Maxime Prévot, Wallonia’s Vice President and Minister of Public Works, Health, Social Services and Patrimony, discusses his ministry’s priorities. He highlights recent infrastructure projects which make Wallonia even more attractive as a business base.
European Times: What is Wallonia doing to keep its infrastructure up to date?
Maxime Prévot: Set in the heart of Europe and with its busy port at Antwerp, Wallonia, like Belgium in general, gets a lot of traffic and this creates challenges for our transport infrastructure. In addition our motorways are free. To cope with the challenges, we have instituted a toll, which will begin in April 2016, on heavy trucks using our motorways. Wallonia is also launching a new €320 million infrastructure-development plan which includes projects for our canals, on which around 40 million tonnes of goods are transported per year, as well as for our roads. Another key infrastructure initiative is Trilogiport, financed with €66 million in EU funds.
European Times: What are some of your recent healthcare projects?
Maxime Prévot: I am introducing new measures to help Wallonia take better care of its aging population, including new flexibility in funding for retirement homes. According to EU regulations, Wallonia must make budget cuts to balance its budget by 2018, and this means less funding for services for the aged. As our population ages, we need new retirement homes and upgrades for existing ones, and we need the private sector to get involved in this effort because regional and local governments do not have adequate financing to meet these needs. One current project of which I am very proud is a new agency for handicapped people and their families. Through this agency, Wallonia will distribute more funding for social programmes. We are also looking into autonomy insurance to help people cope with increasing life expectancy.
European Times: What is your ministry doing to help make Wallonia more attractive as an investment target?
Maxime Prévot: Our region needs to develop more hubs designed as the ideal base for companies as well as offering attractive options for investors. Trilogiport is one example. Dubai World will handle cargo in this port. Liege is currently expanding its airport to make room for more companies, and we need more value-adding developments near major road, rail and canal routes. We also need to simplify bureaucratic procedures to attract more investment and more companies. Wallonia is an excellent business base and is steadily adding to its advantages.
