Invest in Belgium - Location & infrastructure
Location & infrastructure
Strategic location
Belgium is strategically located at the heart of Europe. Surrounded by Germany, the Netherlands, France and Luxembourg as well as being just a stone's throw from Great Britain, Belgium lies at the centre of a 454 million-strong consumer market.
London, Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt all lie within 300 km (by train 1h51', 1h22', 2h39' and 3h45' respectively) while some of Europe's key business hubs including Lisbon, Rome, Madrid, Stockholm, Athens, Warsaw, Berlin and Dublin are only a two-hour flight away.
Belgium's strategic location also means it enjoys a pivotal position in international politics and economics. The European Union, NATO and some 1,400 international non-governmental organisations are also headquartered here.
Business infrastructure
Belgium's solid infrastructure and logistics and distribution networks frequently rank highly in international surveys.
Road and rail transport
Transport operators in France, Germany and the Netherlands can connect quickly and easily to Belgium's road network, which includes no less than seven international motorways (1,763 km) and as such rates as the best in Europe.
The country's regional and provincial road networks – covering 12,585 km and 1,349 km respectively – enable companies in all manner of industries to put down roots anywhere in Belgium.
Belgium also has one of the most comprehensive rail networks in the world and transports a total of 188 million passengers and over 62 million tonnes of freight every year. High-speed trains operate up to ten times a day to London (111 minutes) as well as to Cologne, Amsterdam and Paris (80 minutes).
Water transport
Belgium's main ports (Antwerp, Zeebrugge, Ghent, Ostend, Brussels and Liège) are key international hubs for freight transport. Thanks to its location between America to the West and Asia and Africa to the East, Antwerp, Europe's second largest port, offers short transit times to all the world's principal destinations. In 2007, almost 17,000 vessels carrying cargoes totalling approximately 183 million tonnes docked in Antwerp.
The country's extensive network of inland waterways (1,532 km) connects the major Belgian seaports to Europe's inland waterways. Belgium's main rivers – the Scheldt and the Maas – and their connecting tributaries and canals cover every inch of the country. This intricate system of waterways – the second largest in Europe – affords highly efficient transport which is both environmentally friendly and cost-efficient.
Air transport
Flights to a wide range of European and international destinations are available from Brussels International Airport. Flight times to most major cities in Europe are under two hours and some 17.8 million passengers passed through the airport in 2007. According to a report by the Association of European Airlines (AEA), Brussels International Airport was once again named the most punctual in Europe in 2007. It is also recognised as offering one of the fastest turnaround times for air freight transport and handled almost 783,727 tonnes of freight in 2007.
The airports of Liège-Bierset, Charleroi (Brussels South), Antwerp and Ostend also serve several foreign destinations, with Lille and Paris in France and Amsterdam in the Netherlands being easily accessible.