The agency recorded 174 new investments in 2011, responsible for the creation of 3,720 jobs. The number of projects is the highest in recent years (155 in 2010), and the number of jobs created is the highest since 2007, when the total was slightly higher on 3,766.
However the total amount of money invested was down, from €2.06 billion in 2010 to €1.79 billion last year. Part of the reason is that one-third of all the investment projects were mergers and acquisitions by foreign companies, a marked increase on previous years. New investments accounted for half of the total, and investments to extend existing projects were down. More than half of the total comes from other EU countries, but Flanders attracted most interest from the United States, which started up 37 projects. Flemish minister-president Kris Peeters visited New York, Boston and Washington, DC on a trade mission in June last year. Japan was also good for 15 projects.
The figures were a positive response, Peeters said, to claims that the region’s industrial policy was failing, in the light of recent job losses at Bekaert, among others. “Industrial activity in 2011 was the most important investment sector,” Peeters told the Flemish Parliament. “With its New Industrial Policy, the government of Flanders aims to stimulate more foreign investment in industry and research and development. The upward trend of recent years is continuing.”
Peeters recently visited India and South Africa on missions, which included a trade and investment aspect. FIT, meanwhile, already has plans for reviving the interest of Asian countries and the so-called Bric nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China), with missions planned to Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Russia, as well as maintaining a presence at conventions in Singapore, Mumbai, Tokyo and Sao Paolo.
Flanders Today is a 
11°C / 26°C
