How do we export ourselves out of the crisis?

But with one in three jobs depending on foreign trade, we will also have to export our way out of this crisis above all else. How? A vaccine passport is part of the puzzle.

As much as 30% of our economic activity and employment depends directly and indirectly on foreign trade. Simply put: we make most of our money abroad. But because of the corona crisis and the brexit, our international engine is sputtering. A survey by Voka shows that Flemish companies remain some 10% below normal export levels, and certainly many smaller companies are firmly affected. That figure then does not include the international ambitions of many of our start-ups and scale-ups, which the corona crisis is now putting the handbrake on.

International travel is important for the construction, logistics, dredging, engineering and a host of other sectors in Flanders. And it also remains crucial to establish international business contacts, attract foreign investors, and thus build a network beyond the national borders. Also for the export of services by the way, where Flanders still has a lot of growth potential. Trade in services was already growing 60% faster than trade in goods before the corona crisis, and that percentage will probably only increase. Just think of telecommunications, IT and technical services, sectors that are doing particularly well in this crisis. 

A normalization of foreign travel at the European level is therefore extremely important for the relaunch. They have already understood this in Scandinavia: Denmark and Sweden are already working on the vaccine passport to make this possible. Belgium, too, should cooperate fully on such a passport. A digital vaccine passport that is at least recognized within the EU, and possibly linked to the Belgian corona app, should allow for smoother travel across borders without the enormous hassle of negative testing and quarantine obligations that many countries now impose. The smoother the access to foreign markets, the smoother the Flemish relaunch will be.

We realize that such a vaccine passport is not the holy grail. The efficacy rate of vaccines is still not clear, and we should be wary of a false sense of security. But it is part of the puzzle. Further scaling up testing capacity also remains essential so that employees of internationally active companies can be tested very quickly and easily, and get their results. This information should be linked to the vaccine passport. In addition, precautions still need to be taken during foreign visits in order to prevent the virus from spreading and mutating rapidly with all its consequences.

The Flemish recovery will be a puzzle of investment, reform and export, in which many pieces will have to fall together. What is certain is that the overall picture must yield strong companies in Flanders, because they are the engine to continue and eventually grow again.