The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: executive report Belgium and Flanders 2001

It is well-known that Belgium in general and Flanders in particular is a country or region where SMEs are the backbone of the economy. Flanders is therefore often thought of as a very entrepreneurial region. Yet, when looking at the proportion of adults that is actively trying to set up a company or business initiative - thus measuring the renewal of a region's economy - the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2000 has found that Belgium was not entrepreneurial compared to other countries worldwide.…

It is well-known that Belgium in general and Flanders in particular is a country or region where SMEs are the backbone of the economy. Flanders is therefore often thought of as a very entrepreneurial region. Yet, when looking at the proportion of adults that is actively trying to set up a company or business initiative - thus measuring the renewal of a region's economy - the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2000 has found that Belgium was not entrepreneurial compared to other countries worldwide. This is confirmed in 2001: of the 29 countries that participated in the research endeavor in 2001, Belgium was the least entrepreneurial. Flanders is even less entrepreneurial than Belgium on average , the Brussels region is more entrepreneurial than both Flandres and Wallonia, thereby increasing the Belgian average somewhat. This confirmation of last year's finding is alarming. Indeed, the very low number of business start-up initiatives today is likely to lead to slow economic growth in the future.