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Viewing cable 06BRUSSELS1569, BELGIAN STEWPOT: May 8, 2006

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06BRUSSELS1569 2006-05-10 12:43 2011-08-30 01:44 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Brussels
VZCZCXRO9784
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ
DE RUEHBS #1569/01 1301243
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 101243Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1844
INFO RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 001569 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EB/ESC, EUR/ERA AND EUR/UBI 
TREASURY FOR OASIA/ICN - ATUKORALA 
USDOC FOR 3133/USFCS/OIO/EUR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EFIN EINV EWWT EAIR BE
SUBJECT:  BELGIAN STEWPOT: May 8, 2006 
 
 
1.   Advice for Belgian Investors Facing Iran Uncertainty 
2-3. Belgian firms Seek Profit Overseas 
4-6. Belgian workers more productive, but more expensive 
7.   Turning the Black Economy White 
8.   Rich Belgium Still has Poverty 
9.   Flemish Trade Balance in the Red 
10.  Self Check-Out Arrives in Belgian Grocery Stores 
11.  Belgian Company Goes Far with GPS 
12.  Belgium Major Spam Exporter? 
13.  A Flemish House in New York 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Advice for Belgian Investors Facing Iran Uncertainty 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
1.  (U) A Belgian financial weekly "Cash," published by the 
leading francophone business weekly Trends/Tendances, 
offered a cover story April 27 on how Belgian investors 
should position themselves given the US-Iran tension over 
nuclear proliferation.  The article discusses Iranian 
obstinacy in pursuit of nuclear technology, American 
commitment to its Iraqi "mission impossible" and Iranian non- 
proliferation, and the tight global energy situation.  After 
projecting that oil prices could reach US$ 100 per barrel 
and that US armed action would meet opposition from other 
countries, CASH advised its readers to:  avoid holding U.S. 
dollars; load up on Euros; buy precious metals; expect 
volatile markets; and invest in stocks defensively, 
preferring those paying high dividends and avoiding any 
sensitive to economic cyclical downturns.  The journal's 
overall perspective was quite pessimistic, expecting high 
uncertainty, great international tension, and a sinking US 
currency, with global growth taking a downturn. 
 
---------------------------------- 
Belgian firms seek profit overseas 
---------------------------------- 
2. (U) A Flanders Business School "corporate 
entrepreneurship" study indicates that investments by 
Belgian companies in subsidiaries abroad perform better than 
comparable investments made within Belgium.  The analysis by 
Flanders Business School professors Bruno Tindemans and 
Stefan Stremersch notes that big Belgian enterprises founded 
60 percent more subsidiaries in 2003 than ten years earlier 
in 1994, of which the majority were foreign subsidiaries. 
Creation of domestic subsidiaries declined by 43 percent 
over the decade.  The choice between domestic expansion and 
expansion abroad is significant, implying capital 
investment, jobs and economic productivity.  Tindemans and 
Stremersch found that Belgian domestic subsidiaries recorded 
low profits compared with the foreign subsidiaries. 
 
3. (U) While strong profitability from foreign investments 
can be explained in part by better access to manufacturing 
materials and markets for some products, the lack of 
profitability crosses all sectors.  It cannot be attributed 
to Belgium being a "mature market," as Belgian foreign 
direct investment often is in other developed countries. 
The conclusion points toward a Belgian investment climate 
that does not facilitate growth and profitability of young 
enterprises. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
Belgian workers more productive, but more expensive 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
4. (U) A PriceWaterhouseCoopers study found that Belgian 
productivity compared well to the EU average, with an 
average 240,000 euro turnover generated per Belgian worker 
per year compared to other Western Europeans (169,000 euros) 
and much better than their colleagues in Central and Eastern 
Europe (59,000 euros).  However, that productivity is still 
lower than that of companies and workers in the United 
States (260,000 euros).  What's more, U.S. companies achieve 
that level at a cost of 181,000 euros per worker.  In 
Belgium, the cost is a whopping 237,000 euros, virtually 
obliterating the employer's profit on the labor factor.  The 
study's results also verified what many in the business 
community already believed:  Belgian salary costs surpass 
the European average by 32 percent. 
 
5.  (U) Press reports emphasized the study's finding that 
Belgian employees get less job-related training than other 
EU workers.  Belgian workers receive 16 hours of training 
per year compared to the 24 hour EU average, and only half 
that of Scandinavian countries (30 hours).  There is also a 
20 percent gap in investment in human capital: Belgian firms 
spend 570 euros per employee on training annually, versus 
704 euros, the European average.  According to the study, 
 
BRUSSELS 00001569  002 OF 003 
 
 
training in Belgium costs 25 percent more than elsewhere (37 
euros per hour versus 29.5 euros European average) due to 
the smaller size of companies and the linguistic divisions, 
which do not permit economies of scale.  Analysts posited 
that the already high employee costs in Belgium encourage 
management to skimp on additional training expenses. 
 
6. (U) Given the findings of the training study, a 
PricewaterhouseCooper human resources expert predicted 4 to 
10 percent growth in off-shoring in Belgian industry over 
the coming three years, as some jobs move to lower wage 
environments.  This forecast comes as bad news to the 
Belgian government, already fearful of globalization and 
trying to create more employment. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Turning the Black Economy White 
-------------------------------- 
7.  (U) One Belgian federal program has proven successful at 
creating jobs - at a cost.  In 2005 the "service-checks" 
program pulled 29,000 domestic and other service workers 
into the official economy from the off-the-books job market 
or unemployment.  The government subsidizes employers with a 
21-euros-per-day check in return for having the worker 
registered and thus tapped for the obligatory social 
services fees and contributions.  85 percent of the workers 
brought in to legitimate status by the program declared they 
are pleased with the program; only 14 percent left the 
program during the year.  Government objectives - engaging 
25,000 in the program by 2007 - were far exceeded, and 
unemployment was reduced by 12,400 persons across the three 
regions.  The major downside: the program cost 210 million 
euros, about 7,000 euros per worker.  Some analysts suggest 
that reintegrating workers into the formal sector and 
getting more contributions to the social welfare programs 
will, over the long term, make the service-checks system a 
worthwhile investment. 
 
------------------------------ 
Rich Belgium Still has Poverty 
------------------------------ 
8. (U) Belgium's high income is unevenly spread. Despite 
being among the richest of developed countries (GDP per 
capita of 35,700 euros) some in Belgium still suffer 
poverty.  According to recent government data, 15 percent of 
the Belgian population lives below the poverty line, defined 
as monthly income less than 775 euros.  Without the dense 
net of Belgian social services (food subsidy, income 
assistance, pre-pension assistance, socialized healthcare) 
far more of the population, reportedly over 40 percent, 
could fall into this category.  This group also suffers 
indebtedness, in contrast to Belgium's legendary saving and 
investing mentality. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Flemish Trade Balance in the Red 
-------------------------------- 
9. (U) In 2005, Flanders exported 171.6 billion euros worth 
of goods, an increase of 8.4 percent over 2004.  This figure 
was more than offset by a 16.3 percent increase in imports 
to 175.9 billion euros, causing the 2004 surplus of 7 
billion euros to change into a 4.3 billion deficit.  The 
main reason for this deficit is the significantly higher 
price paid for oil imports from Rotterdam into Antwerp, 
causing a doubling of the regional deficit with the 
Netherlands.  While Flanders remains the foreign trade 
heavyweight within Belgium, with 80 percent of all exports 
and 85 percent of all imports, at the moment Wallonia's 
trade surplus of 10.9 billion euros more than offsets the 
Flemish trade deficit. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
"Self Check-Out" tested by Belgian Grocery Stores 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
10.  (U) Self Check-Out (SCO) has arrived in some Belgian 
grocery stores.  In March, grocery store Woluwe de Cora 
launched a test program in a Brussels suburb using four "U- 
Scan" machines.  SCO allows customers to scan and pay for 
groceries themselves using machines that read product bar 
codes and accept payments in cash or cards.  A human cashier 
supervises the stations to ensure that the machines function 
properly and that the clients pay.  Given the relatively 
high cost of employing cashiers in Belgium (who earn 10-21 
euros per hour versus the U.S. average of $6.50), other 
Belgian grocery stores are also offering or plan to offer 
SCO.  SCO is utilized currently for about 20 percent of all 
transactions, mostly by people buying less than 10 items. 
 
BRUSSELS 00001569  003 OF 003 
 
 
For those who prefer shopping the old-fashioned way, store 
officials assure customers that human cashiers are still an 
option, at least for now. 
 
---------------------------------- 
Belgian Company Goes Far with GPS 
---------------------------------- 
11.  (U) Next time your GPS gets you to your destination, 
you may have a Belgian to thank for it.  Tele-Atlas, based 
in Ghent, is one of the two companies in the world 
responsible for most of the digital mapping that makes the 
GPS work.  Belgian CEO Alain De Taeye says the business is 
quite capital intensive; only his company and an American 
competitor, Navteq, have survived the industry shakeout. 
Tele-Atlas employs 2400 persons, of which 1000 are in India. 
The firm is 20 years old, and stands to profit considerably 
(after years of losses) as GPS systems in automobiles and 
elsewhere are increasing by 15 percent annually.  (The 
company is now quoted on Frankfurt and Amsterdam stock 
exchanges.)  Much of the world has yet to be digitally 
mapped, De Taeye says, including much of Russia, China and 
South America.  Tele-Atlas follows another notable Belgian 
in cartography:  In the 1500s, Gerardus Mercator developed 
the system for mapping the round world on a flat surface 
(the Mercator projection) that is still used today. 
 
---------------------------- 
Belgium Major SPAM Exporter? 
---------------------------- 
12.  (U) According to data from U.S. anti-virus security 
vendor Symantec, approximately four percent of all spam in 
the world comes from Belgium.  That Belgian figure is 
remarkable because large neighboring countries like France 
and Germany are responsible for only two percent of the 
spam.  Symantec is the world leader in the fight against 
spam, and claims it intercepts sixty percent of all spam- 
attacks.  The fact that those spam messages are spread from 
a computer in a particular country does not mean that the 
sender is located in that country.  The high Belgian figure 
can be explained with the existence of "bot networks" - i.e. 
computers contaminated by hacker software - in Belgium, and 
by Belgium's high level of broadband connection rates to the 
internet.  (Mis)use of Belgian internet capability has to be 
kept in perspective:  the United States remains the spam 
champion, reportedly generating 56 percent of the world's 
spam. 
 
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A Flemish House in New York 
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13.  (U) According to Flemish regional "Minister of Foreign 
Affairs" Geert Bourgeois, a Vlaams Huis (Flemish House) will 
be established in New York by 2008.  Bourgeois (a member of 
the NVA, a moderate Flemish nationalist party) made the 
announcement during a trip to the South Seaport Museum in 
New York in April celebrating Antwerp's Red Star Line 
exhibit, which chronicles the immigrant ties between the two 
countries.  The purpose of the Flemish House is to promote 
Flemish culture, economy and tourism and improve the 
region's relations with the US.  There is talk of the 
Flemish tourist office and/or the Consulate General for 
Belgium sharing a building in Manhattan with the Flemish 
House to improve efficiency and collaboration.  Bourgeois 
seeks a public-private partnership; the Port of Antwerp has 
expressed interest.  No official funding has yet been 
approved, but regional officials have expressed optimism 
that they will get legislation authorizing and funding the 
project by the end of the year.  Bourgeois expressed the 
hope that the House will attract leaders in Flemish trade, 
investment and cultural and offer programs enhancing 
Flanders' visibility.  Other Flemish cultural houses exist 
in The Hague, Paris, London, Berlin, Vienna, Pretoria, and 
even in Brussels (representing to the EU). 
 
Korologos