Gefinex Benelux SA has decided to invest Euro 3.71 million (USD 3.93 million) in new premises and new machinery. It concerns investments in a new warehouse of 4,200 square meters and a new factory hall that should be delivered by the end of May 2000. The investment comes from the company’s own resources, loans from banks and grants by the Walloon Region in the framework of Objective II (up to 30%). 80% of the total amount for the premises has already been invested over the past few months.

Gefinex Benelux, a subsidiary of the Swedish group Fagerdala World Foams, has been present at the Plenesses industrial park in the Province of Liege since April 1998. In the park, Gefinex’s main activity concerns working up polyethylene and polypropylene. The company is divided in two departments: Extrusion, representing about 70% of the turnover, and moulding, accounting for the other 30%. The first department produces insulating tubes and iron framed packaging material, as well as foam sheets, whereas the moulding department realises packaging products such as boxes for frozen food or for protecting computers during transport.

The company’s turnover has been growing enormously: It went from Euro 0.75 million (USD 0.79 million) two years ago to Euro 2.35 million (USD 3.55 million) last year and Euro 7.42 million (USD 7.86 million) this year. The number of employees has also increased from 31 to 40, while the expectation is that in two years time another 25 people will join the workforce.

For further information, please contact Mr Strasser, Managing Director, Gefinex Benelux SA, Tel: +32/87/32.50.70 and Fax: +32/87/32.50.71
 

Staples Inc. first company to operate from the Eupen Trade Centre

At the end of last year, the Prime Minister and the Council President of the German speaking Community in Liege laid the foundation stone for a new Trade Centre at the industrial park of Eupen. The Eupen Trade Centre covers 2.5 hectares and is located close to the Liege-Aachen motorway, only 35 Kilometres from Liege Airport. The project includes a 3-star hotel with 75 rooms, a restaurant and conference rooms; and also 7,000 square meters of office space and 5,000 square meters of space reserved for shops. According to the Council President, “The Province of Liege, within a 4 hour reach of 25% of the European spending power, is ideally situated for such a trade centre”.

The first company to operate from the site will be the American office material giant Staples Inc. From June 2000 onwards, Staples plans to run in there a call centre, employing 200 people and managing its operations in Europe. The company’s total investment will be Euro 3 million (USD 3.4 million). Staples’ headquarters are in Boston, US, and its annual sales amount up to Euro 6.6 billion (USD 7 billion). Worldwide, the group employs 44,000 people and owns more than 1,000 retail stores specialised in stationery that can be obtained in shops or through a catalogue. Staples has opted for Liege for various reasons and confirms that the International Relations Department of SPI+ and the Office for Foreign Investors of the Walloon region have played a decisive role in their choice. In particular, the multilinguism of the inhabitants of the German speaking community in the Province and the proximity to Germany have been important elements in their decision.

For further information, please contact Mrs Bonnie Monahan, Vice-President of Investor Relations, Staples Inc., Tel: +32/2/661.33.40 and E-Mail: bonnie.monahan@staples.com

Mölnlycke expands new service centre in co-operation with the FOREM

The Swedish company Mölnlycke Health Care is expanding its new international logistics centre at the industrial park of Waremme. From the logistics centre the company will not only co-ordinate its physical distribution (distribution centre) and supply organisation (forecast centre), but also all information on customer services throughout Europe (customer service centre). At the customer service centre Mölnlycke will bring together all its European customer activities, including orders, enquiries and complaints. The international customer service centre was set up in March 1999 and has been operational since May last year, first for the French market and later on also for the Benelux countries, Germany and Scandinavia. This spring, modules for Austria, Switzerland, Portugal and Spain will be added and in the summer services for the British market will be integrated.

In recruiting and training new people for its service centre, Mölnlycke has co-operated with the FOREM and the EURES, the Walloon respectively the European body responsible for employment and training. Mölnlycke has hired people from the Province of Liege and from other European countries and now has a workforce of 30 operators, consisting of 9 different nationalities and speaking 7 different languages. All the operators were trained locally at the Mölnlycke sales organisation, before being integrated in the company. The total new investment by Mölnlycke in the industrial park of Waremme, which is managed by SPI+, amounts to Euro 1 million (USD 1.06 million). The Swedish company has been based in Waremme since 1976 and specialises in the manufacture of sterilised disposable products. It now employs a total workforce of 230 in the Liege region.

For further information, please contact Mr Knodt, Director of the Logistics Centre, Mölnlycke Health Care, Tel: +32/19/32.92.69 and Fax: +32/19/32.93.26

SPI+ opens its doors

On 19 March 2000, SPI+ will organise an Open Day. The Economic and Development Agency for the Province of Liege will open its doors and answer all questions on the activities it undertakes for foreign investors. These activities range from advising on marketing issues and assisting businesses to actively participating with companies in trade fairs and also the management of 42 industrial parks. Today, the agency employs 99 advisors, spread over 3 departments and 24 units.

The strategy of SPI+ is based on 5 key issues: Development, information, real estate, image and social economy. Development includes all activities for promoting the regional assets, varying from seeking potential international investors by welcoming delegations and undertaking missions, to facilitating the creation of new companies. Information compasses managing databases of enterprises established in the SPI+ parks and creating facilities in the field of telecommunications, such as the Forum Telecom – an association of companies that are active in the field of telecommunications - and the European FASIL project to support the use of new Information and Communication Technology. As far as real estate is concerned, SPI+ is not only managing sites and constructing buildings for enterprises, but also supporting cities and municipalities with collective equipment for economic, social and tourist purposes. In terms of image, the agency has developed a public ‘Liege Online’ service and contributes to the ‘Forcing the future’ campaign that brings together the strengths of the region. And finally, SPI+ has set up a social economy task force to act on this new development. According to Joseph Moxhet, President of SPI+, “the agency now faces the challenge of building a programme to improve the quality of our services to investors and intensify consultation with the other regions of Wallonia”.

Economic growth in the Province of Liege

The economy in the Province of Liege and the Region of Wallonia is growing considerably. Last year, its Gross Regional Product (GRP) increased by 3%, which is more than the Belgian national average of 2.8%. Exports from the region increased by 8.2%, double the national growth. At the same time, unemployment fell by 5%. According to Xavier Desclée, Director of the Union of Walloon Enterprises (UWE), “This is mainly due to the transformation of the Walloon industrial framework over the past 10 years. Whereas traditional sectors have been modernised, new high-tech sectors have shown enormous growth”. Another factor that has contributed to the success is the so-called Future Contract of the Walloon Government, putting education and training at the service of businesses and therefore providing a strong signal to investors. And investors have not failed to notice the opportunities, given the fact that investment in the region has increased considerably as well. Over the past few months, an amount of Euro 1.43 billion (USD 1.51 billion) for investment has been announced, meaning 1,832 new jobs are in the process of being created.

For further information, please contact Mr Jean-Paul Dispas, SPI+, Tel: +32/4/230.11.84 and Fax: +32/4/230.11.30