Research and Development in Belgium
The 2016 EU Industrial R&D Scoreboard contains economic financial data of the world’s top 2500 companies ranked by their investment in research and development (R&D). The scoreboard reflects that the EU is an attractive location for R&D investments.
Within the EU, Belgium has a strong reputation for R&D and innovation. This has shown to be primarily due to the high quality of its education, research facilities, the availability of skilled workers and numerous fiscal incentives for R&D ventures.
An example of a thriving R&D field in Belgium is the pharmaceutical sector. In 2016, the pharmaceutical industry invested €2.89 billion into R&D activities, which was an 11.6% increase from the previous year. The number of highly qualified researchers in this sector also increased to 4,500, which was a 5.5% increase from 2015.
The chemical, plastics and life science research industry is another industrial pillar of the Belgian economy, accounting for nearly one third of the total manufacturing value added. In 2015 the sector spent €3.6 billion on R&D and accounted for nearly 60% of R&D spending by all manufacturing companies.
Belgium offers a full range of tax incentives enabling companies to structure their R&D activities, as well as the valorization of the intellectual property resulting from R&D activities in a tax efficient way. If you would like to know more about the R&D tax incentive and how your business could potentially benefit, contact a Swanson Reed R&D tax advisor for an eligibility assessment. We look forward to speaking with you.
