💼 Why Belgium
Brussels is, quite literally, the de facto capital of the European Union — home to the European Commission, the Council of the EU, and a large share of the European Parliament's activity — and NATO's headquarters sits in the same city. That single fact shapes Belgium's entire economy: an unusually international workforce, a dense concentration of law firms, lobbying groups and diplomatic missions, and a trade-dependent economy anchored in pharmaceuticals, chemicals and logistics that punches well above the country's 11.7 million population.
🏦 Euronext Brussels and the BEL 20
Founded in 1801 by decree of Napoleon Bonaparte, Euronext Brussels is one of Europe's oldest exchanges and has been part of the pan-European Euronext group (alongside Amsterdam, Paris, Lisbon, Dublin and Milan) since 2000. Its benchmark BEL 20 index tracks the 20 largest and most liquid Brussels-listed companies, reviewed and rebalanced annually. The index runs notably concentrated: the top two constituents alone account for close to 40% of total market capitalisation, reflecting Belgium's outsized global weight in a small number of specific sectors.
🏢 The Titans
🍺 AB InBev KWS 9.2
Headquartered in Leuven; the world's largest brewer, controlling roughly a quarter of the global beer market.
🏦 KBC Group KWS 8.7
Belgian bank-insurer with major operations across Central and Eastern Europe, including Bulgaria and Czechia.
💊 UCB KWS 8.6
Brussels biopharma founded 1928, focused on epilepsy, Parkinson's and immunology treatments.
⚗️ Solvay KWS 8.4
Chemicals pioneer founded 1863; still headquartered in Brussels after more than 160 years.
🧾 Setting Up Shop
Belgium's federal structure genuinely complicates business setup in a way few other small European countries do: company registration is federal, but employment authorisation and many labour-market rules are handled separately by whichever of the three regions — Flanders, Wallonia or Brussels-Capital — your business operates in, each with its own thresholds and shortage-occupation lists. A BV/SRL (private limited company) is the standard structure for most incorporated businesses. On the upside, Belgium's Belgian Inbound Special tax Regime (BISR) offers a genuinely favourable package for qualifying incoming executives and specialists, with a tax-free allowance now reaching 35% of salary for costs specifically tied to relocation.
✍️ The Kaufmann Bottom Line
Belgium's pitch is proximity to power: nowhere else puts a business closer to EU and NATO decision-making, and the pharmaceutical, chemical and financial sectors that have grown up around that proximity are genuinely world-class. The trade-off is real administrative complexity from the federal-regional split — budget extra time and a good local advisor for anything beyond the simplest setup.
