A recently research project conducted by the the Catholic University of Louvain (KUL) has demonstrated unmistakably the critical function played by Antwerp’s diamond segment in the economies of Belgium, the province of Flanders and the region of Antwerp. The results of the study project were released during a press seminar held in Antwerp last week.

The objective of the research assignment, which was carried out by Prof. Dr. Joep Konings and Stijn Vanormelingen, was to determine the economic significance of Antwerp’s diamond sector from the general outlook of the Belgian economy, and the more specific perspectives of the economies of Flanders and the Province of Antwerp.

It was perform against the background of the transformation of the Belgian diamond industry and trade, within the globalising world financial system. Among the results of the of the KUL research project were the following:
• The Antwerp diamond sector persists to be a significant generator of both direct and indirect employment in the regional economies, providing more than 34,000 jobs;

• The Antwerp diamond sector is a major resource of revenue for the nationwide economy, contributing about € 510 million of the added value generated by Belgium’s foreign trade;

• The Antwerp diamond segment is Belgium’s principal exporter to countries outside the European Community, claiming 14.3 percent of all non-EU exports;

• The Antwerp diamond segment contributed about 70% of Belgium’s constructive trade balance – €1,6 billion out of a total of € 2.3 billion.

“As the facts and figures accessible in this study demonstrate, it is not possible to underestimate the importance of the diamond business to the economies of Antwerp, Flanders and Belgium,” said Freddy J. Hanard, CEO of Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC). “From a countrywide economic perspective we are a sector of vital strategic significance, and our government consequently should do all that it can to ensure that we are provided an optimal environment in which we can consolidate and improve our position within the international diamond trade.”