In Ernst & Young's annual barometer on Belgian attractiveness, Belgium has moved up from eighth to sixth place with respect to foreign investments in Europe.

Belgium saw the number of investment projects rise from 142 to 146, while the financial crisis has caused the number of investments across Europe to drop by 11 percent to 3,303. Belgium's market share in Europe is 4.4 percent. A positive sign was that 100 of the 146 investments entailed new projects, with only half the investments being new ones in 2008. Most of them were in sales and marketing, followed by industry and the logistics sector. However, the new investments created fewer jobs (3,357) than they did in 2008 (3,406).

Ernst & Young highlighted the importance of a politically stable climate for attracting foreign investment. In that respect 2009 has been a comparatively calm year in Belgian political terms on government level.

With 33 investments, the US is still the biggest investor in Belgium, followed by the UK (16), France (14), Germany (13) and the Netherlands (9).

It is notable that Belgium's good showing is due primarily to Wallonia. The southern region received 57 of the 146 investment projects, a rise of 17 over 2008. 'The Walloon Marshall Plan is clearly gathering steam,' said Ernst & Young. Flanders and Brussels fell far short, with the number of projects in Flanders down from 74 to 64 and in Brussels from 28 to 25.

A survey among business CEO's showed that the main reasons companies opt for Belgium are the quality of life, the good telecommunications infrastructure, transport and logistics, employee skills and the stable social climate.

Click here to download Ernst & Young's annual barometer

De Tijd - Wednesday 02 June 2010