The success of Belgium’s private-ownership-based modern economy is not just attributable to the nation’s geographic center. Even if fossil fuels are entirely foreign, the latter resulted in constructing a first-rate transportation infrastructure and a diverse economy and manufacturing sector. Furthermore, by 2025 Belgium will depend even more on imported energy due to its intentions to shut down all nuclear units. In light of this, Belgium’s status as a prominent European transportation hub is a massive advantage for the nation.
According to research by Global Database, the most well-known Belgian businesses had good profits in the past years. The local economy’s sectors, including banking, insurance, and the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, have also had significant business in the past years. To demonstrate their financial status and highlight some of the investment potentials for domestic and foreign businesses, here are some of the largest businesses in Belgium.
1. Anheuser Busch Inbev
Belgium is the home of beer, so it makes sense that it has the largest brewery in the world. In 2004, a Belgian beer firm and a Brazilian corporation joined forces to become Anheuser Busch Inbev, a multinational beverage and brewing company located in the United States and Latin America and a global headquarters in Leuven. According to Forbes, it is also the largest corporation in Belgium and the top company on the BEL 20.
2. Jan De Nul Group
Jan De Nul, the company’s founder, began as a modest contractor and accepted its first dredging job in 1951 before expanding its operations. It is the world’s most significant in the dredging, maritime services, and civil engineering industries. If it weren’t for constant innovation and investment in new technology, personnel, and businesses, it would not have grown to the size it is now.
3. Bekaert
Leo Leander Bekaert had the concept for the barbed wire business when he wanted to stop his cattle from roaming outside of their pastures and onto neighboring properties. Bekaert is a multinational business with its headquarters in Belgium that was established in 1880 and specialized in coating and transforming steel wire. It now employs about 30,000 people worldwide and operates in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, America, and Asia Pacific.
4. Option N.V.
It is a technological business with its headquarters in Leuven that specializes in wireless solutions and portable P.C.s. After creating several innovative new products that improved wireless communication capabilities and performance, it gained a solid reputation. It received the 2015 IoT Evolution Smart Machines Innovation Award for its most recent CloudGate Solution improvement, LuvitRed.
5. Proximus
Proximus offers digital services, communication, and ICT solutions in the Belgian and global markets. Their main goal is to help individuals live better lives and work more brilliant lives by opening up a world of digital opportunities. They achieve this by constructing the best open gigabit network, providing goods and services specifically for each client’s requirements. Serving as the trusted advisor to businesses and Belgian society as they undergo a digital transformation and contributing to a green and technological community.
6. Colruyt
Colruyt, A family-run food retailer with over 530 locations and almost 30,000 employees, Franz Colruyt NV, was founded in Belgium in 1928. Along with its flagship Colruyt supermarkets in Belgium and Luxembourg, which account for 60% of sales, it also generates 16% of sales through local shops, bio supermarkets, covered markets, family and seasonal stores, and other establishments operating under various banners. Foodservice and wholesale operations account for 18% of company sales. Owner of DATS 24 gas stations and a green energy firm that generates electricity from wind turbines, solar panels, and biomass, Colruyt also owns the DATS 24 gas stations.
7. Telenet
Liberty Global plc’s subsidiary Telenet Group Holding NV. Telenet Group Holding NV offers basic and upgraded video services to residential and commercial customers in Luxembourg and Belgium. In addition to high definition, pay television, and video-on-demand services, the company also provides broadband Internet access, voice, and data services for fixed and mobile phones, interconnection services, and value-added services, including hosting, managed security, and cloud computing.
Along with selling set-top boxes and mobile phones, the business also offers installation and activation services for its products. It had 1,762,000 basic and enhanced T.V. subscribers as of December 31, 2021, 1,725,700 broadband internet subscribers, 1,100,200 fixed-line telephony subscribers, and 2,950,200 mobile subscribers. The headquarters of Telenet Group Holding NV are in Mechelen, Belgium, where it was established in 1994.
Conclusion
Belgium is a small, diverse European nation. Despite its small size, it has a wealth of intellect, ingenuity, and business acumen, creating numerous businesses that dominate its markets and global trade.
Written by Bernard de Laguiche