Belgium Business
• Main exports: Manufactured goods, chemicals, diamonds, metal, and food.
• Main imports: Machinery and equipment, chemicals, vehicles, metals, diamonds.
• Main trade partners: Germany, The Netherlands, France and UK.
Economy
The country's traditional industries of steel, motor vehicles and textiles suffered from the recession of the 1980s. While important, these no longer play the central economic role of the past. Coal mining ceased when the last mine was closed in 1992. Nuclear power accounts for almost two-thirds of Belgium's energy consumption; the remainder is generated from imported fuel products.
Manufactured goods and machinery are the largest export sectors, with the major markets inside the EU - including France, Germany, The Netherlands and the UK. These are also Belgium's main source of imported goods. Belgium relies particularly heavily on export earnings - 70% of GDP is exported, one of the highest proportions in the world. Successive Belgian governments have been keen proponents of the process of European integration, including the introduction of a single European currency, which Belgium adopted upon its inception in 1999. In 2007, unemployment stood at the relatively high level of 7.6%, while inflation stood at 3.5%. Growth was around the Eurozone average, at a little over 3%.
Business Etiquette
Office hours: Mon-Fri 0830-1730.
Conferences & Conventions
Business Contacts
105 Ferriby Road, Hessle HU13 0HX, UK
Tel: 0870 246 1610.
Website: www.blcc.co.uk
Belgian-American Chamber of Commerce (BACC) in the USA
c/o Consulate General of Belgium in New York, 1065 Avenue of the Americas, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10018
Tel: (212) 340 6271.
Website: www.belcham.org
Brussels Enterprises Commerce and Industry (BECI)
Avenue Louise 500, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: (02) 648 5002.
Website: www.500.be
Belgian Foreign Trade Agency
Rue Montoyer 3, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: (02) 206 3511.
Website: www.abh-ace.org
Flanders-Brussels Convention Bureau
Grasmarkt 61, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: (02) 504 0355.
Website: www.meetingpoint.be
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