrens books, linen, flowers (azalea & begonia), beer, chocolate,…

16. c) International cooperation prosperity = dependent on external trade => active part in intern. cooperation BLEU Benelux (+ Benelux Trademark Office) One of the 6 founder countries of ECSC, EEC & Eurotam pro european unification!

17. d) Economical problems Unemployement Unemployement – 14 % of active population – High wage cost, high labour cost, structural problems of Labour market – 200.000 new jobs - 4.000 Ford A dministrative burden A dministrative burden – Costs for administrative tasks: 3,4% of GDP – Lack of entrepreneurship! – ”state secretary of administrative simplification” Government deficit Government deficit Welfare state Welfare state

18. d) Economical problems Administrative burden Administrative burden – Costs for administrative tasks: 3,4% of the GDP (around 9 billion €) – Lack of entrepreneurship! – ”state secretary of administrative simplification” Welfare state Welfare state Ageing populiton => not engough money to pay pensions ”Early retirement” at 55 (even 50) Government deficit Government deficit Extreme until 1993 Draconian rehabilitation plans government debt/GDP ratio: 110.6%

19. 4. Industrial and innovation policies a) Belgian industry in general b) Regional policy - Kortrijk-region --- Flanders Language Valley - Euregio Maas-Rhine - Flemish Diamond

20.  Belgian industry in general Industrial sector: Industrial sector: 1/4e of all jobs 30% of added value Major regional contrasts Major regional contrasts – North: industrialised Antwerp: chemical sectors Ghent, Zeebrugge, Brussels Central Flanders, Kortrijk-region, North-east – South: not industrialised at all (anymore)

21.  Belgian industry in general De-industrialisation & Teriarisation De-industrialisation & Teriarisation – structure of industrial activity has changed a lot – De-industrialisation since 50s: 1957-1992: all 120 coalmines have been shut down (in Flanders) Production of steel (Wallonia) almost entirely stopped – decline in jobs compensated by development in tertiary sector

22. b) Regional policy Complex structure + different cultures => no single industrial policy Stimulation of regional development within different Communities & Regions – Wallonia: after decline of steel production: ?? – Flanders: certain regions developed 70s – 80s: Euregio Maas-Rhine Early 90s: Kortrijk-region Late 90s: Flemish Diamond

23.  Kortrijk-region – Flanders Language Valley Light industries, SMEs, local management Part: ”Flanders Language Valley” (speech tech) Cluster of localised technological change After Sillicon Valley-model: strong pilote firm, venture capital, education, informal networking L&H research lab: a common source of codified knowledge Fast entrepreneurial reaction => developing broad range of applications Favourable communication conditions  innovative linkages between SMEs

24.  Kortrijk-region – Flanders Language Valley Companies: mutual advantage: – learn form each other – Using common pools of resources in proximity E.g. employees in ”collective pools of labour” created by several education and training programmes But: owners of L&H: FRAUDE ! – Big scandal – Technology sold to Americans – FLV collapsed

25.  Euregio Maas-Rhine

26. Norhteast of Flanders, near Holland & Germany, near Maas and Rhine rivers Lagging region without industries 70s: development started, because in “New” Europe cross-border cooperation at local and regional level was becoming more important Agreement with Holland & Germany Large foreign companies ( SMEs in FLV) Benefited from large amount of labour force

27.  Flemish Diamond Region in centre of Flanders, Antwerp – Ghent – Brussels – Leuven Urban network on international level Industrial economy => knowledge economy Knowledge = critical succes factor for the future Well-functioning urban network, modern infrastructure to transport goods and person are necessary Growth of Flanders depend on development of this diamond

28. --Wim Dooms -- 29-10-2003--