Belgium has moved up two places on the consultancy Ernst & Young’s annual globalisation index, positioning the country as the fourth most open economy in the world. The three countries to beat Belgium in the race are Hong Kong, Ireland and Singapore. An open economy refers to the relative lack of obstacles businesses face when doing trade with a country. According to Ernst & Young spokesperson Christophe Ballegeer, Belgium is the perfect example of an export-driven, open economy which is attractive to foreign investors. Capital movement, trade and technology scored well, and Belgium’s performance was further backed by the fact that Germany, its most crucial trading partner, managed to weather the Eurocrisis. It’s no coincidence that smaller countries like Belgium, Ireland and Singapore scored well on this index. Says Ballegeer: “A small country has almost no other option than to export. With a limited domestic market, the focus then falls further afield.” But Belgium’s fourth place is also due to its telecoms and transport infrastructure, its quality of life, the competence of Belgian employees and the country’s central location in Europe; which was what impressed foreign investors the most. According to Ballegeer, many foreign investors view Belgium as a test market. “With a small playing field and a multilingual population, they benefit from running trial projects here. During the first phase businesses establish one sales and marketing office in the country, followed by expansion during the second phase.” Obviously ‘open’ also refers to the fact that the country is dependent on other countries as far as wealth creation is concerned. If the international economy slows down, Belgium will also feel the pinch.

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