18 Dec '13

Flanders eases tax burden on business

Summary

The Flemish government has reached agreements with Wallonia and Brussels to ease the tax burden on business in order to increase competitiveness in the country

Governments agree to competitiveness measures

The government of Flanders has introduced new measures aimed at cutting the tax burden on companies to improve the region’s competitiveness. The main measure involves spending €125 million annually for seven years to cut the cost of running a business.
 

Ministers representing Flanders, Wallonia and the federal government met in Brussels yesterday to agree on a common strategy to make the country more competitive. Belgium is required to cut its high labour costs under the EU’s Pact for Competitiveness, the intention of which is to harmonise wage costs across the Eurozone. The Belgian regions are now involved in this process due to recent constitutional reforms that come into force next year.  

The Flemish government also wants to boost competitivity by devoting 3% of gross domestic product to research and development, compared to 2.4% in 2011 and just 1.96% in 2006.

In addition, the region will spend more on workforce training programmes, especially those involving people under 30 and older workers over 55.

Flemish government reaches agreements with Wallonia and Brussels to ease tax burden on business to increase competitiveness in country.

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Voka

The Flemish Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the largest employers’ organisation in Flanders. It lobbies for and promotes the interests of the region’s entrepreneurs and companies.
Alliance - Voka was born in 2008 from an alliance between the Flemish Employers’ Association and eight regional chambers of commerce.
Broad portfolio - Voka hosts networking events, arranges trade missions abroad and offers seminars and training for entrepreneurs.
Internships - Each summer, Voka organises one-day internships for parliament members at local companies.
18 000

companies represented by Voka across Flanders and Brussels

8

regional chambers make up the association

2 000

chambers of commerce across Europe

  • Voka
  • Flanders Investment and Trade
  • Agentschap Ondernemen

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