When logistics serves as the vehicle for success

Wallonia is not lacking in assets – whether they are geographical or of human nature, or lacking in advantages in terms of the facilities required to establish itself as a leading logistics platform in Europe. Aside from its strategic geographical position, it has demonstrated its capacity to manage a highly sophisticated sector. In-depth experience in the transport, handling and storage industries has enabled Wallonia to provide a high tech response to the distribution of goods in a Europe containing 460 million consumers. Determined to adapt to a revolutionised industry, it once again is holding all of the cards to its future.

Jumping onto the bandwagon

Saying that in the space of roughly fifteen years, the professions known as “logistics” professions have recorded a high level of change, would be an understatement. This profession no longer involves merely transporting goods to national, regional and/or local sorting centres, but involves high added value services including logistics services such as picking, stock management, grouping, quality control, warehousing, labelling, invoicing, the management of custom’s documents, order management and preparation, delivery of internet orders, (re)conditioning, transport and/or distribution.

Some do not hesitate to speak of "postproduction" in an economic system that no longer fears moving to the ends of the earth in order to produce at a lower cost, but that is also capable of breaking away from its chains if that enables it to better adapt its product to its destination.

This is what enables Wallonia to reorganise its activities to suit a wider Europe, having transformed its economic borders into bridges. Moreover, consumption over the Internet has boomed, where distribution systems have been redrawn. It is up to the logisticians to manage both the flow of goods and the flow of related information, and to move closer to the capital.

Front runners

The latest edition of the Cushman & Wakefield study, the bible of logistical localisation throughout the world, did not hesitate to place Wallonia firmly among the stars of European logistics. According to this study, a large part of European consumption is focused on the geographical area of Wallonia, encompassing the main European ports (Antwerp, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Zeebrugge, Dunkirk, Le Havre), but also Europe’s main passenger and cargo airports.

Logistics in Wallonia: a competitive cluster for the transport and logistics sector

In 2006, the Walloon government adopted the Marshall Plan in order to revitalise the region´s economic development. The main measure in this Plan involves the creation of 5 competitive clusters in 5 sectors where Wallonia has starting potential and a critical amount of actors involved. Transport and logistics are naturally included within these sectors. The “Logistics in Wallonia” centre has thus been recognised by the Walloon government.

The aim of a competitive cluster is to promote innovation by supporting company projects involving strengthened cooperation between innovating companies and research centres or university departments.

Since its launch, the cluster has been involved in 10 research and training projects, and actively takes part in revitalising the logistics sector by promoting new contacts, encounters and exchanges between all actors within the sector. The cluster comprises approximately 220 members.

Logistics in Wallonia
Parc Artisanal 11-13
B-4671 Blegny
Tel. 32-4-387.88.26
Fax 32-4-387.87.39
Email: info@logisticsinwallonia.be
Website: www.logisticsinwallonia.be

Intermodality lends wings to Wallonia

Wallonia has thus been able to build on its natural assets by setting up infrastructures that place it far in front of any potential competitors further east. The intermodality of transport is already a reality in Wallonia. This new buzzword means that it is no longer enough to claim that you own a good road, rail, river or even air network, as you need all of them at once, and in the right order. This is what´s known as the winning combination!

Wallonia, a busy European motorway and railway centre, is also home to one of the 8 main cargo airports in Europe (Liege Airport), without forgetting its proximity to the national airport of Zaventem. The Walloon region also boasts an extensive network of high capacity waterways, which accommodate 14% of European river transport (Liege is the second largest river port in Europe).

Along the waterways

The waterway is increasingly being regarded as the reliable, secure, time efficient, ecological and economic solution for goods transport. Wallonia is therefore continuing its efforts in developing and promoting its river network. The potential of this means of communication is in fact far from being fully exploited. The Albert Canal for example, could double its traffic density, without creating any bottleneck phenomena and without increasing the waiting times at the locks.

Among its development projects, Wallonia is putting particular emphasis on the promotion of its autonomous ports. They already offer commercial and industrial hosting infrastructures, which are economic development tools in their own right.

Is should also be mentioned that the development of Trilogiport, a future 100 ha multimodal transport platform, will be installed near to the Dutch border and will provide in particular a 15 ha container terminal in direct contact with the Antwerp and Rotterdam ports. This platform will be operational in 2012 and has already attracted interest from international companies.

The regional airports of Liège and Charleroi

Wallonia is home to two regional airports, both of which are undergoing rapid development.

Liege Airport is located at the very heart of the European air freight triangle between Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt. It is the first airport to focus its development strategy on goods transport. As the 8th ranking air cargo platform in Europe, Liege Airport was recently attributed a new passenger terminal, enabling it to double its passenger capacity and bring it to 1 million passengers per year.

Brussels South Charleroi airport is a regional airport specialising in the transport of passengers towards European destinations. It is a home to low cost companies that are going from strength to strength. Charleroi airport plays a key role in the transport network of the Walloon Region. In 2009, it allowed almost 4 million passengers to travel across Europe. Dublin, Shannon, Glasgow, Milan, Pisa, Rome, Venice, Pescara, Carcassonne, Gerona, Valladolid, Stockholm, Warsaw, Budapest, Faro, Nîmes, Malaga, Salzburg and Valencia are just some of the destinations from Brussels South Charleroi airport. It is a daytime airport (activities between 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m.) accommodating medium-haul aircraft. The onsite activities developed are directly linked to passenger traffic (scheduled flights, tuition and training).

On the roads

These days, road transport counts for over 72% of goods transportation, and can therefore be considered as the driving force of the economy. Indeed, 9,000 companies are active in the “goods transport and handling” sector on behalf of third parties, employing no less than 60,000 people in Belgium. Although the Walloon region has a particularly dense road network, it is continuing to develop its road infrastructures. The objective, on the one hand, comprises completing the missing links and, on the other hand, building bypasses and through-routes.

From among the key players of the road network, the Febetra (Fédération royale belge des Transporteurs et des Prestataires de Services logistiques - Royal Belgian Federation of Transporters and Logistical Service Providers) distinguishes itself. Founded in 1946, it employs a team of over 50 people in road transport and logistics services.

Another important player is the UPTR (Union professionnelle du Transport par Route - Professional Road Transport Union), founded in 1936, which, as a professional federation, protects and develops the economic interests of the road transport sector on behalf of third parties.

These two players offer their members well-suited training programmes, legal and technical assistance and inform them of all the developments that affect their activities, whether directly or indirectly.

Contacts:

FEBETRA - Fédération royale belge des Transporteurs et des Prestataires de Services logistiques
Rue de l´Entrepôt, 5 A
B-1020 Brussels
Tel. 32-2-425.68.00
Fax 32-2-425.05.68
Email: febetra@febetra.be
Website: http://www.febetra.be

UPTR - Union professionnelle du Transport par Route
Rue Denis Lecocq
B-4031 Angleur (Liege)
Tel. 32-4-361.40.90
Fax 32-4-367.73.51
Email: info@uptr.be
Website: http://www.uptr.be

Right on track

The SNCB, Belgian national railway operator, is not short of development projects either. Launched in 1993, the programme to lay down 314 km of high speed tracks, including 200 km on a new route, is continuing to this day. Thanks to these new tracks, Belgium has become a strong link in the European high speed network. The SNCB is building and operating a 4-branch high speed railway network which will lead from Brussels to France and the United Kingdom, Germany (via Liege) and the Netherlands (via Antwerp).

Moreover, the SNCB has launched its RER project (Réseau Express Régional - rapid transit train) around Brussels. Its aim is to offer “commuters” travelling to Brussels a more efficient service with more trains and higher capacities. The purpose of this rapid transit train is to meet the significant growth in travel requirements in and around the capital.

Finally, the high speed railway offers further interest with the CaREx project (Cargo Rail Express). This project, which mainly involves Liege Airport, aims at creating a European high speed freight railway network using existing high speed train infrastructures. This network is created around the London, Paris, Lyon, Amsterdam and Liege airports and will enable a new, revolutionary means of transport to be created for logistics operators.

Transport and mobility

Mobility… A real challenge with regards to sustainable development! People and goods are becoming increasingly mobile and are scuttling about in all directions. A development that, if it gets out of control, can have serious impacts on the quality of life: accidents, noise, greenhouse gas emissions or the emission of substances dangerous for health and the environment.

Goods transport is clearly on the front line when it comes to the responsible management of mobility. This is why Wallonia applies the rules laid down by the Belgian Federal Public Department for Mobility and Transport. It draws up the conditions governing the profession on goods transport by road, river and air, as well as the rules applicable to these different means of transport and to the transport of dangerous goods. It publishes a list of companies approved for road transport, freight forwarders and transport brokers. A sector that is under close surveillance and that is constantly changing. It is under permanent analysis from four institutions (road transport, canal transport, coach and bus transport and transport organisers), jointly set up by the federal authorities and by the professional associations in the transport sector. The aim of these institutions particularly comprises carrying out studies and providing documentation, expertise and consulting services in their respective areas.

High capacity at a low price

The availability of land for logistics at low prices, the mobility and fluidity of traffic, access to the international infrastructures and to a qualified and multilingual workforce make Walloon a logistics paradise. A large number of companies in the logistics sector have quickly come to understand this and speak highly of its assets after falling under its charm. Examples include the logistics platforms under development such as the new 100% logistics park of Centre Ardenne, Garocentre, Brussels South Charleroi Airport, the “Terminal Container Athus”, the outer harbour of Zeebrugge, Antwerp and Rotterdam (Hainaut), Liege and its Trilogiport, its airport (Bierset) and its brand new high speed train station designed by Calatrava, etc.

International, regional and local contacts

We have already mentioned the assistance for employment and training, the support for funding and the regional fiscal advantages. However, the European structural funds, or the various public entities that are supportive partners of companies who wish to set up on the territory should not be forgotten. The Walloon Export and Foreign Investments Agency, via its “Foreign Investments” division contact office, works in this field in close cooperation with the Walloon government and all of the regional players.

The Agency also offers valuable help to foreign investors to put together their financial applications for public subsidies. With a team of around twenty people supported by approximately one hundred Walloon Economic and Commercial Associates, it aims at accompanying potential investors from the very outset and from their country of origin.

Back home in Wallonia, the intercommunal companies ensure the takeover and are responsible for economic development. They manage the economic business parks and play a role in their development, as well as their funding. Their tasks include proposing the best installation site, supplying all the necessary information with regard to public subsidies, drawing up the financial applications and supporting the companies in their search for qualified workers, etc.

Two other important bodies should also be mentioned. In the field of employment, the FOREM, Logistical Training, takes pride in hunting down personnel trained in logistics professions and in guiding the companies towards the most appropriate employment and training possibilities. Finally, the Sowalfin has made itself the indispensable funding partner of the Region, in particular for SMEs.

For foreign investors:
- AWEX (“Foreign investments” division):
- http://www.investinwallonia.be
- FOREM Foreign Investors (contact: georges.biar@forem.be )

Investment companies:
- SRIW (Société Régionale d´Investissement de Wallonie): www.sriw.be
- The one-stop-shop for SMEs: www.sowalfin.be

Hainaut province

Hainaut province enjoys an exceptional geographical location at the crossroads of the major road, river, rail and airport routes towards the Netherlands, France, Luxembourg, Germany and England, etc., making it possible to serve 60% of the European purchasing power within a radius of 400 km: its proximity with the Northern shoreline, the excellent mobility, its central position on the natural transport routes, the available industrial land, the trimodal capacities of the province, and the network that has developed around it with the road-rail-water platforms of Charleroi and Garocentre. This will soon be joined by the Mouscron-Lille International Dry Port.

It in fact involves an actual network set up on the key transport axes, putting Hainaut at the crossroads between Northern and Southern Europe.

Liege province

Here again, intermodality is the byword: the interior port with waterway connections with Antwerp, Rotterdam and the Liege airport (one of the top 8 cargo airports in Europe), combined with rail, road and motorway networks are the main assets of the Liege province. Mobility, the land available at affordable prices or the central position within a consumer area comprising 100 million European consumers add the final touches to an already efficient operation, with promising future developments.

Luxemburg province

The availability of low cost land is the number one argument in favour of the Luxemburg province. The Centre-Ardenne project is a good example of this. This new 100% logistics park, situated at the crossroads between two large motorways in fact covers 85 ha, including 250,000 m² of logistics surface area. This attraction is complemented by its ideal economic-geographical location.

International companies have been quick on the uptake and have installed their international coordination centres in the Grand Duchy while locating the operating activities close by in the Luxemburg province, where the surface area is available and cheap.

Economic development intercommunal companies

IBW (Walloon Brabant): www.ibw.be
IEG (Mouscron-Comines): www.ieg.be
IDEA (Mons): www.idea.be
IDETA (Tournai-Ath): www.ideta.be
IGRETEC (Charleroi): www.igretec.be
IDELUX (Belgian Luxemburg): www.idelux.be
BEPN (Namur province): www.bep.be
SPI+ (Liege province): www.spi.be

Good reasons to invest in Wallonia

Investors have no trouble in coming up with good reasons why they should set up their logistics base in Wallonia:
• A location at the very heart of Europe, merely a stone’s throw away from Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France and Luxemburg.
• Vast areas of industrial land (up to 50 ha) available close to Brussels and the large ports of the North Sea.
• The availability of a trained workforce and assistance for recruitment.
• A single fiscal system for the distribution centres: up to 25% of investment premiums and financial solutions to ease the burden of the property investment.
• An uncongested and well-lit road network.
• High speed train connections that make it possible to quickly reach the large European cities, where the economic decisions are taken.
• A central position on the largest waterway in Europe: the Rhone-Meuse-Rhine axis.

Automotive cluster of Wallonia

Centre économique wallon
Rue du Vertbois, 13A
B-4000 Liege
Tel. 32-4-237.92.12
Fax 32-4-222.05.51
Email: info@clusterautomobilite.be
Website: www.clusterautomobilite.be