We examine a new website praised by the US and British chambers of commerce for assisting foreign investment in Belgium.

Did you know that you can set up a business in Belgium in three days, making the nation Europe's fastest?

The 1 June 2006 reform is part of the federal government's effort to "reinforce opportunities for local and international investors".

The government also introduced a tax deduction for risk capital in January as Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt made a 'roadshow' promotional tour in the US to outline the new tax measure.

The 'notional interest deduction’ allows companies subject to Belgian corporate tax to deduct from their taxable income an amount equal to the interest they would have paid on their capital in the case of long-term debt financing.

This regulation and more is outlined on a new website recently launched by the Belgian government aimed at attracting foreign investment.

But the website is also designed for Belgian investors and a domestic roadshow tour was conducted in the past few months.

Located at www.invest.belgium.be, the website is mainly in English and offers an introduction to the country, investment necessities and a news section.

The homepage presents the top 5 reasons for investing in Belgium:

1. A highly educated, productive, multilingual and flexible workforce
2. Top rate business infrastructure
3. A strategic location in Europe
4. A tradition of openness and international trade
5. Quality of life  

Four main sections

At the top of the homepage are four channel links: Facts & Figures, Setting Up, Doing Business and Key Sectors 

In the facts and figures section, two 15-minute videos are hosted and the country's geography, demography, society, economy and political system are explored.

The videos put the "spotlight on the main features of Belgium's federal personality". They aim "not to be exhaustive but to get across an atmospheric image of a country that has a lot to offer".

One of them is 'Belgium … at first sight' already reviewed on Expatica, while the second is a new production called 'Meet Belgium'.

In the setting up section, information on company types, formalities, incentives and the accelerated process of setting up a business in three days is outlined.

The doing business section boldly states that Belgium is number 1 for locations for industry and logistics. It also offers information on infrastructure, taxation and human resources.

The key sectors channel provides you with links to information about agrifood, biotechnology, energy, corporate headquartering, transport and logistics.

Website promotion

A spokesman with the Chancellery of Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt says the website was set up in November 2005 at a total cost of EUR 50,000.

Bart Van Herreweghe says advertising campaigns for the website were carried out around Verhofstadt's visit to the US in January.

A promotional campaign was also conducted on CNN and a Google.com advertising campaign was carried out for a month around the prime minister's US visit.

Subsequently, the website recorded 5,400 unique visitors in January for 14,000 page views. Six months after the US visit and Google campaign, the website recorded 2,000 unique visitors in June for 15,000 page views.

Explaining why a fewer number of visitors created a higher number of page views in June, Van Herreweghe says extra content is being regularly added to the website.

"We have our audience which is visiting the website," he says, adding that there are on average 100 unique visitors every day. Both international and Belgian visitors are browsing the site.

Branding of Belgium

The Project Manager at the American Chamber of Commerce in Belgium, Sue Wheeler, was pleased to discover the website last week, stressing that it was a "successful result" of lobbying.

She says the chamber has in the past urged the federal government to adopt a "branding of Belgium" campaign and to develop a greater federal focus.

Wheeler says the name that comes to mind abroad is Belgium, not necessarily Wallonia or Flanders (though Brussels is well known) and the chamber has advised for a campaign to attract investors "through the front door".

She says the new website and more importantly, the notional interest reduction, show responsiveness from the government.
 
"What's really positive is that the government seems to be listening and taking on board what the business community is saying," she says.

The chamber might use the website as it prepares a report including the 10 best reasons for investing in Belgium.

Denying it is difficult to find good reasons, Wheeler says it is more difficult to isolate the reasons that are not pure chance, such as a nation's location.

She also says due to the federated structure of Belgium, the reasons to invest here are spread out and the chamber's aim is to draw them together.

Target audience

The launch of website was also welcomed by Julia Martinet, the Conference and Committee Co-ordinator with the British Chamber of Commerce in Brussels.

"It is helpful to have something what I hope will be a one-stop shop for people or companies interested in investing, so they would have a guide of what to do and what is necessary along with facts and figures," she says.

Martinet says the target audience will be companies or individuals considering investing in Europe and needing to be convinced of Belgium's credentials. Companies already keen to invest in Belgium might also use the website.

However, Martinet says the Belgian government should have brought the website to the attention of the British chamber. "We have lots of contacts with people who want to set up business here," she says.

She says Belgium can be a confusing place to invest in, given its federated nature and the high amount of red tape compared with the US and to a lesser extent Britain.

Martinet also says the federal government should have better marketed its scheme of allowing a business to be set up in three days, but praised the initiative nonetheless as a means of helping new investors.

18 July 2006

[Copyright Expatica 2006]

Subject: Investing in Belgium