BIG BUSINESS GOES WALLOON

[BIZ: Liège, February 18]
Large companies are interested in the Walloon country. Both Google and Microsoft are setting up there, and there is also interest from the pharmaceutical industry. Wyeth, recently taken over by Pfizer, is going to set up a new building, but it’s not the only one. GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals invests EUR 50–100m annually in the Walloon country, and has a new research and production center in North Waver. The developer and market leader in fusion equipment, Baxter, is also active in Wallonia, and it has set up a new research center in Eigenbrakel. This means that the pharmaceutical industry is the biggest investor in the Walloon country, having invested at least EUR 469m in the area.

Other major sectors are the paper sector, with EUR 768m invested between 2000 and 2008 and the metalworking sector with EUR 617m. Many of the investors come from the United States. The Americans invested EUR 1.15bn between 2000 and 2008, according to broad estimates.

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