BELGIUM Wallonia, Your dedicated gateway to Europe

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BELGIUM Wallonia, Your dedicated gateway to
Europe
Wallonia, the new logistics hub of Europe

• Daniel H. JORDAN
• Head of Asian Investments
• Office for Foreign Investors
• Wallonia Foreign Trade and Investment Agency
• SALON AUTOMNE 2006 DE LIEGE
• FORUM ECONOMIQUE ET RENCONTRES B2B
• LE VIETNAM EN WALLONIE

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EFFECTIVE HELP FROM THE OFFICE FOR FOREIGN
INVESTORS

• The Office for Foreign Investors (OFI) is the
  foreign investment division of the Wallonia
  Export and Foreign Investment Agency AWEX
• OFI provides
• Information
• Advice
• Contacts
• Solutions
• to foreign companies considering expanding
  business in Southern Belgium
• Clients are treated on a confidentiality basis
• Services are free of charge

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10 GOOD REASONS TO INVEST IN WALLONIA
1. A positive business climate 2. A central
geographic location 3. Outstanding
transportation network 4. A qualified workforce,
flexible and multilingual 5. Land and buildings,
available and at low cost 6. Attractive regional
and EU investment incentives 7. Fiscal system 8.
Education and quality of life 9. A rich
corporate environment 10. Effective help from the
OFI
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10 GOOD REASONS TO INVEST IN WALLONIA
1. A positive business climate 2. A central
geographic location 3. Outstanding
transportation network 4. A qualified workforce,
flexible and multilingual 5. Land and buildings,
available and at low cost 6. Attractive regional
and EU investment incentives 7. Fiscal system 8.
Education and quality of life 9. A rich
corporate environment 10. Effective help from the
OFI

• A positive business
• climate

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KEY FIGURES
Networks (Km)
Structure of the population
Source Service fédéral Mobilité et
Transports () 2001 () 1999
Source Institut national de statistique
 Statistiques démographiques  () Thousands of
inhabitants
Geographical data
Source Institut national de statistique
 Statistiques de loccupation du sol  ()
Km² () Percentage of total area
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A POSITIVE BUSINESS CLIMATE

• BRUSSELS, Global business centre

BRUSSELS

• Capital of Belgium
• Capital of the EU
• Headquarters of NATO
• centre of political decision-making
• 4th in the list of the European business cities
• 1,700 European headquarters of MNOs
• 3rd most important conference centre in Europe
• Worlds fourth Open Trade Economy
• Second largest concentration of journalists in
  the world

WALLONIA
WALLONIA
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A POSITIVE BUSINESS CLIMATE
A TRADITION OF ECONOMIC OPENING
Source Wallonia Export and Investment Agency
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A POSITIVE BUSINESS CLIMATE
2) STRUCTURE OF THE WALLONIA FOREIGN INVESTMENTS
Country of origin sector of activity
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10 GOOD REASONS TO INVEST IN WALLONIA
1. A positive business climate 2. A central
geographic location 3. Outstanding
transportation network 4. A qualified workforce,
flexible and multilingual 5. Land and buildings,
available and at low cost 6. Attractive regional
and EU investment incentives 7. Fiscal
system 8. Education and quality of life 9. A
rich corporate environment 10. Effective help
from the OFI
2. A central geographic location
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A CENTRAL GEOGRAPHIC POSITION
At the heart of a 430 million Consumer Market
.
Do you know that 60 of the European market is
located at less than one driving day ?
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10 GOOD REASONS TO INVEST IN WALLONIA
1. A positive business climate 2. A central
geographic location 3. Outstanding
transportation network 4. A qualified workforce,
flexible and multilingual 5. Land and buildings,
available and at low cost 6. Attractive regional
and EU investment incentives 7. Fiscal
system 8. Education and quality of life 9. A
rich corporate environment 10. Effective help
from the OFI
3. Outstanding transportation network

• International and regional airports
• Dense and fluid freeway network
• Well-developed rail network
• Second European river port

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OUTSTANDING TRANSPORTATION NETWORK
A DENSE RAILWAY NETWORK
USA base 100
Railway network Density /sq.km
Source Competitiveness Yearbook 2005
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A DEVELOPED ROAD NETWORK...
OUTSTANDING TRANSPORTATION NETWORK
Road Infrastructure Density Km/sq.Km
Source IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2005
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EUROPE IN A FLAP OF WINGS
OUTSTANDING TRANSPORTATION NETWORK
1. Brussels South Charleroi Airport

• "Aeropole" of 200 hectares
• welcomes millions passengers each year
• specialized in passenger transport (regular
  charter flights)
• base for conducting tests by surrounding
  aeronautical industries.

2. Liege Airport

• At the centre of the Amsterdam Paris
  Frankfurt triangle
• First European airport to focus its development
• strategy on air cargo
• accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• European hub of the express courier company TNT

.
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ACCESSIBILITY BY WATERWAY AND SHORT-SEA
Main industrial areas Accessibility by water
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10 GOOD REASONS TO INVEST IN WALLONIA
4. A qualified workforce, flexible and
multilingual
1. A positive business climate 2. A central
geographic location 3. Outstanding
transportation network 4. A qualified workforce,
flexible and multilingual 5. Land and buildings,
available and at low cost 6. Attractive regional
and EU investment incentives 7. Fiscal
system 8. Education and quality of life 9. A
rich corporate environment 10. Effective help
from the OFI

• Multilingual and well-educated
• Positive social climate
• Low rate of strikes and absenteeism
• Outstanding productivity
• Loyalty - Low turnover (no  job-hoppers )

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A QUALIFIED WORKFORCE FLEXIBLE AND MULTILINGUAL
Anglo-saxon
Germanic
Romanic
Source OCDE
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10 GOOD REASONS TO INVEST IN WALLONIA
1. A positive business climate 2. A central
geographic location 3. Outstanding
transportation network 4. A qualified workforce,
flexible and multilingual 5. Land and buildings,
available and at low cost 6. Attractive regional
and EU investment incentives 7. Fiscal
system 8. Education and quality of life 9. A
rich corporate environment 10. Effective help
from the OFI
5.Land and buildings, available and at low cost

• 130 business Parks
• 5 Multimodal logistics Parks
• 6 Science Parks

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130 BUSINESS PARKS
LAND AND BUILDINGS AVAILABLE AND AT LOW COST
The region of Wallonia, embodies 8 local
authorities and manages 130 industrial zones
totally equipped and connected to large
communication networks and development centres.
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LAND AND BUILDINGS AVAILABLE AND AT LOW COST
6 MULTIMODAL LOGISTICS PARKS

• Multimodal platforms guarantee you easy
  connections with all the transport means.
• Access to sea port areas Eastern Europe, South
  Europe, and Scandinavia is possible by road,
  rail, fluvial navigation and air!
• You can modulate transport according to your
  customers needs.

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5 SCIENCE PARKS
LAND AND BUILDINGS AVAILABLE AND AT LOW COST
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AFFORDABLE REAL ESTATE PRICES
LAND AND BUILDINGS AVAILABLE AND AT LOW COST
Land prices and rents
Source DTZ - Walloon Semi-industrial Logistic
Market 2004
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10 GOOD REASONS TO INVEST IN WALLONIA
1. A positive business climate 2. A central
geographic location 3. Outstanding
transportation network 4. A qualified workforce,
flexible and multilingual 5. Land and buildings,
available and at low cost 6. Attractive regional
and EU investment incentives 7. Fiscal
system 8. Education and quality of life 9. A
rich corporate environment 10. Effective help
from the OFI
6. Attractive regional investment incentives

• cash grant up to 20 of the invested amount
• Up to 70 interest free loans for RD projects
• Staff hiring and training

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ATTRACTIVE REGIONAL INVESTMENT INCENTIVES

• INVESTMENTS INCENTIVES
• Percentage eligible investment amount is based on
  the purchase of
• Land and Buildings
• New equipment
• Intangible investments
• Trucks gt 3,5 tons
• Calculation of grant based on various criteria
• RESEACH AND DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT
• Subsidy - Basic Industrial Research 50 (up to
  70 for SMEs)
• Advance loan - Applied Research 50 (up to 70
  for SMEs)
• EMPLOYMENT TRAINING INCENTIVES
• Reduction of salary costs
• ? average over a 4 years period 11

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10 GOOD REASONS TO INVEST IN WALLONIA
1. A positive business climate 2. A central
geographic location 3. Outstanding
transportation network 4. A qualified workforce,
flexible and multilingual 5. Land and buildings,
available and at low cost 6. Attractive regional
and EU investment incentives 7. Fiscal
system 8. Education and quality of life 9. A
rich corporate environment 10. Effective help
from the OFI
7. Fiscal system
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ATTRACTIVE FISCAL SYSTEM

• Corporate
• Real estate and equipment depreciation system
• Special tax vehicles Fiscal Rulings, Notional
  Interest Deduction
• Low marginal corporate tax rate
• Shareholders no taxation on capital gain
• Management attractive fiscal system for
  expatriates

Effective marginal tax rates
Source The Effective Tax Burden of Companies in
the Member states of EU Source Baker MçKenzie
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10 GOOD REASONS TO INVEST IN WALLONIA
1. A positive business climate 2. A central
geographic location 3. Outstanding
transportation network 4. A qualified workforce,
flexible and multilingual 5. Land and buildings,
available and at low cost 6. Attractive regional
and EU investment incentives 7. Fiscal
system 8. Education and quality of life 9. A
rich corporate environment 10. Effective help
from the OFI
8. Education and quality of life
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EDUCATION AND QUALITY OF LIFE
LIFESTYLE BEYOND BUSINESS

• Sports and leisure
• International clubs, school communities
• No traffic jam
• Dense communication infrastructure

• Proximity of the urban centres
• Cities in the country side
• High quality healthcare system

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EDUCATION AND QUALITY OF LIFE
COST OF LIVING SURVEY 2005
Worldwide rankings 2005 Top 50 Cities Base
City New-York 100
Source Mercer HR 2005
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EDUCATION AND QUALITY OF LIFE
QUALITY OF LIVING SURVEY 2005
Overall Quality of Living Ranking Base city
New York (100)
Source Mercer HR 2005
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10 GOOD REASONS TO INVEST IN WALLONIA
9. A rich corporate environment
1. A positive business climate 2. A central
geographic location 3. Outstanding
transportation network 4. A qualified workforce,
flexible and multilingual 5. Land and buildings,
available and at low cost 6. Attractive regional
and EU investment incentives 7. Fiscal
system 8. Education and quality of life 9. A
rich corporate environment 10. Effective help
from the OFI

• The Innovating Sectors
• Life Sciences
• Agro-industry
• aeronautics/space
• mechanical engineering
• Transport-logistics

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10 GOOD REASONS TO INVEST IN WALLONIA
1. A positive business climate 2. A central
geographic location 3. Outstanding
transportation network 4. A qualified workforce,
flexible and multilingual 5. Land and buildings,
available and at low cost 6. Attractive regional
and EU investment incentives 7. Fiscal
system 8. Education and quality of life 9. A
rich corporate environment 10. Effective help
from the OFI
10.Effective help from the OFI
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EFFECTIVE HELP FROM THE OFFICE FOR FOREIGN
INVESTORS

• HQ in Brussels Offices in Namur Eupen (German
  Community)
• 4 local offices - Tokyo, Chicago, San Francisco,
  Shanghai
• 4 representative offices in Barcelona, Stockholm,
  Frankfurt, London
• A team of 105 dedicated professionals abroad

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OFI, A WIDE RANGE OF SERVICES
FOREIGN INVESTOR
FISCAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE
SITE SELECTION
ASSISTANCE WITH Regional and European RD
PROGRAMS - GRANTS
SOCIAL ISSUES
REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
FINANCIAL ISSUES
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OFI, REGIONAL COORDINATORS
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
WALLONIA FOREIGN TRADE AND INVESTMENT
AGENCY Office for Foreign Investors Avenue
Materne, 115 B-5100 NAMUR www.investinwallonia.be
investinwallonia_at_investinwallonia.be Tel 32
(0)81 33 28 50 Fax [phone]
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• Thank you for your time and attention