TNT is now installed at Liège Airport, Bierset, and has created over 700 jobs. Until March the European hub of TNT Express Worldwide was in Cologne, but the firm wishing to decentralise its activities has now established itself in Liège. 38 Staff members have moved from Cologne, but all other jobs will be filled up by people from the Province of Liège, 70% of whom were previously unemployed.

The new hub involved an investment of 2 billion Belgian Francs. It provides the most modern distribution centre of Europe with 42,000 square meters and the capacity to sort 50,000 packages per hour. The yearly transit via Bierset is estimated at 42 million dispatches. At the moment the fleet consists of 26 up-to-date planes and 60 lorries. By 2002 TNT plans to have 32 planes and 80 lorries at the airport. According to Mr Terzakis, Senior Manager Network Operation of TNT, "Liège has been chosen because of its excellent situation at the centre of Europe with good road, rail and airport infrastructure and mostly because of its expansion possibilities."

TNT originates from Australia and is now a subsidiary of the Dutch post consortium PTT Post. It is established in 200 countries with over 50.000 employees and handles around 2 million dispatches each week.

New rail service from Le Havre to Liège

The Euro-Combi-East container terminal, situated at the Liège port of Renory has opened a new railway connection with the major French port of Le Havre. The railway connection will start with three trains a week and has been jointly launched by the Belgian railway association TRW and the French combined transport operator Novatrans.

The shuttle will allow a progressive increase in goods traffic towards Liège-Renory. Industrial trade, chemicals and petrochemicals transported by trailers, swap bodies, mobile cases and containers will arrive at the ECE terminal in Liège from industrial platforms on the Low-Seine area, situated between Le Havre and Notre Dame de Gravenchon, in France.

According to Mr Graillot, General Director of the port at Le Havre, "The choice of Liège is based on the excellent equipment at the site and on the dynamic growth of ECE. Renory has the best connections between the Low-Seine area in France, the Benelux and the Rhine area in Germany. The terminal of Renory has had direct railway connections to Italy for over two years and operates two river-shuttles a week to Rotterdam and Antwerp. Today, on this busy route occupancy has never been less than 75%."

The service will run the following time-table: Renory-Le Havre on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Le Havre-Renory on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Inquiries about the new rail service can be made at the operation centre of the ECE terminal in Renory on telephone number +32.4/243.54.11.

Liège is ready for the Euro 

The city of Liège is ready for the Euro, the future single European currency. From now on inhabitants of Liège will find the equivalent in Euro alongside the Belgian Franc on every receipt and invoice from the city. The inclusion of the Euro is designed to prepare the people and businesses of Liège for the coming of the European currency in the next century.
 

Building business networks 

The Liège Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently organised a three day forum for businessman with a special focus on trade for SMEs. The three day conference in March featured experienced professionals and officials from the city of Liège who shared ideas with local businesses. The forum successfully dealt with the practice of trade in the region of Liège, based on the experience of these professionals.

The forum, called Vade Me Com'98, dealt with issues such as the concrete consequences for sales from the introduction of the Euro, the evolution of purchase behaviour, generalisation of multi-service cards or new client mobility in Liège. But one could also get information on different aspects of establishing a company, such as regulations, financing, social statute, location and purchase. Vade Me Com '98 has contributed to better understanding of services available for the local companies and to the development of business networks at international level.

If you missed the forum you can dial telephone number +32.4/344.22.02 for information on the issues dealt with at the forum