A comparative study by the Belgium-Japan Association and Chamber of Commerce praises Belgium as an investors’ paradise, reporting on Belgium’s performance in areas such as global attractiveness, corporate taxation level, the ease of doing business, and research and development. 

 The report by the Belgium-Japan Association assessed the results of various studies in 17 areas in order to provide an overview of Belgium’s scores in these fields and its advantages for investors. There are currently 220 Japanese companies active in Belgium, creating 25.000 jobs and responsible for € 2.2 billion in terms of direct investment inflow in Belgium.

Belgium’s strong advantages lie in its highly educated and multilingual workforce, investor-friendly tax system, central position in Europe and the presence of the EU headquarters in Brussels. The Japan Center for Economic Research ranks Belgium first of all EU Member States in terms of the level of competitiveness.

AmCham Belgium’s position
Although the comparative study by the Belgium-Japan Association and Chamber of Commerce looked at a limited number of areas, AmCham Belgium supports the findings and continues to strive for even better results in the studies that have been assessed for this overview.

Despite the relative success of Belgium in the areas ranked, there are many policy areas in Belgium that require improvement or strengthening. An example hereof is the notional interest deduction (NID) which is a strong asset to attract investors in order to take advantage of Belgium’s tax system. However, successfully retaining these companies and encouraging them to make new investments using the NID system requires the NID system to offer stability and predictability.

In its publication Priorities for a Prosperous Belgium, AmCham Belgium illustrates how these policies can be reinforced, providing for six recommendations in the fields of lower employment costs and taxation, facilitation of economic activity and innovation, and the stimulation of a larger and more flexible workforce.