On March 4th, policymakers, entrepreneurs and tech players gathered in the Arena of the Wintercircus. Not for a networking event, but to deliver a clear message: Belgium has the talent, the knowledge and the entrepreneurial spirit — but lacks a coherent plan to turn that potential into reality.
Wintercircus and Voka Oost-Vlaanderen took the lead, bringing together the Prime Minister, two federal ministers and the country's strongest founders. Together, they issued a call to action: make technology a structural lever for productivity, growth and societal progress — and finally give Belgium's scale-ups the wings they deserve.
Prime Minister Bart De Wever outlined the challenges and opportunities for the Belgian and European tech sector in his speech. From the missed opportunity with the self-driving car to the need for a genuine European capital market, and the role entrepreneurs play in all of this.
Belgium has strong knowledge institutions, excellent research and thriving entrepreneurship. What it lacks is a clear and coherent plan.
That is why Wintercircus and Voka Oost-Vlaanderen formulated nine concrete policy priorities, grouped around three pillars.
🚀 Make Belgium a hotspot for international tech talent
Accelerate and simplify single permits, introduce a Belgian Tech Visa and strengthen onboarding through international houses. At the same time, address the low retention rates of international students and workers.
🚀 Make equity compensation competitive and simplify the entrepreneurial framework
Reform stock options and warrants with a taxation moment at exercise rather than at grant. Stabilise innovation-driven tax measures (R&D, copyright) and implement structural administrative simplification through the once-only principle.
🚀 Activate and bundle growth capital through a stable investment framework
Redefine the role of public investment vehicles such as PMV as co-investor and lever for private capital. Build an attractive and predictable investment framework, modelled on a contemporary Cooremans–De Clercq act, to mobilise long-term growth capital.
⚡️ Open public procurement to innovation and start-ups
Make innovation-driven procurement the norm and ensure that start- and scale-ups can effectively compete through proportionate selection criteria and room for experimentation.
⚡️ Deploy digitalisation and AI as productivity levers in public sectors
In education, healthcare and other major public domains, targeted digitalisation can simultaneously boost productivity and create fiscal headroom through a reallocation of existing resources.
⚡️ Build strategic AI and digital infrastructure through public-private partnerships
Strengthen access to computing power, data and cloud in a European context through PPP models that mobilise private investment and strengthen markets.
⚙️ Choose technological focus areas where Belgium can make its mark
Focus on domains with growth potential and existing strengths, such as agentic AI, photonics, mechatronics, quantum and cyber technology, and Belgium's strong clusters in biotech and healthtech.
⚙️ Use Europe as a scale and capital market
Accelerate access to the European single market, support the 28th regime / EU-Inc. and contribute to an integrated European capital market.
⚙️ Ensure clear governance and accountability
Appoint a tech commissioner with a mandate that transcends the various policy levels and reports directly to the Prime Minister and the relevant ministers.
You're young and the world is your oyster. You still have your whole future right in front of you. But what if that future depends on choices being made today?
Read why a Belgian tech strategy is not a luxury, but a necessity.