The number of new jobs across the country, however, was down from 4,010 to 3,599, a drop of 10%, largely as a result of the sort of investment projects evolving away from industry and logistics towards less labour-intensive services and sales.

Flemish minister-president Kris Peeters, speaking at a Flanders in Action study day, was not overly concerned about Flanders’ performance. The fall in the number of projects last year to 74 still put Flanders ahead of the other two regions in Belgium, which together shared 79 new projects.

The 2011 total was, he pointed out, a return to 2008 levels and better than 2009. Among the Belgian provinces, Brussels and Antwerp continue to hold the lead, and Flemish Brabant and West Flanders are also in the top five.

Among potential investors, 37% said that Flanders was the most attractive region in Belgium in which to invest, while the number rose to 54% among those already present in the country. Flanders’ advantages were listed as the educational level of the workforce, the presence of good sources of research and development and good transport infrastructure. However, administrative procedures are considered cumbersome and too long.

Belgium as a whole, meanwhile, suffers because of salary costs, considered by potential investors as the third most important factor in making an investment decision, after the size of the domestic market and a stable political and economic climate. The main recommendation made by Ernst & Young: “Stop denying the problem of high salary costs and putting off the implementation of related measures. Hold a serious and realistic debate about the sustainability of high salary costs and the effect of indexation. Reduce the costs of creating jobs and cut the effective difference between gross and net pay.”