|
ETHIAS ARENA
[BIZ: Hasselt, January 27]
The Ethias arena and the Grenslandhallen in Hasselt have produced a new newsletter listing their current and future attractions. You can read it at the link below, it includes among other things an appearance by Dutch star Rob de Nijs,...[more]
SMART PERSONALIZED HANDGUNS
[BIZ: Liège, January 27]
A partnership between FN Herstal (the arms manufacturer) and Verichip is developing an RFID implant for their Browning Smith & Wesson handguns that would make the firearm functional only when used by an individual with an implanted chip....[more]
LA FABRIK
[BIZ: Herstal, January 26]
La Fabrik is a multimodal space just across the Wandre bridge from the highway between Maastricht and Liège. It recently hosted 500 guests of Mong Koo Chung, president of the highly successful Hyundai Motor Company - 2005 Net Profits...[more]
BLOKKER IN CAR LEASING
[BIZ: Brussels, January 26]
Jaap Blokker, of the Dutch Blokker retail chain, has paid EUR 20m for a 5% stake in the Athlon car leasing company in Belgium. Blokker, who also runs Bart Smit, Intertoys, Markramer, and Xenos chains, bought this stake. In the past...[more]
86.6M T-MOBILE SUBSCRIBERS
[BIZ: London, January 26]
Rufus Jay of Informa writes to say that T-Mobile International has increased its subscriber base by 11.6% year on year to stand at 86.6 million as of end 2005.
In its home market of Germany, T-Mobile's subscriber base increased...[more]
CAESARS HOLLAND?
[BIZ: Maastricht, January 25]
Harrah’s plans for an integrated resort, with a full-blown casino in Maastricht, stand or fall on the decision of the Dutch Minister of Justice, Mr Donner. A Letter of Intent was drawn up on May 31, 2005 and will now be extended...[more]
NMC ACQUISITION IN FINLAND
[BIZ: Eynatten, January 25]
NMC sa, an international leader in the development, production and marketing of synthetic foam materials with its headquarters in Eynatten, Belgium, has acquired two Finnish subsidiaries, Fagerdala Tuotanto Oy and Fagerdala Termonova...[more]
HEIJMANS HEITKAMP CONTRACT
[BIZ/LOG: 's Hertogenbosch, January 25]
Heijmans NV has reached a definitive agreement on the acquisition of the activities of the German railway construction company Heitkamp Rail GmbH. The takeover will take place shortly. The takeover sum of approximately...[more]
BOSTON SCIENTIFIC GETS GUIDANT
[BIZ/LIFE-SCI: Brussels, January 25]
The struggle for Guidant, a stent maker between Johnson & Johnson, which has a major base in Belgium, and Boston Scientific, which has its European distribution center in Kerkrade, South Limburg, has come to a conclusion....[more]
CYCOS CUSTOMER PLATFORM
[BIZ/SCI-TECH, Alsdorf, January 24]
At this year’s Berlin-based Call Center World (January 14 and 15) Unified Communications specialist Cycos AG will be showcasing versatile solutions for modern Contact and Customer Interaction Centres. Visitors to stand D13,...[more]
MACHIELS EMISSIONS CERTS.
[BIZ: Hasselt, January 24]
The Machiels Group from Hasselt is one of the first Flemish companies to achieve the Kyoto objectives in a development project. The company recently got the go ahead from the UN for two projects in Chile that involve turning methane...[more]
DOCTORS’ EUR 17M IN Q-PARK
[BIZ: Maastricht, January 23]
Doctors Pensions Funds Services is a new partner among the European parking giant Q-Park’s shareholders. It has taken over the share package of ENTERO, a subsidiary of the ING bank. Doctors Pension Fund Services is the operational...[more]
ENERGY ISSUES
[BIZ/INFRA: Rotterdam, January 21]
Cees Banning in the Dutch quality daily, NRC Handelsblad writes about liberalization in the energy business and notes that government and EU policy is to split energy companies into network companies and commercial companies,...[more]
NOTARIAL MERGER
[BIZ: Valkenburg, January 21]
Notary Huub Joosten from Gulpen has joined his colleagues Piet Schutgens, Jo Eussen, and Guy Loyson in Valkenburg and Margraten. Their merged office is the largest notarial practice in South Limburg. It now offers more services...[more]
ENERGY IN THE LIMBURG AREA
[BIZ: Lanaken, January 20]
An assessment of the energy context, part of the province’s new programs, shows that the area’s assets include money for co-participation with the provinces ‘Acceleration Fund’ (50% private, 50% from the province). It shows a useful...[more]
STEVAERT SUSPENDS TAX
[BIZ/GOV: Hasselt, January 20]
The governor of Belgian Limburg Steve Stevaert has suspended a controversial tax that had to be paid by retail businesses in the center of Genk. Governor Stevaert agreed with a complaint made by the opposition VLD (Liberal) party...[more]
GOOD YEAR FOR TIHANGE
[BIZ/INFRA: Tihange, January 20]
The nuclear power plant at Tihange has had a good year, achieving its third highest score since 1975 when the first reactor went into service, a period in which they have generated 500bn kWh, the Walloon country’s energy requirements...[more]
MASSOZ INVESTS EUR 5M
[BIZ: Liège, January 20]
The Massoz printing works at Alleur is going to invest EUR 5m in updating their plant to make it more competitive in the graphics market. This should increase production capacity in the near future....[more]
DSM SELLS IODINE BIZ TO CHILE
[BIZ: Heerlen, January 19]
Royal DSM N.V., the Dutch chemicals group, and Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM), today signed and closed the sale of the DSM business unit Minera to SQM. DSM Minera is a business unit of the DSM Fine Chemicals business...[more]
ZENTIS DOING WELL
[BIZ: Aachen, January 19]
Zentis, the Aachen-based specialist in fruit preparations, spreads, cake and pastry fillings and confectionary, is doing well. It leads its sector of the European market and its total revenues rose in 2005 by 3% to EUR 600m. The growth...[more]
FN HERSTAL HALTS WINCHESTER
[BIZ: Liège, January 19]
The Walloon arms factory FN in Herstal is closing its American subsidiary in Newhaven, Connecticut. They have been building classic Winchester rifles there for 140 years. This was the weapon known as ‘the rifle that won the West’. FN...[more]
DUTCH OPTICIAN MOVES SOUTH
[BIZ: Brussels, January 19]
The Dutch chain of opticians Hans Anders is crossing the border and opening stores in the Walloon country and Northern France. It already has 34 outlets in Flanders. In mid-February it’s opening its first outlet in French-speaking...[more]
BELGIUM LICENSES ONLINE GAMING
[BIZ: Brussels, January 19]
The Belgian commission responsible for gaming is going to issue a number of licenses to gaming websites to prevent uncontrolled growth on the Internet. In Belgium most online gaming sites operate from offshore tax havens such as Antigua,...[more]
RUSSIAN GAS IN THE KEMPEN
[BIZ: Wuustwezel, January 19]
The Russian gas company Gazprom is going to set up an underground gas storage site [Which we have mentioned before, ED] . It will be in Loenhout (Wuustwezel) and Poederlee (Lille) in the Kempen area of northern Belgium. Last month...[more]
CARDOEN SALES UP 19%
[BIZ: Brussels, January 19]
During the Brussels car show Cardoen the Belgian car supermarket revealed its figures from 2005, which turned out to be a record year. The company’s ten locations sold 13,300 cars, 19% more than the previous year. The revenues last...[more]
AGFA GOES WITH ESSERS
[BIZ/LOG: Genk, January 18] ]
Agfa-Gevaert has announced that an agreement has been reached with the social partners on the company's plans to sell its logistics operations (the storage and distribution of Agfa-Gevaert's film consumables and equipment - Gevaert...[more]
TNT COMPLETES TG+ ACQUISITION
[BIZ/LOG: Amsterdam/Liège, January 18]
TNT N.V., global provider of mail, express and logistics services - with its hub in Liège - has announced that it has completed the acquisition of TG+, a leading Spanish domestic distribution company, after obtaining all...[more]
CIDE: BUSINESS INNOVATION
[BIZ/EDU: Liège, January 18]
The University of Liège and Meusinvest are getting together to aid business and are setting up a new organization called CIDE, a Council for Business Innovation and Development...[more]
STOLBERG SELLS TO US
[BIZ: Stolberg, January 18]
Thirty houses in Stolberg have been sold by the State Development Bank (LEG) to GAGFAH in Essen, which is a subsidiary of the US Fortress Investment Group in New York. The variously sized houses are in Münsterbusch on the Elsterweg...[more]
MICHAEL WIRTZ RE-ELECTED
[BIZ: Aachen, January 18]
Michael Wirtz, who has been president of the Aachen Chamber of Commerce & Industry for eight and a half years, was re-elected to this business parliament at the meeting on January 17, 2006. Mr Wirtz has also been president of his family...[more]
WINDMILL PARK SOLD
[BIZ/INFRA: Kerkrade, January 18]
The opportunity to invest in the windmill park in the De Locht in Kerkrade has been a great success. Six hundred shares have been sold, largely to private investors in the region, and this means that the investors will be co-owners...[more]
WORLD PREMIER: COLT CZC
[IND: Born, January 18]
Two years after the launch of the Colt hatchback and a year after the introduction of the Colt coupé, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) will unveil the third variant of the European Colt family at the 76th Geneva Motor Show (March 2...[more]
ST. GOBAIN RUN FROM AACHEN
[BIZ: Aachen, January 17]
The chairman of the board of Saint Gobain Glass in Aachen, Udo Brandt, will be running the glass-processing business in Denmark and Switzerland. The company and its subsidiaries process glass at 41 of their locations, turning the semi-manufactured...[more]
US BUYS 4,300 LEG HOMES
[BIZ: Düsseldorf, January 17]
Further to the story above, the LEG development company in Düsseldorf sold around 4,300 homes to the US-Investor Fortress Investment Group. In Aachen they have sold 185 units and Stolberg (as mentioned below) have sold 30, and in...[more]
NEW HOTEL: PLACE ST. ETIENNE
[BIZ: Liège, January 17]
A new four-star hotel is to be built in the Place Saint Etienne, which is behind the Galeries St Lambert in the center of Liège, and is scheduled for completion in spring 2007. It will only have 18 rooms but is expected to be extremely...[more]
BUSINESS TAX RISES STOPPED
[BIZ: Dusseldorf, January 17]
The North-Rhine Westphalian Home Minister, Dr. Ingo Wolf, has removed the rate of assessment prerogative for business taxes that the communities had hitherto had as a right. This meets demands made over a long period of time by...[more]
ELVERDING, CEO OF THE YEAR
[BIZ: Heerlen, January 16]
FEM Business, a leading Dutch business magazine has awarded Peter Elverding the CEO of the Year award 2005 on 9 January 2006. In his acceptance speech Peter Elverding said "Conducting business is a team sport. So it is strange to single...[more]
VOYAGES LEONARD
[BIZ: Barchon, January 16]
Voyages Léonard, the top tour operator in French-speaking Belgium, was founded 60 years ago in Dison by Joseph Léonard, who converted an US Army truck chassis into a tourist bus. In the 80’s, the company was taken over by the sons...[more]
MEDRAD OPENS IN HASSELT
[BIZ: Maastricht, January 16]
MEDRAD Europe B.V., a subsidiary of the US-based medical imaging device company MEDRAD, INC., has expanded its direct operation in Europe by establishing MEDRAD Belgium BVBA in Hasselt to provide direct sales, service and customer...[more]
DSM SUES CHINESE COMPANY
[BIZ: Urmond, January 16]
DSM Dyneema, the inventor and manufacturer of Dyneema®, the world’s strongest fiber, has filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Hangzhou Pivot International Co. Ltd., of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, in the Paris Courts....[more]
PRESS FOR SALE
[BIZ: Heerlen, January 16]
The Limburg press (Nieuwsdruk Limburg) is the property of the Telegraph Media Group and is being sold in Heerlen as a package together with the newspapers Dagblad de Limburger and Limburgs Dagblad and Media Group Limburg (MGL). The...[more]
GERMAN MIGRATION
[BIZ: Vaals, January 16]
The municipality of Vaals and the Province of Limburg (NL) are going to investigate the reasons for German residents in Vaals moving to and from the city. This is necessary, according to Councilor Jussen, because the housing policy of...[more]
DELAY AT TGV STATION
[BIZ: Liège, January 16]
There is concern that delay in the construction work in front of the new TGV station in Liège may cause the loss of EUR 7m in European funding. The councilor in charge of urban development, Michel Firket, believes that the funds could...[more]
BACK TO WORK WITH LICOM
[BIZ/EDU: Heerlen, January 16]
Licom has appointed Yvonne Paulussen as Director of Secondment and Project Manager at the Licom Academy. Yvonne Paulussen is currently working as Head of Employment and Social Affairs with the municipality of Heerlen and starts...[more]
Top| Logistics and Infrastructure |
LIEGE & ANTWERP PARTNERS
[LOG: Liège, January 25]
The Port of Liège will be partnered by the Port of Antwerp and SPI+, the Liège development agency. A partnership agreement is scheduled for the coming month. The focus of this partnership is to be the new 100 hectare port location at...[more]
EWALS PLANNING ON THE WEB
[LOG: Genk, January 23]
Ewals Cargo Care, which provides integrated logistics services globally with major bases in Belgium Limburg and The Netherlands, is going to set up a digital platform to make its transport system for all its locations in Europe visible....[more]
CARGO ON ALBERT CANAL
[LOG: Liège, January 20]
Last year there was a drop in traffic on the Albert Canal, according to the notes of the management company, and the freight tonnage dropped for the first time since 1993. 2.8bn tons were carried over the Albert Canal and the adjacent...[more]
NEW EUREGIOBAHN SIGNAL BOX
[LOG/INFRA: Eupen, January 20]
One million euros is to be spent on a new signal box/tower for the cross-border rail link Euregiobahn. The location for this central facility will either be in Stolberg or Alsdorf. Switches and signals along the rails in the tri-country...[more]
DG’S TRAINSPORT ON THE RAILS
[LOG: Brussels, January 17]
Trainsport, a new rail company with its roots in Belgium’s German-speaking community (DG), is going to have its first freight trains on the rails between the Belgium harbors and Germany in the spring. Trainsport is going to share...[more]
IRON RHINE NOT REROUTED
[LOG: Weert/Neerpelt, January 16]
The Iron Rhine rail track that links Belgium to the German Ruhr area is not going to be routed via the Belgian towns of Neerpelt and Overpelt. The Flemish ministers of public works and spatial planning have also noted that measures...[more]
A73 MILLIONS CHEAPER
[INFRA: Roermond, January 16]
The Bam Infra construction company is going to build the last piece of the A73 highway for around EUR 38m. This means that total expenditure on the A73 highway is cheaper than expected, this has been confirmed by Hans Albersen,...[more]
LIEGE RING COMPLETE IN 2010
[LOG/INFRA: Liège, January 16]
Next year a start will be made on a connecting road between the E40 and E25 highways for a price of EUR 180m that will complete the ring around Liège in 2010. It is not a closed ring; traffic between Maastricht and Luxemburg can...[more]
Top
NEW BOSS FOR EJC MAASTRICHT
[EDU/MEDIA: Maastricht, January 27]
Wilfried Rütten is to succeed Raymonde Griswold as Director of the European Journalism Center in Maastricht (NL) - effective March 1, 2006. The new director is currently head of the School for Digital Television at the Salzburg...[more]
THIRTY YEARS OF MEUSE-RHINE
[GOV: Maastricht, January 27]
In the coming funding period from 2007 to 2013 the European Union and Meuse-Rhine will have to take important decisions. This was discussed by the Board of the Meuse-Rhine Foundation on January 25 in respect of the establishment...[more]
POPULATION OF HASSELT
[GOV: Hasselt, January 25]
The city of Hasselt has seen its population rise to 70,000. On December 31, 2005 the population grew to exactly 70,031. This has consequences for the municipal elections. The population can now elect two additional councilors. Hasselt...[more]
DUTCH-GERMAN ADVICE
[GOV: Aachen, January 23]
REGIO Aachen, the German agency that looks after information to cross-border workers agency, is holding meetings this year. The schedule is posted below:German-Dutch Pension consultation January 26
March 30
October 26
Eurode ...[more]
GENK PILOT PROJECT
[GOV/BIZ: Genk, January 20]
The City of Genk has started a pilot project to regulate construction projects. The owner of three large lots will have to work with an architect appointed by the City in developing the site. This will allow the City’s regulations...[more]
ELITE STATUS FOR AACHEN U
[EDU: Aachen, January 20]
The RWTH University in Aachen is the only university in North-Rhine Westphalia that has a good chance of receiving special funding as a German-designated elite university. In addition to Aachen, at the national level there are nine...[more]
MANAGEMENT: INTEGRATED VIEW
[EDU: Maastricht, January 18]
The Dutch course ‘Algemeen Management’ (General Management) is devoted to achieving an integrated view of management issues. Strategy and organization, logistics and ICT, financial management, and marketing and communication are...[more]
S-LIMBURG BRUSSELS OFFICE
[GOV: Sittard/Geleen, January 17]
Sittard-Geleen, Heerlen, and Maastricht, known as ‘Tripool’, want to get together with a couple of other medium-sized cities, such as Brabantstad, Arnhem-Nijmegen, and Netwerkstad Twente, and open an office in Brussels to lobby...[more]
FLOOD PROTECTION: EUR 2BN
[GOV: Maastricht, January 16]
The assessment of the Meuse River has produced a series of measures that will protect Limburg from flooding as a result of the expected rise of the water level by 20% from an increase in rain in the coming 20 years. The cost is...[more]
INCOMES LOW, PENSIONS HIGH
[GOV: Hasselt, January 16]
According to a report in Uw Vermogen, the average annual income for those in employment is EUR 20,811 in Flanders. There are important distinctions between the provinces. Flemish Brabant has the highest level at EUR 23,800 and Limburg...[more]
SELLING SALES EDUCATION
[EDU/BIZ: Liège, January 16]
A dozen job seekers being trained at the Institute for Sales have set up an interesting new operation, which is to convince other job seekers to follow the training program that they are following themselves. Part of their training...[more]
Top
DOUBLE BALLOON ENDOSCOPY
[LIFE-SCI: Heerlen, January 16]
The Atrium Medical Center in Heerlen and the Maasland Hospital in Sittard have purchased a double balloon endoscopy system. This allows an investigation of the small intestine; it can also be used to carry out minor operations....[more]
RENTIER BIOTECH FOUNDATION VP
[LIFE-SCI: Liège, January 16]
Bernard Rentier, the president of the University of Liège, has been re-elected Vice President of the European Foundation of Biotechnology (EFB). The EFB met in Barcelona on January 14 and elected its president and four vice-presidents...[more]
Top
ENERGY RESEARCH IN AACHEN
[SCI-TECH/EDU: Aachen/Düsseldorf, January 27]
Wilfried Goebels of the Aachener Zeitung writes that the University of Aachen and the Düsseldorf-based energy company E.ON have started the largest private-public project in the country. They want to develop a new...[more]
Top
REGITEL AT TEN
[SCI-TECH/BIZ: Maastricht, January 27]
The Limburg-based IT organization REGITEL, which was set up by LIOF in 1996, is going to celebrate its tenth anniversary with a symposium on February 2 at the Kasteelhoeve De Grote Hegge in Thorn. The results of a study...[more]
SHOPPING SUNDAY IN MAASTRICHT
[LEI/BIZ: Maastricht, January 26]
The first Sunday of the month is ‘Shopping Sunday’ in Maastricht and this falls on February 5. It also coincides with interesting developments in the Wyck carnival....[more]
THE TROCADERO AT 90
[LEI: Liège, January 22]
The Trocadero Liège, which turns out to be a delightful, small theater, comparable with the Bonbonnière in Maastricht, has held its 90th anniversary with a splendid review, including high-kicking young ladies, beautiful costumes, flowers,...[more]
O REX ORBIS
[LEI/EDU: Aachen, January 20]
‘O Rex Orbis: the ‘Rhymed Office of Charlemagne’, a liturgical work written 1,200 years ago to mark the canonization of Charlemagne, has been performed — for the first time for 200 years — in the cathedrals of Aachen and Liège by...[more]
ANNA KLOTH AT AVANTIS
[LEI/BIZ: Avantis, January 20]
There will be an exhibition of the work of the artist Anna Kloth from Heerlen on Friday, February 3, at 15:00, in the Centipedes building at the cross-border science and business park Avantis. Her work, known as the ‘Goddess of...[more]
A LECTURE IN THE MUSIC SHED
[LEI: Fouron le Comte, January 20]
Instead of music at the barn in Fouron le Comte on February 18 at 20.00 hrs there will be a lecture by Sister Claudia Theinert, its theme being ‘Friendship as a form of spirituality’. Sister Theinert was born in 1962 and entered...[more]
GERMAN AND JAPANESE ART
[LEI: Aachen, January 18]
A major exchange project within the Goethe Institute for Germany’s ‘Year of Culture: Germany in Japan 2005/2006’ will be holding its final show in Aachen after presentations in Tokyo and Yokohama in September 2005. The Aachen show runs...[more]
MARCEL BOREAS ONLINE
[MEDIA: Susteren, January 18]
Marcel Boreas, who can be heard on Radio Limburg 97 FM on Euroregional topics, is starting an online weekly Euroregional magazine called Euregio Compact to which those interested can subscribe at the following e-mail address: bormar@hetnet.nl...[more]
Top
You are receiving this newsletter because
we believe the contents will be of interest to you.
We endeavor to ensure that our information is correct but do not accept any liability for
errors or omissions. You may make copies for your personal use; but should acknowledge the
source whenever material is copied or published.
Contact us
If you have any relevant news to share or wish to send comments, please e-mail Stafford
Wadsworth, editor@meuse-rhine-journal.com
at Meuse-Rhine Journal
or send a fax to +(31)(0) 43-4098899.
WADSWORTH & WADSWORTH ASSOCIATES, CONSULTANTS
for web content, PR, business journalism, specialist translation, audio, video and live
presentations.
|
