Daikin Europe crowned as best foreign investor in Flanders

On Tuesday evening, Daikin Europe won the “Foreign Investment of the Year Trophy 2022”, the award for the best foreign investment in Flanders last year. The winner was announced by organiser Flanders Investment & Trade (FIT), the Flemish agency for international business. The award, which saw its tenth edition this year, was presented by Flemish government leader Jan Jambon.

The European branch of Japanese air conditioning manufacturer Daikin was in the running for the trophy along with Dutch potato processing company Aviko, French supermarket chain Carrefour and Swedish car manufacturer Volvo Cars. Three rounds of voting - by the online public, a professional jury and those present at the award ceremony - determined the outcome.

Daikin Europe won the trophy for its project in Tech Lane Ghent Science Park, where the company is investing 140 million euros in a new innovation hub. Construction should be completed by 2024 and the project will create 135 extra jobs, says FIT. The center will play a key role in Daikin’s innovation and sustainability strategy, focusing on heat pumps, cooling technologies for a sustainable cold chain and IoT applications for smart energy use.

“The fact that the company will focus on innovation for smart energy use here demonstrates a clear vision for the future for both the sector and our society”, says minister-president Jambon. “The potential of technology as an answer to socio-economic challenges is indisputable, and Flanders has been working on this for years.”

“The fact that the company will focus on innovation for smart energy use here demonstrates a clear vision for the future for both the sector and our society”

Claire Tillekaerts, managing director of FIT, adds that Daikin Europe is “anchoring itself ever more strongly in Flanders’ ecosystem for research and innovation”. “For example, the new Ghent site will serve as a global knowledge centre for the entire Daikin group and work closely with local innovation partners such as Ghent University and strategic research centre Flanders Make.”

Two other foreign companies were honoured on Tuesday evening. Agricultural machinery manufacturer CNH Industrial was awarded the “Lifetime Achievement Trophy 2022” for its decades of involvement in Zedelgem and Antwerp. Legend Biotech received the “Newcomer of the Year Trophy 2022” because the US-based biotech company chose Ghent as the home of its very first production site on European soil.

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