Belgium must address its loss of competitiveness, including in Biopharma

At the end of 2009, the Belgian Central Council of the Economy (the CEC) attracted attention to the country's loss of competitiveness in recent years vis-a-vis other European Union nations. In this context, the employers federation, the FEB, believes that the essential thing to focus on in 2010 is the competitiveness of companies, arguing that employment is paramount for the nation's prosperity, but new employment is only possible if Belgian companies are more competitive than their foreign competitors.

The CEC report foresees only one solution: to reinforce creativity, thus saving the country by stimulating innovation. Innovation and public-private partnership are essential to the development of the activities of R& D: 'That will require a culture of innovation, and this as well within the companies on the level of the public authorities and in the very whole company... Beyond the internal sources, innovation requires also an interaction increasingly larger with external sources of knowledge.'

40% of private research from biopharma