This spring, the Province of Liege will be represented at the Bio-Congress in Boston together with its partners from the Meuse-Rhine Euregio. Organisations in three districts of this Euregio have developed biotechnology projects on the basis of a joint budget. It concerns organisations from the Province of Liege, the Province of Limburg in the Netherlands and the region of Aachen in Germany. The Meuse-Rhine Euregio regroups the whole of the Province of Liege and parts of regions from Flanders, The Netherlands and Germany, covering an area of more than 10,000 square Kilometres and 3,7 million inhabitants. The region is ideally situated with regards to large cities such as Amsterdam, Brussels, Cologne, Paris and Luxembourg and benefits by support from various funds. The joint biotechnology projects have been set up in this framework to encourage cross-fertilisation between industrial and academic research, and attract foreign investment to the region.

Growth places Liege Airport among the largest in Europe

Liege Airport has become the 12th largest airport in Europe in terms of freight. The number of companies making use of the Airport has grown consistently and in 1999 the quantity of freight increased by 26.7%. Around the Airport, an industrial park has been set up for companies working in the fields of transport, logistics and training. Express courier service TNT is responsible for 44% of the movements at Liege Airport, while the other 56% can be ascribed to ten other airport users, including CAL, Cargo Airlines and City Bird Cargo. TNT has at its disposal a fleet of 33 aeroplanes, flown by four aviation companies in Europe. The company employs almost 1,000 people in Belgium and expects to double its workforce in the 5 or 6 years to come. Liege Airport has connections with 46 countries and 176 other airports around the world and is planning to expand the length of its runways to welcome any kind of aircraft by 2002