Doing Business in Belgium

Syllabus of the Subject - Doing Business in Belgium. Brussels.

1. Introduction to the Kingdom of Belgium (European Union)
2. Economy of Belgium
3. Doing Business in Brussels: The political centre of the European Union
4. Belgian Foreign Trade
5. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Belgium
6. Access to the Belgian Market
7. Business Plan for Belgium

The objectives of the subject “Doing Business in Belgium” are the following:

1. To analyse the Belgian Economy and Foreign Trade
2. To evaluate the business opportunities in the Belgian Market
3. To analyse the trade relations of Belgium with the country of the student
4. To know the Belgium's free trade agreements as a member of the European Union (EU)
5. To develop a business plan for the Belgian Market

Description of the Subject (Online Learning): Doing Business in Belgium

The Kingdom of Belgium (Europe)

1. Capital: Brussels
2. Belgian Official Languages: French, Dutch and German
3. Area: 30,528 square kilometres
4. Belgian Population: 11.2 millions of people
5. Type of Government: Federal parliamentary monarchy
6. Borders of Belgium: Germany, France‎, Luxembourg and the Netherlands
7. Belgium became independent of the Netherlands (Spain in the past) in 1830
8. The Democratic Republic of the Congo became independent of Belgium in 1960
9. The Republic of Burundi and Rwanda became independent of Belgium in 1962

1. Religion: Catholicism (Christianity)
2. Belgium belongs to the Western Christian Civilisation (European Economic Area)

Economy of Belgium.

1. The headquarters of the European Union is in Brussels, one of the largest lobbies in the world
2. Belgian GDP (nominal): 338,000 millions of euros
3. GDP per capita: 42,793 dollars
4. Economic recession in 2009
5. Belgium lacks natural resources
6. Belgian Currency: Euro (1999)
7. Belgium joined the European Union in 1958
8. The industry is mainly located in Flanders (northern Belgium)
9. The company "Unitel International Holdings BV" of the Angolan businesswoman Isabel dos Santos is in Brussels

Belgian Foreign Trade

1. 75% of the Belgian foreign trade is made with the countries of the European Union
2. Main suppliers of Belgium are Germany, the Netherlands and France (and also main destinations of its exports)
3. Main export products are diamonds, machinery, chemical products, food products
4. As a member of the European Union, Belgium is the beneficiary of the EU Free trade agreements with Chile, South Africa, South Korea, India, Mexico, MERCOSUR, etc
5. The Port of Antwerp is the second largest in Europe

International Economic Relations of Belgium

1. International Chamber of Commerce
2. World Bank
3. World Trade Organisation
4. European Union
5. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
6. International Monetary Fund (IMF)
7. Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
8. Asia-Europe Economic Meeting (ASEM)
9. United Nations
10. Group of States of the Council of Europe Convention against the corruption (GRECO)
11. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
12. European Investment Bank (EIB)
13. Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
14. Inter-American Development Bank

Examples of the subject - Foreign Trade and Business in Belgium:

(c) EENI- Business School & Hispano-African University of International Business