Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Getting Their Irish Up

This Belgian wasn't waffling:

Federation of Enterprises in Belgium (VBO)...Chairman Jean-Claude Daoust said on Tuesday that the country could take a lesson from the Irish economic model.

....Between 1993 and 2000, the Irish economy had an average annual growth of 8 percent. The unemployment rate of 4.2 percent is exceptionally low and more than 1,200 foreign companies have set up business there. A young, highly-trained population, an active immigration policy, tax reductions and efforts to attract foreign investors are a number of the keys to this success, according to VBO chairman Daoust. ....

Daoust referred to a reduction in tax, among other points. In Ireland, corporate tax comes to just 12.5 percent; in Belgium this is 33.99 percent. The VBO argues for a reduction in tax to 25 percent, roughly the European average.

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