2021 was a full year in terms of foreign investment in Flanders. Thanks to Brexit, there was a remarkable amount of investment from the United Kingdom.
Flanders Investment and Trade, the agency that attracts and guides foreign investors, can announce record figures. International companies launched 295 new investment projects in Flanders last year. In addition, they announced 6,233 additional jobs.
Traditionally, American companies are the largest investors in Flanders. Only last year – in full corona crisis – they had to leave the first place to the Netherlands. But this year, America is again number 1, with 64 files representing a quarter of the total number of investment projects.
The British are in second place, with 49 investment projects accounting for a market share of almost 17 percent. By starting up a company in Flanders, British companies can avoid a lot of red tape as a result of Brexit.
Almost two in three of all British investments in Flanders are related to Brexit. Since 2016, the year the British voted in favour of Brexit in a referendum, 95 foreign companies have indicated that they invest in Flanders to protect themselves against the impact of Brexit. Those projects have already created 3,097 jobs.