Wallonia - Belgium Offers Attractive Incentives to Automotive Investments

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich., Aug. 3, 2004 -- The Wallonia region of Belgium is offering significant new investment incentives for automotive companies, including a reduction in the corporate tax rate that took effect last year.

The Federal Government of Belgium also offers income tax reductions of 50 percent to companies for researchers working in collaboration with universities and public-research institutions. These measures, which took effect in January 2004, are targeted to reinforce the research-based economy in Belgium.

Jean-Pierre Vasaune, director of business development North America for Wallonia's Office for Foreign Investors, will be at this year's Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, Aug. 2 to 6, to tell leaders of the global auto industry about Wallonia's strategic advantages.

"Wallonia's central location in Europe, its commercial heritage and its multilingual and multicultural workforce make it an excellent location for successful global industries," Vasaune explains.

In addition to the reduced tax rates of Belgium's corporate reform bill, the Wallonia Region also offers special incentives to investments that benefit the environment, promote renewable energies or support research and development programs.

Wallonia is in the center of an automotive region that produces more than two million vehicles a year at 12 manufacturing sites of General Motors, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Renault, Nedcar, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo.

The region is a European leader in innovation and quality of research, drawing upon an educational system of 130 colleges and nine university centers, Vasaune points out. Its qualified and motivated people achieve levels of productivity 20 percent above the European average. The International Labor Organization (ILO) recently concluded that the Belgian workforce is one of the most productive in the world. The output per person employed in the U.S. was $60,728 in 2003, followed by Belgium with $54,338.

Wallonia benefits from excellent industrial relations, as Belgium's percentage of working hours lost due to industrial conflicts is significantly below that of other major European industrial nations.

"We are at the vanguard of European technology and in the heart of Europe's political and economic decision making," Vasaune declares, "but we conserve our character and traditions. We can proudly say that Wallonia is truly a location 'where Europe works.'"

Further information is on the Internet at http://www.investinwallonia.com/ .