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VODAFONE-SAMSUNG ALLIANCE
[BIZ/SCI-TECH: Düsseldorf, December 29]
The German business paper ‘Handelsblatt’ reports from Seoul, that the Vodafone Group, the world's largest wireless carrier, is going to offer UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) services in Europe with South...[more]
EUR 8M FOR OPGLABBEEK CENTER
[BIZ/GOV: Opglabbeek, 28 December]
The municipality of Opglabbeek in Belgian Limburg has allocated EUR 8m for its center development Masterplan which will link a number of projects. This will improve areas such as organization and management facilities for the...[more]
BOMBARDIER EUR 224M ORDER
[BIZ: Berlin, December 28]
Bombardier Transportation, in consortium with Alstom Transport LHB, announced today that it has received an order from Deutsche Bahn (DB Regio NRW GmbH) for the supply of 78 ET 422 four-section suburban railway multiple units. The...[more]
BOOM IN RIESTER INSURANCE
[BIZ: Aachen, December 26]
German insurers have experienced a boom in the sales of Riester old-age pension policies. In 2004 Allianz Life sold 150,000 policies including 28,000 of the Riester variety. The AachenMünchener has sold more than 140,000, twice as...[more]
OUTWARD FDI'S DOMESTIC EFFECT
[BIZ/EDU: Maastricht, December 24]
An article in the newsletter, R.V. Goedegebuure of the Maastricht School of Management, examines the relationship between outward foreign direct investments (FDI) and domestic investments. It has been argued in the literature...[more]
ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN LIEGE
[BIZ: Liège, December 23]
Laurent Minguet, founder of Liège's EVS Server company, who is investing EUR 7m in the renovation of the Hôtel de la Couronne is also setting up a number of other energy efficient housing projects in Liège. A pilot project in the rue...[more]
WDR CHINA TRAVEL CONTRACT
[BIZ: Hasselt, December 23]
WDR-Travel in Hasselt has concluded an exclusive agreement with a leading Chinese tour operator from Shanghai to organize Chinese tours in Europe. WDR will be looking after reservations for arrival in Europe. Chinese visitors generally...[more]
Q-PARK IN BELFAST
[BIZ: Maastricht, December 23]
Q-Park, the Maastricht-based European parking giant, is to start running 8,000 parking spaces at Belfast International Airport in Northern Ireland from January 1. Mr. Ward Vleugels, the chairman of the board, said that the company’s...[more]
EUR 100M FOR WASTE PROCESSING
[BIZ: Brussels, December 22]
The Belgian company Indaver and the Dutch company Van Gansewinkel have concluded a ten-year contract for the annual processing of 100,000 tons of combustible industrial waste at Indaver’s incinerator.The total contract value...[more]
JETAIR AND THOMAS COOK IN LIEGE
[BIZ/LOG: Liège, December 22]
Liège Airport wants to see an increase of 15% in passenger traffic next year. This is due to the increase in capacity of tour operators. The number of destinations will rise from 16 to 22 and the frequency on existing routes will...[more]
ECRN ON EMISSIONS TRADING
[BIZ/GOV: Maastricht, December 22]
At a meeting in Maastricht on December 22, The European Chemical Regional Network (ECRN) noted that there were a number of drawbacks in the current CO2 emissions trading system.[See the Sabic article, where emission charges...[more]
DANES TO TAKE OVER FRANS MAAS?
[BIZ/ LOG: Venlo December 21]
Limburg (NL) Logistics giant, Koninklijke Frans Maas Groep N.V. ("KFM") and the Danish Company, DSV A/S ("DSV") have announced that they have entered into talks about a possible merger of the two businesses. DSV has informed KFM...[more]
KITOZYME’S VEGETAL BIOPOLYMERS
[BIZ/SCI-TECH: Liège, December 21]
KitoZyme, the University of Liège spin-off which specializes in producing vegetal biopolymers, recently won the Prize for Innovation in Wallonia.The Mestdagh Group and the Montulet family recently made a EUR 1.425,000 investment ...[more]
WINDMILLS IN LOMMEL
[BIZ/INFRA: Lommel, December 21]
Gislom NV, in cooperation with Arcopar, Aspiravi, and Hefboom, has opened its first wind park. There are four windmills on the site at the Umicore location in Lommel. The investment in the turbines was EUR 9.4m, and a cooperative...[more]
FLEMISH IT IN INDIA
[BIZ: Herk-de-Stad, December 21]
Scia, the specialized software developer for construction, is going to provide software solutions in India. Thus far Scia has primarily been active in Western Europe with its own branches and agents for the sale of 15 customized...[more]
NEW FORD MODELS' SUPPLIER JOBS
[BIZ: Hasselt, December 20]
Suppliers to Ford Genk will profit from the three new models to be produced there. The four companies that deliver to the conveyors are Lear Corporations, SML/SMG, Collins & Aikman, and TDS, and they’re expecting to create 240 new...[more]
GREAT PUBLICITY AND CONTACTS
[BIZ: Aachen, December 20]
Aachen’s visit to Expo-Real 2005 in Munich has produced results from its contacts within two months of the end of the fair. Fritz Rötting, IHK manager and organizer of this expedition, said: “The networking options were unrivalled...[more]
EUR 100M FOR FN
[BIZ: Liège, December 20]
Good news for small arms manufacturer FN in Liège. The group is to be recapitalized at EUR 100m. Half will come from the Walloon region and the other half from FN. The Walloon Ministry of Economics wants to make FN a major instrument...[more]
LIEGE: 25 INBOUND COMPANIES
[BIZ: Liège, December 20]
Over the past year, 25 inbound companies have started up in the business parks in the Province of Liège: a quarter from the US, another quarter from the neighboring countries of France and Germany, and a fifth from Flanders...[more]
IT SECURITY
[BIZ/SCI-TECH: Aachen, December 20]
The Aixplorer site in Aachen is announcing that information on business IT security for North-Rhine Westphalia can be downloaded, providing transparency in security management in NRW. The source is the site given below....[more]
EPIQ IN MEXICO AND BULGARIA
[BIZ: Tessenderlo, December 20]
The exchange-quoted electronics group Epiq, with a Limburg base, has received long-term funding of EUR 20m from the international finance corporation IFC, a part of the World Bank. Epiq is primarily active as a supplier to the...[more]
AACHENMÜNCHENER: STABLE YIELD
[BIZ: Aachen, December 19]
AachenMünchener Lebensversicherung AG, the second-largest life insurer in Germany sticks to 4.25 percent for 2006 and keeps its overall yield stable at a high level. The customers of the second-largest German life insurer will in principle...[more]
EUR 4M FOR TECHSPACE AERO
[BIZ/GOV: Liège, December 19]
Liège aircraft engine components developer Techspace Aéro was awarded EUR 4m by the Walloon region. This is for the development of parts for a new Chinese aircraft (ARJ21). The Herstal based company employs 1200 and, from 2010,...[more]
BIG TIME EQUITY AT AVANTIS
[BIZ: Avantis, December 19]
Forty international private equity companies from Europe, Israel, Asia, and the United States will be present at a conference at the cross-border science and business park Avantis on February 15 and 16. The conference is headed ‘The...[more]
DYNEEMA INCREASES CAPACITY
[BIZ: Heerlen, December 19]
DSM, the largest manufacturer of high performance polyethylene (HPPE) fiber in the world, has announced a decision to make another investment in a new production line for Dyneema® fiber in Greenville, North Carolina (USA). It is the...[more]
100TH START-UP IN HEERLEN
[BIZ: Heerlen, December 19]
Since 2003 a Starter Center in South Limburg has been run on behalf of the municipality in Heerlen under the heading of ‘Neighborhood Business’. The objective is to encourage independent business in urban areas. The project has made...[more]
LRM INVESTS IN ENTELEC
[BIZ: Hasselt, December 17]
The shareholders of Entélec Control Systems NV and LRM, the Limburg investment company, have agreed on an increase of capital of EUR 850,000 to be provided by LRM to support the proposed international expansion of Entélec. Entélec,...[more]
CENTRICA 2005 TRADING UPDATE
[BIZ/INFRA: London, December 16]
Centrica also active in Limburg(b) as Luminus notes that the importance of continental Europe is its increasing influence on UK wholesale markets. The European Competition Commission has stated that the market is not yet functioning...[more]
AACHENMÜNCHENER: TÜV QUALITY
[BIZ: Aachen, December 16]
The German technical inspection agency TÜV Rhineland has granted its quality mark for customer communication – "Phone, letter, e-mail – certified quality" to the AachenMünchener for its high quality in customer communication. AachenMünchener...[more]
AMB MUTUAL FUND RANGE
[BIZ: Aachen/Cologne, December 16]
AMB Generali Asset Managers, the fund company and asset manager of the AMB Generali Group, is extending its fund range from the current 15 to 22 mutual funds. With the beginning of the coming year seven funds of Generali Asset...[more]
CYCOS' UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS
[BIZ: Alsdorf, December 16]
Cycos reports strong Increase in Sales, creates new Jobs
– With an overall turnover of EUR 20.67 m Cycos reports the best business year in the company’s history. This specialist in professional Unified Communications solutions...[more]
ARCILLA SEEKS PARTNERS
[BIZ: Epen, December 16]
Arcilla, a research company in Epen, S. Limburg (NL) is seeking support in the Meuse-Rhine region for one or more technologies. It is of paramount interest for the company to find appropriate partners to create a demo shelter/house...[more]
CFO VAN DALEN FROM DSM TO TNT
[BIZ: Amsterdam, December 16]
TNT N.V. has announced the intended appointment by its Supervisory Board of Mr. H. van Dalen as Chief Financial Officer and member of the Board of Management. Henk van Dalen is currently member of the Managing Board and CFO of...[more]
BBB CATERING TRADES FAIR
[BIZ: Maastricht, December 16]
The BBB catering trades event, the oldest in The Netherlands, is full of interesting new things - including the second HotelloTOP for Dutch Hotel School graduates and others on January 25. It will run from January 23 through 26...[more]
SABIC INVESTMENT AND EMISSIONS
[BIZ: Amsterdam, December 16]
In an article in Het Financiële Dagblad of November 28 the construction of the EUR 1.5bn nafta, a catalytic cracker by the Sabic Chemical Corporation in Heerlen, has become uncertain because there is no security about the CO2 emission...[more]
ENERGY FROM GARBAGE
[BIZ: Wildenrath, December 16]
The system of depolymerization is being developed at the combined research and production location on the former RAF base in Wildenrath, a 5,000m2 area. They will be focusing on depolymerization, taking plastics produced on the...[more]
PARKSTAD DEVELOPMENT BOSS
[BIZ/GOV: Heerlen, December 16]
Hub Meijers, the former mayor of Onderbanken has been appointed by the board, of which he had already been chairman, as the permanent chairman of the Parkstad development company. An extra task will be to develop relations with...[more]
FRENCH RAIL ACTIVE IN BELGIUM
[BIZ/LOG: Brussels, December 16]
EWS, a British specialist in rail cargo, wants to run trains through Belgium. EWS recently opened a sales office in Paris and wants to apply for a license for its own trains in Belgium, according to Belgium Rail boss Marc De...[more]
NEW OWNER INVESTS IN BOVY SITE
[BIZ: Heusden-Zolder, December 16]
A new owner for the Bovy site in Heusden-Zolder is going to invest half a million euros there. This will go into the refurbishment of the catering facilities and there will also be new rooms on a bed and breakfast basis. If...[more]
LIMBURG (B) PURCHASER IN CHINA
[BIZ: Tongres, December 16]
The Limburg (B) specialist in strategic purchasing RDS, Reduction by Cooperation, has signed an agreement with a logistical partner in Shanghai. The company from Tongres wants to build up its strategic position in the world market...[more]
UNDERGROUND GAS STORAGE
[BIZ/INFRA: Brussels, December 16]
A new player in the Belgian gas market has received permission to construct an underground gas storage location in the Campine area near Antwerp. Belgian Underground Gas Storage (BUGS) is a cooperative association between a...[more]
LIEGE EXPORT CLUB
[BIZ: Liège, December 16]
The Liège Export Club is proposing a business mission to Croatia, and there is a last call for the ‘Business Mission to the Republic of South Africa’ between March 11 and 18, when the Liège Export Club — in collaboration with the provincial...[more]
NEW YEAR AT THE CHAMBER
[BIZ: Maastricht, December 16]
The annual address by the President of the South Limburg Chamber of Commerce will take place in 2006 on Wednesday, January 4, in the City Theatre at Mgr. Claessensstraat 2 in Sittard-Geleen. The reception is at 15:30 and the new...[more]
LIMBURG CATCHES UP
[BIZ: Maastricht, December 16]
The South Limburg Chamber of Commerce informs us that the economic prospects for Limburg in 2006 are positive. While employment fell this year, next year it will show a slight rise and there will be a fall in unemployment. In 2006...[more]
GERMAN LAW FROM STRICK
[BIZ: Cleves, December 16]
Strick’s German-law newsletter is, as usual, a mine of information and all readers are encouraged to log on, where they will also find a range of telephone numbers that will give them access to help on specific problems that are raised.In ...[more]
FLEMISH TRANSIT STICKER
[BIZ: Brussels, December 16]
The Flemish minister for the budget Van Mechelen wants Dutch and other drivers who use roads in Flanders to pay for them. This would require the purchase of a special sticker. 2008 is considered unlikely to be the deadline for the...[more]
Top| Logistics and Infrastructure |
MAASTRICHT-BRUSSELS EXPRESS
[LOG: Maastricht, December 22]
By mid 2007, Maastricht will have a direct connection to Brussels by a Belgian intercity train. This will replace the slow train between Liège and Maastricht and connect with the Paris-bound TGV.
(source: Dagblad de Limburger...[more]
LIEGE AIRPORT RESULTS
[LOG: Liège, December 21]
More passengers, less freight. More construction, some delays. The departure of China Southern and Polar Air Cargo has meant lower cargo figures, down from 384,000 to 330,000. Passenger figures were 240,000, which is 17% more than 2004....[more]
NEW VECTOR C15S FOR DSM
[LOG: Heerlen December 20]
DSM is purchasing Vector trucks that can maneuver in warehouses where there is little room. The trucks have to be operated seven days a week, and be ready to go 24 hours a day. The vector models offer excellent performance, efficiency,...[more]
TVG CARGO TO TRILOGIPORT
[LOG: Liège, December 17]
In a series of articles, the Belgian daily 'Le Soir' has addressed the issue of the logistical infrastructure in the Liège region in conversation with Iwan Couchard of the University of Liège. As far as cargo in the Liège region is...[more]
INLAND WATERWAYS FROM ANTWERP
[LOG: Antwerp, December 16]
The Antwerp forwarders association wants to promote inland waterways among its members. The organizers have signed an agreement with the BTF, the Belgian Federation of Transport Organizations in the waterways, and this renewed cooperation...[more]
CALL FOR LOGISTICS PROJECTS
[LOG/BIZ: Liège, December 16]
The current steering committee of the Transport and Logistics hub in Liège has issued a call for projects in the context of the Walloon Marshall Plan [see our last issue. ED.] . At the present time financial resources and people...[more]
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NO EXTRA TAX FOR NL BELGIANS
[GOV: Eupen, December 27]
Belgians working in The Netherlands will not be subject to additional taxation in the coming year. The Belgian state had initially planned an extra tax of EUR 100 on health insurance from January 1, but protests have put a stop to it....[more]
CROSS-BORDER NURSING
[EDU: Liège, December 21]
The André Vésale Haute Ecole has been running one-week intensive exchanges courses for nurses in Meuse-Rhine for ten years, with the Provincial Hogeschool Limburg in Hasselt, the Autonome Hochschule in the German-speaking Community...[more]
COOPERATION FOR EU FUNDS
[GOV: Aachen, December 21]
Dr. Jürgen Linden, the mayor of Aachen, has written to Michael Breuer, the Minister for Federal and European Affairs of the state of North-Rhine Westphalia, asking for a stronger approach to a regional promotion than has heretofore...[more]
ENVIRONMENT-FRIENDLY BUSSES
[GOV: Brussels, December 20]
Public transport companies like De Lijn or MIVB in Brussels will soon have to ensure that a quarter of their vehicles are environment-friendly. This obligation is also for the purchase of other vehicles of over 3.5 tons (garbage...[more]
EUR 1.2M FOR LIMBURG PROJECTS
[GOV: Hasselt, December 20]
The Belgian province of Limburg, chaired by its Deputy for European Affairs Marc Vandeput (CD&V), awarded EUR 1.2m in European subsidies to seven Limburg projects, with a total cost of EUR 6.6m. The seven projects include the...[more]
MORE EU FUNDING FOR DG
[GOV: Eupen/Brussels, December 20]
Following the agreement of the governments on the European budget recently, Belgium’s German-speaking community will have further access to European funding, including Intereg projects in both the Meuse-Rhine region and the...[more]
PRIX MERCURE
[GOV: Liège, December 20]
The Italian consulate general in Liège has awarded its annual prizes. In the category designated ‘Personalities’ the prize went to the filmmakers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. In the category for ‘Public or Private Concerns, Trade and...[more]
SOLAR POWER IN LIÈGE
[GOV: Liège, December 17]
The protection of the environment has led to authorities favoring sustainable energy. Since 2003 the Walloon region and the province of Liège have offered incentives for the installation of solar water heating. At present the premium...[more]
HOW TO SELL MEUSE-RHINE
[GOV: Aachen, December 16]
The Chambers of Industry and Commerce in Meuse-Rhine in Aachen, Eupen, Hasselt, Liège-Verviers, and Maastricht regard the institutional constitutional of the Euroregion as requiring a new shape, and are demanding a new resolution as...[more]
CHARLEMAGNE PRIZE
[GOV: Aachen, December 16]
The Charlemagne prize for a significant contribution to European Unity has been awarded for year 2006 to Jean-Claude Juncker the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, by the Aachen-based foundation....[more]
BOTANICAL GARDENS
[GOV/LEI: Maastricht, December 16]
The province of Limberg (NL) has decided to devote a sum of EUR 430,000 to the Euroregional project ‘Jardins Botanique’ (Botanical Gardens). The Provincial Authorities have given a subsidy of EUR 60,000 to the Botanical Garden...[more]
LIEGE MAYOR'S LEGION OF HONOR
[GOV: Liège, December 16]
In front of a group of 400 guests the mayor of Liège was named a Chevalier (a knight) in the Order of the Legion of Honor by the French ambassador, Her Excellency Joëlle Bourgois, for his services to the French-speaking world...[more]
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CROSS-BORDER MEDICAL CARE
[HEALTH: Alden Biesen, December 21]
A major conference was held in Alden Biesen to mark the end of an EU-based Intereg III project on cross-border healthcare in Meuse-Rhine, in which the parties involved discussed the project over a period of three and a half...[more]
LIFE SCIENCE DESIGN AWARD
[LIFE-SCI: Herzogenrath, December 16]
Matricel GmbH develops, produces and markets collagen based medical products and biomaterials for pharmaceutical products with applications in clinical medicine and biotechnology. IT was recently nominated for the Life Design...[more]
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NEW FORD RESEARCH CENTER BOSS
[SCI-TECH: Aachen, December 21]
At the beginning of the year Professor Rudolf Menne will replace Rudolf Kunze, who is retiring after 27 years in the service of Ford. Menne will be taking responsibility for the whole Ford research operation and development in...[more]
MINISTER SIMONET AT JUELICH
[SCI-TECH: Jülich, December 16]
Marie-Dominique Simonet, Minister for Research, New Technologies and Foreign Relations of the Walloon Region of Belgium visited Research Centre Jülich on Tuesday. Her two-hour visit included a tour of the Institutes of Medicine...[more]
SCOUT-03 RESEARCH
[SCI-TECH: Jülich/Darwin December 16]
For the last time in the morning of December 6, the Russian high-altitude research aircraft Geophysica and the German Aerospace Centre's (DLR) Falcon set off for tropical thunderclouds in Darwin (Australia). Over the last...[more]
DESCRIBING WATER
[SCI-TECH: Liège, December 16]
Aquapôle, a center for the study of water, has been established at the University of Liège and has just signed a four-year agreement with SPGE, the public authority for water management, and Benoît Lutgen, Minister of the Environment...[more]
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EUROREGIONAL BRASS AND WIND
[LEI: Maastricht, 28 December]
The Euroregional brass and wind music day will be held September 10, 2006 in Maastricht at the same time as ‘Het Parcours’, the Maastricht arts market. Previous versions were held in Heerlen, Venlo and Valkenburg. The day will...[more]
MEUSE-RHINE TV FILM
[LEI: Eupen, December 28]
WDR Television showed an attractive documentary on areas of the Euroregion on December 27 on WDR 3 at 20:15. The film was called ‘Invisible Borders — a Voyage of Discovery Around the Region of Eupen and Maastricht’. Actually focus was...[more]
CONCERT AND CARNIVAL
[LEI: Maastricht, December 24]
The biggest carnival band in Maastricht, Sous Bras Band Tête de Veau, will be out on the first of the year for its civil service carnival, inspired by the Vienna New Year’s concert. The band will provide a concert on Monday evening,...[more]
JAZZ AT EDD’S CAFE
[LEI: Maastricht, December 24]
January 10 will see the opening of the year at Edd’s Café with a quartet concert by guitarist Emiel van Egdom, with Jan Knooren on the bass, Ron van Stratum on the drums, and the American pianist Consuelo Candelaria. During the...[more]
BRAZIL
[LEI: Liège, December 24]
There will be an exhibition of photography and visual art from Brazil as part of the fifth International Biennial for Photography and Visual Art in Liège from February 19 through April 2, 2006. The works will be on view at the MAMAC...[more]
TALBOTS AT INTERCLASSICS
[LEI: Maastricht, December 21]
The TopMobiel section of the InterClassics trade fair for vintage cars at the MECC (January 13-15, 2006) is holding a special exhibition of the English Talbot car. There will be the Talbot 90 Brooklands, Talbot 90 Tourer PL5519,...[more]
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