According to a German innovation indicator which uses 38 factors to measure a country's innovation capacity in different areas (economy, science, education, government and society), our country is ranked ahead of all its direct competitors for direct foreign investments.
This ranking is produced every year by a consortium of three research institutes: Fraunhofer ISI (systems and innovation research), ZEW (European economic research centre based in Germany) and MERIT Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology – University of Maastricht).
1/Switzerland (76 points) 2/ Singapore (65) 3/ Finland (60) 4/ Belgium (58) 5/ Sweden (56) 6/ Germany (56) 7/ Norway (54) 8/ Netherlands (53) 9/ Ireland (53) 10/ Great Britain (53) 11/ Taiwan (53) 12 Denmark (53) 13/ USA (52) 14/ Austria (51) 15/ Canada (51) 16/ Australia (51) 17/ France (50) 18/ South Korea (49) 19/ Israel (47) 20/ Japan (40)
Then come Czech Republic, Spain, Portugal, China, Hungary, Italy, Russia, Greece, Poland, South Africa, Indonesia, Turkey, India, Brazil and Mexico, the last of the 35 countries studied, with only 1 point.
Belgium is therefore ranked ahead of its main competitors for foreign investments (Germany, Netherlands, Great Britain and France way behind in 17th position) and ahead of the countries of North America (United States and Canada in 13th and 15th position respectively) and the countries of Asia (with the exception of Singapore, with a poor 40th position for Japan and 42nd for China).
The study explains Belgium's excellent 4th position by the large number of "hidden stars" in the small industrial sub-contracting market.
It also notes that the Belgian innovation system is "balanced", with neither major weaknesses nor exceptional performances.
The innovation indicator uses 38 sub-indicators to measure a country's innovation capacity in different areas (economy, science, education, government and society).
For those with an excellent knowledge of German who would like to consult the source: http://www.innovationsindikator.de/home.html