BFW digitaal / RBF numérique 2021/06

Since 2016, the European Investment Bank Group (EIB) has conducted an annual survey on Investment and Investment Finance (EIBIS). This includes interviews with some 13,500 firms from the EU27 Member States, the UK and the US, of which around 480 are Belgian in 2020. The survey covers both SMEs and larger corporates in main economic sectors, offering qualitative and quantitative information about their investment activities, financing needs and the difficulties they face.

The EIBIS 2020 was conducted during the spring/early summer of 2020, right after the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of the pandemic on EU firms and elsewhere has been substantial, leading to large revenue losses and changes in investment strategies. Therefore, assessing business needs and setting priorities is crucial for a rapid and solid recovery of the EU.

In this context, the current note analyses and discusses the answers given by Belgian firms on their investment activities, such as objectives, obstacles, drivers, and financing conditions. These answers are compared with the responses of the other surveyed companies in the EU to identify areas for potential improvement and target setting for Belgium.

This article is based on the intervention of Hugues Bultot, founder & CEO of Univercells, during the panel discussion at the EIB – National Bank of Belgium Webinar “Investment for a sustainable recovery in Belgium” on 30 April 2021.

Today’s banks are healthier and more solid than they were a decade ago. Sustainability and transparency are top priorities and the focus lies on the traditional core task of converting savings into loans. As a result, the banking sector was able to play its full role in society during the corona crisis. Companies, consumers, and individuals experiencing financial difficulties could count on postponing the repayment of their loans. A state guarantee scheme for enterprise loans totalling €10 billion was developed as well. In addition, regular credit production for companies was maintained. However, this does not mean that the other challenges – such as the increasing digital transformation of society and therefore also of the financial sector – have disappeared. On the contrary, they too remain at the top of the priority list.