Our country has gained one more place in the "World Economic Forum" rankings. From the positive point of view: healthcare, basic education.

Despite the crisis, Belgium is retaining its competitive ability, to a certain extent remaining ahead of the foreign competition and is still attractive mainly in the eyes of investors.

According to the annual "Global competitiveness report 2009-2010" ranking published by the "World Economic Forum", our country has become the 18th "most competitive economy in the world". This represents a degree of progress for the second consecutive year, after having been ranked 19th in 2008 and 20th in 2007 and 2006.

Belgium owes this eighteenth place above all to the "excellence of its healthcare and its basic education" (3rd in the world), which will certainly be appreciated in certain milieu and commented on.

As a financial centre, Belgium also has assets it can highlight: in one year it moved from 17th to 13th place in the rankings.

Three main elements explain its resilience as a financial centre.
One: Belgium is an open economy. This is also true for the financial sector where foreign investors encounter little hindrance or constraint.
Two: the retail banking network in Belgium is one of the densest in the world. Even in small towns, customers often have a choice between several bank branches.
Finally, three: human capital in the Belgian banks is high. Put another way, there is a high quality workforce. This is also true for all sectors in the Belgian economy.

The competitiveness report is based on a survey carried out between January and May 2009 among 13,000 businessmen in 133 countries.

Link to:
The Global Competitiveness Index 2009–2010 rankings and 2008–2009 comparisons
The Financial Development Index 2009 ranking