FIT succeeds in attracting 110 foreign investors in the aftermath of Brexit

Flanders Investment and Trade (FIT) has convinced 110 foreign companies that had doubts about investment plans in Great Britain in the aftermath of Brexit to invest in Flanders. This is good for a total investment amount of EUR 2.5 billion and 3,524 extra jobs. Moreover, the number of jobs lost at Flemish companies as a direct result of Brexit in recent years is lower than initially feared. This can be seen from the figures that Flemish MP Cathy Coudyser requested from Flemish Minister-President Jan Jambon. “The impact of Brexit is better than expected. Flanders was well prepared with additional measures, communication and the reinforcement of the FIT office in London. We are now reaping the rewards of that.”

To increase the resilience of our Flemish companies against the consequences of Brexit, the Flemish Government launched a Brexit Action Plan in November 2018.

“One of the four pillars of this action plan is a proactive investment strategy with foreign investors. The Flemish export agency Flanders Investment and Trade, FIT, is using the uncertain investment climate in the United Kingdom to highlight even more strongly the assets of our own region,” Coudyser says. “Successfully, because today, FIT has succeeded in bringing 110 foreign investment projects to Flanders.”

The impact of Brexit is less than expected

It was feared beforehand that the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union would greatly affect the Flemish economy, with a potential loss of 28,000 jobs. The actual figures on employment and job creation in Flanders in the period 2019-2021 suggest that the net impact of Brexit is less than feared. “Although the separate impact of Brexit is difficult to determine due to the interaction with the coronavirus pandemic, the figures show that affected Flemish companies have succeeded in entering new markets to compensate for the loss of sales on the British market,” Cathy Coudyser concludes.