The haemorrhage is being felt across the board, both in Belgian companies that are partly owned by American investors and in the Belgium-based subsidiaries of American companies.

The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Brussels immediately called for caution in interpreting the National Bank’s figures. There was, a spokesman said, a visible fall from 2007 to 2008, and then to the first half of 2009. But “American statistics show a turnaround,” according to Am- Cham’s CEO, Marcel Claes.

A statement on the chamber’s website claims: “These figures confirm the findings of AmCham Belgium in its most recent US Direct Investment in Belgium Report (USDI) published in November 2009. The study foresaw a further decline in USDI in Belgium together with a decrease in the number of jobs at US affiliates based here.

“On the other hand, it should be borne in mind that the figures used by the National Bank of Belgium are not only preliminary, they also do not take into account the earnings US corporations have reinvested in their Belgian subsidiaries. In 2006, 2007 and in 2008, reinvested earnings consistently made up about 75% of US capital inflows in Belgium.”

According to preliminary figures from the US Department of the Treasury, AmCham points out, USDI turned around in the third and fourth quarters, with positive figures of €1.34 billion and €970 million – a much-reduced deficit for the year of €1.72 billion, but a deficit all the same.

The global economic crisis is not the problem here, experts said. That should have caused a falling-off in inward investment across the board, but in fact Belgium has been losing ground to the Netherlands and Germany since as far back as 2003.

Belgium’s competitive position is at the root of the problem, according to AmCham. In its 2009 report, the organisation pointed to taxation and social charges on business and a certain inflexibility in the labour market as the main brakes on USDI.

In addition, Belgian governments have taken a “rather passive” approach to attracting investment, according to Claes, with the result that existing USDI tends to be in traditional sectors – like General Motors investing in Opel Antwerp. “Germany and the Netherlands have been more proactive,” Claes said.

“They’re fortunate in being more active in new technologies. I’m not saying nothing has been going on, it’s just that the Netherlands and Germany took more drastic measures and did it earlier,” he said.