Long before the European Union was dreamt up, Belgium and Luxembourg formed their own partnership, easing trade barriers and setting their currencies at a fixed parity. That the Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union was set up nearly a century ago, in 1922, speaks volumes for the countries' foresight about the benefits of working together.
Similar co-operation continues today, although each country has its own strengths that help them to prosper at the heart of the continent.
Belgium benefits from a strongly globalised economy and a well-developed transport infrastructure totally integrated with the rest of Europe. The location of the EU headquarters in Brussels adds to the perception that Belgium is at the centre of things. Surrounded by a heavily industrialised region, Belgium was the world's 13th-largest trading nation last year.
Factors such as a highly productive workforce, a GDP purchasing power parity of more than US$381 billion and a strong export sector - chiefly cars, food products, iron, steel, finished diamonds, textiles, plastics, petroleum products and non-ferrous metals - all serve to make Belgium one of the most successful countries in the EU. Its economy is extremely service-oriented and, as one of the founding members of the EU, Belgium strongly supports an open economy and extending the powers of the bloc's institutions to integrate its 27 economies.
Belgium's present success dates back to the early 19th century when it seized the chances offered by industrialisation. The cities of Liege and Charleroi swiftly expanded their mining and steelmaking operations, which flourished until well into the 20th century in the Sambre-Meuse valley.
In the years after the second world war, Ghent and Antwerp both developed their chemical and petroleum industries. More recently, the economic centre of the country has gradually shifted towards the coast, propelled in part by the success of the diamond industry in Flanders.
