€10 million fund for new hires at growth companies

The “engagement premium” is part of the region’s strategy to strengthen competitivity and employment and targets a group of rapid-growth and export-driven SMEs known as “gazelles”. The strategy also includes the reduction of salary costs and energy prices for business, as a means of improving export demand. Exports from Flanders in 2013 reached a record high of €293.6 billion, accounting for 83% of the country’s exports.

The premiums form part of the plan to reduce salary costs and is aimed particularly at strategic functions within SMEs. The government’s Enterprise Agency already operates a system of premiums to encourage companies to employ export and know-how managers, by providing a premium worth 50% of the gross salary up to a ceiling of €20,000 for one year. Since the system was introduced, 110 SMEs have benefited.

“No sooner have companies decided to go for export and to enter the international marketplace than they discover international competition,” said Peeters (pictured). “They are confronted by … professional players with a well-honed strategy, marketing plans and instruments. Flemish SMEs sometimes lack those tools and find themselves at a competitive disadvantage. With this measure, we want to support and strengthen the SMEs’ opportunities for growth.”
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