Benelux: A preferred investment base for worldwide investments (English)

By Carola van den Bruinhorst and Thierry Lohest

Loyens & Loeff

The Benelux comprises three founding fathers of the EU, namely Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. These countries are located in the centre of Europe, adjacent to France and Germany. In spite of its geographical tiny territory with only 74,102 km2, the Benelux is one of the most commercially active regions in Europe with one of the highest levels of per capita income in the world. It is also one of the most popular regions of Europe for foreign direct investment, due in part to good infrastructure, transportation and logistics facilities, a highly qualified workforce, good language capacities, well known financial services, advanced technologies and R&D facilities. Furthermore, because of their large networks of bilateral investment treaties and tax treaties, in addition to beneficial local tax regimes, the Benelux countries are among the most popular hubs for foreign direct investment all over the world. And they are frequently used as holding locations, both by well known multinational corporations and by Chinese corporations investing and doing business abroad. For similar reasons, the Benelux is also a well known location for investment funds.