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Belgium: becoming Greece... or the ambition to become Switzerland ?
Today's message from the Belgian employers is clear: we want to focus on job creation, business, exports, entrepreneurship... Please help us.
As Thomas Leysen (president of the VBO/FEB employers' association) puts it: Belgium is at risk of becoming the Greece at the North Se a. That is a statement that should raise some sense of urgence. After the declarations this weekend ("there is no problem of costs in Belgium"), this statement is more than timely.
I am preparing a presentation for tomorrow evening. This presentation will be for the UWE - the Walloon Employers' association. Amongst the different topics, I would like to show the Swiss model. An economy with high industrialisation, a big services sector, high value added... but a very small public sector. It is a country with different languages and cultural divides, but it works very efficiently. And even without a harbour ( how would that come?), they manage to have very important headquarters, multinationals and industrial plants.
Belgium has the choice today: go on the Swiss trail or the Greek trail.
I will elaborate it tomorrow. Now leaving for another presentation...
9 Comments
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Philip Hoof
On 25 Jan, 2010
Hmm, if the fantasy that Belgium would become like Switzerland would become truth, I wouldn't have to plan to relocate to Switzerland, as I am now.
But no, that won't happen.
Our Belgian politicians are simply far far far too incompetent for that.
Dream on, Geert! But do the presentation anyway, who knows what you can improve? Nothing much, in Belgium, I figure.-
Geert
On 26 Jan, 2010
@Philip Hoof: We can always point to "a best-in-class" example, can't we ?
I agree it is a dream, but if we don't dream, it becomes a nightmare here.-
Carl Van Keirsbilck
On 26 Jan, 2010
@Geert: "a nightmare".... vooral dan voor de generatie van uw en mijn kinderen. Wij zullen het wel nog een tijdje uitzingen. Tenzij er ooit een ernstig generatieconflict ontstaat natuurlijk, en ik begin er steeds meer rekening mee te houden dat we in die richting aan het evolueren zijn, of dat we toch ons uiterste best doen om de gevolgen hiervan eens te testen.
Wie zal ze ongelijk geven als ze hun solidariteit met de oudere generaties binnen 20-30 jaar in vraag stellen? Ik alvast niet.
@Philip Hoof: don't forget to send in some money from time to time to those who stayed behind. :-)-
Philip Hoof
On 27 Jan, 2010
@Carl: Ik ben toch van plan, zeker op termijn, mijn firma ook te relocaten hoor ;). Anders stuur ik via die weg al voldoende geld terug richting België. Nietwaar? Eerst maar eens daar geraken, dit jaar of volgend jaar.
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Bart
On 25 Jan, 2010
The main reason for Switzerlands schwung is of course the fact that they dubbed the Zürich region "Econopolis" ;-)
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Geert
On 26 Jan, 2010
@Bart: didn't know that, but probably feasible in the region of Lier also...
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(n)iemand
On 25 Jan, 2010
en vooral een door en door confederaal land, waar het duitstalige deel economisch het best boert.... welkome observaties voor dat publiek? ;-)
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Theo
On 26 Jan, 2010
@ Geert
Great Stuff!!!
If you can, put in a word on the America's Cup - not only the Swiss don't have a shipping harbor, but they are the only country without a sea to have taken the Cup!
Ernesto Bertarelli doesn't let anybody tell him he can't do it, not even Larry Ellison!
I know you like analogies between sport and business... they hardly ever come as fascinating as this one. -
Nick Doms
On 26 Jan, 2010
I don't think either one of routes are really an option. Attaining the Swiss model seems next to impossible given the mountain of debt, high costs, high taxes etc.
Falling of the cliff and follow Greece does not seem possible either.
Maybe emulating the Dutch or German model would be a more realistic option that is within Belgium's reach...over time.
On a side note and related also to another post, i was surprised to see the amount of Belgian debt held by both the Eurozone and Belgian investors. The driving force is probably the Euro itself, but still.
Compare that to the US debt which is a different picture, independent of whether the driver here is the role of the USD as a reserve currency worldwide.
