Made in Belgium
How did David manage to defeat Goliath? Not because he was the biggest, but because he realised he had to play the game differently. A small country like Belgium can make its economy stronger by using David’s strategy. Underdogs win much more often than you would think and they do this mainly by experimenting with a different approach.
No-one doubts that things must be done differently. There are plenty of examples. It’s time for a different way of thinking, another way of doing business. But how? As Stijn Meuris put it in the daily 'De Morgen' of 29 October: “Depending on a handful of large companies in a region is not wise in socio-economic terms. And certainly not in this day and age. We must move forwards. Because going backward is not an option and standing still is a nightmare.”
By putting the emphasis even more on local businesses – read: companies with a decision centre in Belgium -, we increase our strength and future perspectives for this country. By investing locally, we feed our economy with taxes and social contributions, we finance a significant part of the public debt and help improve infrastructure and stimulate growth and development. And we are not only thinking of investment in the larger listed Belgian companies, but of a future with many small, medium-sized and large companies that are run by local people.
By continuing to invest in high-quality training, we will produce skilled people who will make our local businesses in industry and the service sector grow and become successful even on a global level. International expansion means they can put their experience and linguistic expertise to good use in branches abroad. Employment in our own BEL20 companies continues to increase and also generates additional employment in suppliers' companies. We mustn’t forget this.
In the service sector we can also develop competencies that are not "easy to move". The requirements of customers in the field of insurance differ from country to country. Ageas is active in 12 countries in Europe and Asia and in each country makes use of local contacts and local know-how to take better advantage of the practices and traditions of each specific market. The distribution network differs from country to country so that sales can be targeted even better. Language and even brand are local matters. There is a small number of tasks that could be contracted out, such as IT or accounting, but in the service sector the advantages this would generate generally do not outweigh being close to your customer and having the ability to react quickly. This approach can, of course, also be extended to other sectors such as the care for old age pensioners. Because of the ageing population, the demand for employment will only increase and will certainly not be limited to a few highly trained professionals.
For each employer, each company, each sector and each economy, nothing is ever won for ever. Ageas is a good example. The group was formed 188 years ago (before Belgium even existed) as the insurance company “AG” and over the course of the years both the core activity and the area of operation underwent a real metamorphosis. We ran into difficulties for the first time in 2008. A new way of thinking and acting was called for to regenerate ourselves to where we are now: the main insurance group of the BEL20 with a decision centre in Belgium, more than 13,000 employees worldwide and 15,000 more via local partnerships.
In short, focussing more on our own Belgian companies (small, medium-sized ánd large) must result in strategic decisions on the Belgian economy also being taken in Belgium. Belgium is not just a passive subject of the decision-making process.
Bart De Smet, CEO Ageas