A clear vision for logistics excellence in Flanders

Its central location in the Blue Banana - the busiest region in the world - as well as a dense network of railroads, ports, airports and freeways make Flanders a logistics hub within Western Europe. Just look at our two most important economic poles: the Port of Antwerp Bruges and the national airport of Zaventem BAC.

This attractive location, combined with an excellent infrastructure, focus on innovation and competent and language-savvy employees, are important assets. At the same time, we must not close our eyes to numerous challenges, such as the continuing tightness in the labor market. In Germany alone - according to The Economist - there is a need for 100,000 truckers. Throughout Europe, there would be 425,000 vacancies to fill. Thousands of vacancies are open with us.

I hope we can find enough suitable personnel at home, with more filled vacancies across the language border. Wallonia will have to pursue a stronger activation policy. VDAB and Forem will have to set up an ambitious cooperation agreement for this with clear objectives. We must also look at the labor reserve: the number of people who are of working age but not currently employed. And don't forget our education system, which can motivate young people to roll up their sleeves in an exciting sector full of easily accessible jobs!

We are also stepping up our efforts in the area of business space. From my powers I make efforts to develop more (water-related) business space. Within the ENA consultation (Albert Canal Economic Network), I am a strong supporter of looking for additional sites. At my request, new zones will now also be examined.

The logistics sector is also leading the way toward a sustainable society. In Flanders, some 21% of all CO2 emissions come from mobility. Goods transport accounts for half of that. It is therefore important that we try to either shift those vehicle kilometers to more sustainable alternatives such as water and rail, or green them to more sustainable or even completely zero-emission trucks.

For example, I had all the bridges over the Albert Canal raised so that higher-stacked cargo ships could continue to enter the country. Now it comes down to making the most of this busy waterway and also maximizing business space along the canal. As for electric freight, I was able to see for myself at Daimler Truck's recent Journ.e event how truck manufacturers are setting their sights toward a sustainable future. I negotiated hard to get the mileage charge exemption for zero-emission trucks into the Flemish Energy and Climate Plan.

With the Flemish VIAVIA project - which stands for Freight Transport Intelligent Adaptation and Greening via an Integral Approach - we want to make road, water and air freight transport in our region more sustainable and achieve a modal shift towards water and rail. We are doing this with a Top Team (experts) and five Task Forces (experts with stakeholders and the sector), particularly Multimodal Corridors, Sustainable Urban Logistics, Green Inland Shipping, Greening Aviation and Zero-Emission Road Transport. Getting started!

Lydia Peeters
Flemish Minister of Mobility and Public Works