EY Attractiveness Survey – Belgium in Top 5 Europe-wide

Belgium attracted 267 foreign direct investments last year, representing the creation of 5401 jobs, EY said last Thursday in its annual barometer on the attractiveness of the country. Out of 267 projects, a record-breaking 197 were new investments. Brussels scored especially well in 2019, with a new record set of 76 investments, up by 25% compared to 2018.

American companies are the main foreign investors in Belgium, with a total of 45 projects, followed by France with 42. The sectors registering the most investment projects are sales and marketing (105), industry (60) and logistics (51). These three sectors account for more than 80% of foreign investment.

The survey says that Brexit is “not seen as harmful for Belgium’s attractiveness”. In addition, it cited Belgium as a leading country in cleantech and recognised Belgian companies’ expertise in sustainability.

Sources: https://www.rtbf.be/info/economie/detail_la-belgique-figure-une-nouvelle-fois-dans-le-top-5-des-pays-europeens-les-plus-attrayants-pour-les-investisseurs-en-2019?id=10511387

https://www.lesoir.be/303632/article/2020-05-28/la-belgique-reste-dans-le-top-5-des-pays-europeens-pour-les-investissements

https://www.lalibre.be/economie/conjoncture/la-belgique-reste-dans-le-top-5-des-pays-europeens-pour-les-investissements-etrangers-5ecf99cc9978e24cfc05ca47

https://assets.ey.com/content/dam/ey-sites/ey-com/en_be/topics/attractiveness/2020/ey-attractiveness-report-2020-en.pdf?download