Foreign investment in Belgium up 11%

Last year was a good one for foreign investment in Belgium, with 216 new investment projects, an increase of 11% compared with 2013. The increase is a positive sign, but the number of new jobs created by these investments remains below the level of before the economic crisis, writes De Morgen.

"Foreign investors are interested in Belgium for its growing number of logistics activities, strong geographical location and port infrastructure," says Roel Spee of IBM-Plant Location International (PLI), which produces the annual report Global Location Trends.

According to the report, the number of new foreign investments in Belgium increased by 11% in 2014 compared with the previous year. The number of jobs created as a direct result of this foreign investment increased by 30%, to about 6,000 new jobs. However, this number is lower than before the start of the economic crisis, when foreign investment led to the creation of as many as 8,000 to 10,000 new jobs annually.