About 150 pharmaceutical enterprises have operations in Belgium, and 38 of these are subsidiaries of American companies.
SmithKline Beecham, which has a large presence in Wallonia, is regarded as one of Belgium's biotechnological jewels. Excellent cooperation between Belgian universities and its own research group has resulted in SmithKline Beecham Biological (SB Bio) becoming the first in the world to develop, manufacture and market a vaccine for hepatitis B.
"Our Biotech Center in Rixensart is partly the outcome of SB Bio's successful collaboration with Belgian universities and local research org- anizations," says Dr. Pierre Crooy of SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals.
SmithKline Beecham has been rapidly expanding its operations in Belgium. In 1998, it opened three new operations: a manufacturing and R&D site in Rixensart; a vaccine production facility in Gembloux; and a new $54 million plant in Wavre. This year the company plans to spend $100 million to expand activities at the Wavre site. Up to 500 jobs will be created.
Belgium is Europe's little economic engine that could.
After Great Britain, the first area in Europe to foster the industrial revolution was this small country located in what is known as the Golden Triangle -- an area encompassing Europe's largest population and greatest wealth.
Today, Belgium, which encompasses three regions (Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels), continues its tradition of being at the forefront of industrial growth. American companies, feeling at home in this easy-paced trilingual country, find Belgium's highly productive, skilled and available work force attractive.
Work force steers automotive industry
With 9 percent of the European car industry, Belgium is a key location for automotive assembly and subcontracting.
A large number of foreign car manufacturers have chosen to locate in Belgium because of its central location, roadways, major seaports, high productivity, and its qualified labor force.
| Belgium, with a population of more than 10 million,
is witnessing phenomenal success in the biotechnology, automotive assembly, and logistics industries. |
The most important assembly plants in Belgium are Ford Werke AG, Opel Belgium, Volkswagen Brussels, and Volvo Ghent.
"We have been manufacturing in Flanders for 75 years and now employ 12,500 people in the largest Ford plant worldwide," says Richard C. Wright, chief executive, Ford Motor Co. (Belgium). "Our huge investments to produce the Mondeo at Genk have been rewarded by the excellent quality achieved by the highly-skilled work force."
Logistics key attraction for distribution companies
Belgium is also transportation central for Europe. It has major seaports at Antwerp and Zeebrugge, multiple international airports and an extensive network of roadways and waterways. And all of this without congestion.
To the west of Wallonia on the French border, the Dry Port of Mouscron-Lille handles intermodal traffic.
Located in the industrial zone at Mouscron, its main activity is the transfer of containers and chassis from train to truck and vice versa. Railroads that connect at Mouscron operate as shuttles between the ports of Rotterdam, Antwerp, and Dunkirk.
Liege is home to the Antonymous Port of Liege, a system of 24 ports. Located down river from Antwerp, the port is located on the Albert Channel of the Meuse River and is the second largest inland port in Europe.
Liege is also home to TNT, a global express distribution and international mail company, which opened its European Express Center in April 1998. The center is the most advanced of its kind in Europe and will cater to the company's expected growth well into the 21st century.
Karen E. Thuermer is a Berwyn, Pa.-based freelance writer.
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