Investing in Wallonia | Setting up a business| Business incentives
financial support for businesses
To promote the setting up and development of new companies and to stimulate economic activity, the Wallonia region offers a straightforward and attractive system of business incentives.
The exact scope of these grants
varies according to the strategic value of the project, with larger incentives if it is located in a development area.
investment GRANTS
WHICH AREAS ARE COVERED BY THESE INVESTMENT GRANTS?
These grants are awarded as a percentage of the qualifying investment amount, calculated on purchases of: - Buildings
- New equipment
- Intangible assets (patents, licences,
patented or non-patented technical knowledge)
- Vehicles
weighing more than 3.5 tonnes
(excluding transport sector)
INVESTMENT GRANT AMOUNTS
This assistance varies by company size :
 Besides the quantitative criteria, small or medium-
sized enterprises must also meet one of
the following conditions. It must be:
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a natural person acting as a merchant or practicing an independent profession, or an association of such persons; |
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or, among other things, an SPRL (private company with limited liability), an SA (public limited company), an SCRL (cooperative society with limited liability) or an economic interest group |
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or a cluster or spin-off. |
Juridical persons under public law and not for profit organizations are not eligible for these incentives.
CALCULATION OF INCENTIVES
small or medium-sized enterprises:
*Investment grant limited to 6.5% for transport sector
LARGE COMPANIES
 Within the legal framework applicable to large enterprises, the
calculation of the grant is the subject of concrete negotiations
between the Minister of the Economy and the company, focusing
particularly on the scale of the investment program, the significance of the activity for the region, job creation and the quality
of the jobs created, and the impact on the environment and the
economy. Based on these negotiations, the assistance provided
to the company may be as high as 20% (as at 1 January 2007).
For the transportation sector the maximum is 7.5%, not including
subsidies from the EU – which range from 15% in Liège to 30%
in Hainaut.
Depending
on location, the combined subsidy from both regional
and EU sources can amount to as much as
50% of the investment.
financial grants for R&D
 The Wallonia region offers a wide range of technical grants for investment projects:
SUBSIDIES FOR BASIC RESEARCH PROGRAMMES
The subsidy involves a direct grant
- of up to 70% of the subsidy for an SME
- of up to 50% of the subsidy for other companies |
The following criteria are taken into account:
- Innovatory nature of the project
- Scientific importance of the research and the application of its results
- Expected results and their importance for the Wallonia region
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RECOVERABLE ADVANCE FOR APPLIED RESEARCH PROGRAMMES
This involves a no-interest loan granted by the region to finance the research programme and the working capital of the company.
- Up to 70% of the subsidy for an SME
- Up to 50% of the subsidy for other companies |
The following criteria are taken into account:
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Innovatory nature of the project,
Finalisation stages of new products, processes or services,
The programme must result in a production operation being set up in the Wallonia region,
The advance is not reimbursed unless the research is successful. |
FIRST-ENTERPRISES PROGRAMMES
Criteria as follows:
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Research project in collaboration with a Wallonia university laboratory,
The researcher is less than 35 yrs and has not yet taken part in this type of programme,
A company may have a number of concurrent FIRST researchers on different research program, |
The objective of the FIRST programme to transfer technical expertise from the universities to local businesses.
| - The Region covers 80% of the researcher's salary over a period of 18 to 24 months. |
TAX REDUCTIONS
Companies that employ researchers on projects carried out in collaboration with recognized scientifi c institutions can benefit from a 50% reduction in the payroll taxes due for these researchers.
This can amount to between €8,000 and 10,000 per full-time researcher per year.
EXPORT grants
 The Foreign trade (Commerce Extérieur) office within AWEX also provides financial grants to Wallonia-based companies seeking to expand into the export market.
The agency has a network of over one hundred economic and commercial attachés based abroad who know the local markets and are in position to help with companies' export operations.
It also takes part in various tradeshows and professional events geared towards promoting exports.
For further information, please visit the AWEX website: http://awex.wallonie.be.
EMPLOYMENT GRANTS
FINANCIAL GRANTS PROVIDED BY THE WALLONIA REGION
Companies with fewer than ten employees can obtain a grant of
€5,000 for their fi rst new recruit, and €3,250 for every additional
job. Certain conditions apply, for example the company’s turnover
may not exceed €7 million and it must achieve net job creation
(additional staff in full-time equivalent terms). If the company
does not maintain the staff increase for two years following the
recruitment quarter, the grant is repayable in full.
INCENTIVES ASSOCIATED WITH EMPLOYING QUALIFIED STAFF
Management-level staff:
Some incentives are provided in the form of tax exemptions in return for the employment of management staff in the following areas: R&D, Exports and Quality assurance
EXPATRIATES
If expatriating qualified staff or management staff to their Belgian subsidiary, companies can request a very advantageous advance tax ruling.
This regime enables the following:
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To fix the deductible expatriation costs |
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To determine the expatriate worker's taxable base |
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This base will only include days actually worked in Belgium, days that are worked abroad for the benefit of the group are taxed in the expat's country of origin. |
STAFF ASSIGNED TO R&D
FIRST programmes are available for staff assigned to R&D activities (researchers) within the framework of a specific programme. This involves the company negotiating an agreement with a university institution and the Wallonia Region on the assignment of a researcher for a maximum period of two years, the cost of which will covered by a 50% subsidy.
TRAINING GRANTS
- The PFI training & recruitment plan
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The PFI training & recruitment plan was designed to enable
companies to recruit staff suited to their needs on advantageous
terms, while at the same time undertaking to train them in specific tasks within the company.
The company must maintain the
PFI for a period that is at least as long as the apprenticeship contract.
The period of training may not be less than four weeks or more
than 26, and the training program must be provided either in a
FOREM training center or within the company itself.
Practical
training is combined with am educational element.
The trainee continues to receive unemployment benefit during
the training contract. The company pays the trainee a (progressive)
incentive bonus equal to the difference between the wage
level of the trainee’s future vocation and his actual income (social inclusion allowance, social fi nancial assistance, unemployment benefi t, tide-over allowance, compensation allowance).
- Training Checks and Retraining Credits
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The Training Check, a form of financial aid for ongoing employee
training, cuts the cost of training by 50%. It is available to companies
with a maximum of 250 employees and turnover of no more
than €40 million.
Retraining Credits give companies a subsidy (of €6 – 10 per hour)
to cover part of the costs of training courses for at least three
employees leading to craft specialisms, qualifi cations or training
that comply with descriptions contained in current standard reference material. They must also involve retraining and promote mobility within the company.
PUblications
For more information, read ou factsheets about investment supports in the Wallonia region :
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