“Input levies Trump can cost Belgian economy 12 billion euros”

The American threat with import duties and other international developments shines on the Flemish companies. Two in three companies are negative to very negative about the economic climate, Voka distracts from a survey of 750 companies. And half expect the economic situation to deteriorate in the coming year.

Due to the uncertainty, companies lower their investment plans in Belgium and a restructuring is more often considered. That is best reflected in the energy-intensive industrial companies (such as the chemical sector): half expect to do it with fewer staff within six months and a quarter finds Belgium interesting to do and invest.

“Our companies are struggling month after month,” says Voka CEO Hans Maertens. They are agile and resilient, but the economic economic situation and the geopolitical state cause causing. “That is why all governments, European, federal and Flemish, now that the forces are joining and pursuing a policy that restores our competitiveness and productivity in the short term.” ​

Six out of ten of the companies questioned are of the opinion that the reform plans of the new federal government are going in the right direction, although half think that they will not be sufficient to get the budget in order.