Investment in Belgium’s Flanders region reached an all-time high in 2018, and doubled from the 2017 level, the government reports.
The report by Flanders Investment and Trade said that the chemical sector was the key factor driving investment from 2.08 billion Euros in 2017 to 4.24 billion Euros.
That investment was the result of 234 projects – up from 215 – and created 5,339 jobs — a slight decline from the 5,377 created in 2017.
As usual, The United States remained the largest source of investment in Flanders, generating 40 separate projects, followed by The Netherlands, France and Germany.
Just over half the investments were greenfield projects, with almost 30% representing expansions and the rest constituting mergers and acquisitions.
Manufacturing expansion and research and development were the two largest drivers of the increase.