Unique Investment Opportunity in Antwerp Port

 

A unique, particularly attractive investment location of 96 hectares has become available in the port of Antwerp, the second largest port in Europe. The site in the heart of the European Union is particularly suitable for industrial development. The zone offers a number of intrinsic advantages including trimodal access and an existing area of ready-to-use buildings.

These are amplified by the environment in which the site is embedded: a port that functions as the gateway to Europe, where every investment is leveraged by the presence of a highly integrated chemical cluster and a wide range of logistics and value-added services. No other port in North-West Europe is currently able to offer such an industrial investment opportunity.

Churchill Industrial Zone

This zone has a total area of more than 950,000 m², making it possible for a new investor to erect new buildings or build new industrial facilities. On the site there are buildings with a total floor area of 341,000 m² including a former assembly hall, warehouses, an administrative building and a press shop. A rigorous inspection has revealed that most of the buildings are in reasonable condition. It is up to the future investor to decide whether to keep the buildings or to demolish part or all of them.

The site has good connections with all major European cities, thanks to an extensive multimodal transport network. It is located beside deepsea docks, has its own rail connection and is connected to a dense road network.

Advantages of the port of Antwerp

The port of Antwerp has developed in recent decades into an exceptional maritime, logistics and industrial platform in a region that forms the ideal basis for developing economic activity: the port occupies a unique location within Europe, with centres of consumption and production in the immediate vicinity while also being close to the European decision-making centres in Brussels and Strasbourg. Antwerp is able to offer significant advantages in various other respects: it is one of the most important hubs for container freight (8.6 million TEU in 2013), and is also one of the leading breakbulk ports in Europe. The volume of liquid bulk is also growing rapidly: in 2013 this segment expanded by more than 30% to around 60 million tonnes. Finally, the port of Antwerp plays a crucial role in imports, exports and shipping of raw materials. In the industrial field too the port of Antwerp is a major player, being home to the largest integrated chemical cluster in Europe. Finally, Antwerp can call upon its strongly developed logistics function, with an exceptional range of storage facilities, added-value logistics and distribution solutions.

Antwerp Port Authority plays an active role as port landlord and facilitator, working to create and augment the added value offered by the port environment and thus also to expand employment, by attracting targeted investments. As such it is keen to take full advantage of the historic opportunity afforded by the Churchill Industrial Zone to attract high-quality investments. In particular it wishes to avoid a piecemeal approach with the site being broken into different concessions, as this would negate its exceptional value.

Advantages of Flanders and Belgium as an investment location

The Flanders region, located in the heart of Europe, has much to offer investors. The reasons why it forms the ideal basis for developing economic activities are as varied as the industrial sector itself. It is also a capital-rich region with a per capita GDP among the highest in the world, and its economy regularly performs better than the average for the euro zone in terms of growth and economic indicators.

An attractive region in a stable, market-oriented economy. The region has two primary economic functions. As one of the first industrial countries in Europe it has a strong manufacturing basis, but it has also developed towards an economy based on technology and services. The second most important function is the openness of the Belgian and Flemish economy, thanks to their geographical location and the vital importance of foreign trade.

A central location in the heart of Europe, with excellent infrastructure. Flanders has the densest network of roads and highways in Europe, as well as extensive rail and waterway networks, together offering maximum connectivity to the rest of Europe.

Belgium also has the highest concentration of distribution centres in the continent, making it “the stockroom of Europe.” Strong focus on innovation and R&D. Flanders offers companies a knowledge-based economy with a highly-trained, innovation-friendly workforce. Over the past few decades its dense network of universities has been supplemented with market-oriented strategic research centres.

Easy access to a large pool of trained employees. Flanders is known for its highly-educated, multilingual, productive labour force. A comparative study carried out by the American Bureau of Labor Statistics confirms Belgium’s leading position in terms of productivity of labour.

Subsidies and tax breaks. The Belgian federal government and Flemish regional government both offer various investment incentives for companies with sites in Flanders. These range from investment support measures to tax breaks and support for employment, training and R&D. In particular the Flemish government is prepared to lend its full support to any initiative that gives a new future to the Churchill Industrial Zone.

To help potential investors find their way around government regulations, taxation, employment rules and all other matters, Antwerp Port Authority and Flanders Investment & Trade have set up a “one-stop-shop” where investors can call upon a Single Point Of Contact (SPOC) for all their questions.

Request For Proposals

Antwerp Port Authority in collaboration with FIT will launch an international promotion campaign to highlight this unique investment opportunity in the world market. For this purpose a RFP has been drawn up in which interested parties will find a full summary of the advantages offered by the port and by the zone itself, the local Customs facilities and a description of the subsidies and tax breaks offered by the Flemish and Belgian governments. Candidates have until 15 January 2015 to submit their proposals to Antwerp Port Authority. For the evaluation of applications, the following elements will be taken into consideration: added value, employment, technological innovation, anchoring, cluster reinforcement, spatial productivity, etc.

After selection of the most valuable candidate, the Port Authority will draft a concession agreement.

More information on the RFP together with the advantages offered by the port of Antwerp can be found at the following link: http://www.portofantwerp.com/en/churchill-industrial-zone