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90 day hit totals 22,155
BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY
DSM'S FIGURES FOR 2001
[BIZ: Heerlen, February 14]
DSM’s net profit for the fourth quarter of 2001 was EUR
1,031 million, compared with EUR 119 million in the fourth quarter of
2000. This increase is mainly attributable to
the sale of the depositary receipts of Energie Beheer Nederland.
DSM posted a profit on ordinary activities after taxation of EUR 56
million for the fourth quarter of 2001. This is 50% lower than the profit
for the fourth quarter of 2000, which was EUR 111 million.
For the
full year 2001, DSM's
net profit was EUR 1,415 million, an increase of
144% compared with 2000 (EUR 580 million). This
increase mainly related to book profits on the sale of Energie Beheer
Nederland and DSM Engineering Plastic Products.
DSM’s profit on ordinary activities after taxation was EUR 369 million,
down 35% on 2000 (EUR 571 million).
A recent report by Dagblad de Limburger pointed to the
Düsseldorf-based chemicals company DEGUSSA as a likely candidate for a
merger with DSM following the failed attempt of the company to take over
the French company RHODIA.
http://www.dsm.com
YELLOW
CARD BLUES
[BIZ: Maastricht, February 7]
To mark the 10th anniversary of the Treaty of Maastricht, the European
Central Bank held a special meeting at the Government House in Maastricht.
The ensuing press conference was dominated by the succession issue. The
director, Wim Duisenberg, had stated his intention to resign in 2003.
Symbolically the start of the press conference was disrupted by the
inability of the organizers to cut the voice over of the French
interpreter whose voice overrode that of the actual speaker via the sound
system. Of course, one of the big issues is whether Duisenberg will be
succeeded by Jean Claude Trichet, who is apparently well liked and also
entirely familiar with the Anglo-Saxon way of doing business - still so
called, despite the hostile French take-over in 1066. His involvement as
the French government's statutory member of the board of Crédit Lyonnais
(involved in dodgy loans) is the only black mark on his report. The main
issue of the ECB meeting was referred to in largely metaphorical terms.
Would Germany be getting a yellow card or 'blauwe brief' because
government spending is virtually certain to exceed tax revenues by more
than 3 percent, the limit set by the Solidarity Pact? Incidentally, what
this means in concrete terms is that Germany could be fined half a percent
of its GNP. Assuming that the GNP is close to USD 2 trillion, this would
mean a fine of USD 10bn.
http://www.webcontentnow.com
COMMON
CURRENCY IN MEUSE-RHINE
[BIZ: Maastricht, February 6]
Maastricht University's Eurecom, which focuses on economic research in
Meuse-Rhine, published a volume, edited by Professor Hans Maks, entitled
'One money one EUregion' to mark the 10th anniversary of the Treaty of
Maastricht. The book covers cross border shopping, a labor market without
borders, cross border employment, police co-operation and neighborliness
on the planning front. The conclusions are that the retail market is
likely to benefit as long as the cities promote their town center
products. There could not yet be any question of an integrated labor
market, among other reasons, because of the barriers erected by
unharmonized tax systems. Police co-operation exists but is not regarded
as optimal and neighborliness on the environmental and planning front is
also impeded by conflicting areas of legal competence. A concluding
proposal was for a strong Dutch-Limburg lobby in the Hague, where Limburg
currently seems to exercise very little influence. Incidentally, Liège did
not come off too well in the retail comparisons, where Aachen seemed to
provide the best bargains on the heavy duty front. My own personal
experience was to note in passing that a quarter liter bottle of Il
Trappeto was EUR 5.88 in Maastricht and EUR 4.75 in Liège and, as far as
value for money in restaurants is concerned, you certainly can't do any
better than 'Chez Véro' which has recently moved from Chênée to Embourg.
http://www.fdewb.unimaas.nl/eurecom
http://www.webcontennow.com
GERMAN LAW
[BIZ: Cleves, February]
The Strick law firm in Cleves have published their February newsletter on
German law which among other things deals with changes in German contract
law. The principles of contract law underwent fundamental changes which
became effective on January 1, 2002. Strick refers to changes in the
German civil code. Changes and the incorporation of new elements mean that
the clauses have been renumbered. Consumer law comes under one heading.
Legal institutions, that were not formally part of the civil code although
they were applied, have now been formally included within it. Contract law
has changed in respect of periods of validity which generally have been
shortened and of default and the payment of interest, obstacles to actual
performance and rights to purchase. Read about this in detail and in Dutch
also on tax and social security in the Strick newsletter.
http://www.strick.de/nieuwsbrief/
ROB
STEVENS TAKES ON TOURISM
[BIZ: Maastricht, February]
Rob Stevens, whose career has included the Heineken operation in New York,
running the Brand brewery in Wijlre and corporate communications for
Libertel, now Vodafone in Maastricht, has been appointed acting director
of the Maastricht Tourist Office effective March 1. He succeeds Wilco de
Jong, who is to start his own marketing consultancy in Maastricht. A
permanent appointment is expected to be made before the summer season
starts.
http://www.vvvmaastricht.nl
LIOF GOES
EUROREGIONAL
[BIZ: Roermond, January 31]
A meeting was held in Roermond on January 31 to draw up an inventory of
activities in LIOF's new Euroregional campaign. The inventory was
presented in a concrete form entitled Limburg op nieuwe kracht (Limburg
revived) by Professor Luc Soete. There was a good turnout with about
100 representatives of government and business in the Province. Topics
dealt with were government and the borders, dealing with the limits of
space, private co-operation across borders, the role of the ageing
generation, E-Limburg and the IT-infrastructure. Among the revelations was
one that indicated that LIOF had been given the go ahead by the Ministry
of Economic affairs to participate in projects in the Aachen-Liège-Hasselt
regions. There are current joint initiatives to invest with partners in
Aachen and Eupen. Among the projects for the future was the establishment
of a Euroregional website.
http://www.liof.nl
LOGISTICS AND INFRASTRUCTURE
KLM
EXEL TO GO WITH FLYMETROPOLIS
[LOG: Maastricht, February 9]
According to a report in Dagblad de Limburger KLM Exel and
FlyMetropolis are going to join forces. Both companies have suffered from
the downturn in the industry since September 11. In the meantime,
Schreiner, the flight simulation people, one of KLM Exel's three
shareholders has sold its majority holding of 51 percent to Exel's
management and LIOF, the Limburg Development Company. FlyMetropolis is
part of the IMCA Group, a specialist in shipping, magazines, sewing
machines and property. The annual revenues of IMCA are close to EUR 227m.
They were hoping to increase revenues by EUR 41m with their new airline
venture, flying between Schiphol and Malmö in Sweden. This apparently has
not yet got off the ground. Chances should improve with the alliance.
http://www.limburger.nl
http://www.rotterdamsdagblad.nl
LIEGE
GOES INTERCONTINENTAL
[LOG: Liège, February 6]
Walloon Minister Serge Kubla, TNT Airways boss Niky Terzakis and Jim
Matheny, President and CEO of Atlas Air with Senior Vice-President Stan
Wraight - speaking in Canadian-accented French - met the press in the
Montreal room at TNT headquarters at Liège Airport to confirm the
existence of an alliance between TNT Airways and Atlas Air. The news was
originally broken in this newsletter (issue 28). Atlas will provide heavy
payload intercontinental cargo services from Liège Airport. Among other
things, this would mean direct cargo flights to Japan (useful in
connection with the Kintetsu hub), using the Boeing 747-400F, which
whispers along at 82 dB well below the 89 dB limit. There will be ten
flight movements daily, using the 05.00-22.00hrs window with five
aircraft, three of which are to be based in Liège. The operation should
produce between 100 and 150 new jobs directly, including jobs for 125
pilots. A multiplier of three can be used to derive the job spin-off in
warehousing, offices and trucking. Eventually it will be necessary to
access the apron on the north side of the airport to provide parking space
for the Atlas freighters, away from the TNT sorting area. This area is
currently in the hands of the military. Liège has been operating via Atlas
to Africa since October using a leasing construction and it will now have
access to all continents and be open to other partners. One name that
cropped up during the press conference was Indonesia's Garuda Airlines.
http://www.liegeairport.com
http://www.tnt.com
http://www.atlasair.com
GOOD
RESULTS FOR PAL
[INFRA: Liège, February 6]
Liège's autonomous port PAL reports a new record in tonnage handled with
the figures up by more than 2.5 percent. This means that the port has been
able to maintain its position as the second inland port in Europe with
Duisburg in first place and Paris in third.
http://www.liege.port-autonome.be/
TOP IN
LOGISTICS
[LOG: Brussels, February 6]
Rogister, the Welkenraedt-based, Belgian subsidiary of the Offergeld
Logistik Gruppe, has been awarded the prize as the best Belgian
logistics company of the year in Brussels (Transporteur de l'Année
2002). The award is made annually, by the logistics magazine Mini Maxi
Truck and professional associations and industry. Rogister has just moved
to its 8,000m² location - 5,000m² of which is climate controlled - and is
planning to expand its services to eastern Europe. Revenues for 2001 were
EUR 15.8m.
http://www.offergeld.de
NO GO ON
DREDGING PROJECT?
[INFRA: Maastricht, February 2]
Het Financieele Dagblad reports that the Belgian dredging company
Jan de Nul is going to court as soon as the Limburg consortium is given
the contract for the Meuse border project (Grensmaas project) worth EUR
450m. The Belgian dredger feels the contract should be put out to public
tender and not automatically be granted to the Limburg gravel Barons.
http://www.fd.nl/Home.asp
IKEA GOES
WITH DENTRESSANGLE
[LOG: Paris, January 31]
The Norbert Dentressangle Group, which recently took over the Van Mierlo
Group which has a major base in Limburg, has signed a five-year contract
with IKEA in the Netherlands to operate a large logistics base that will
supply all the IKEA stores in the Netherlands and Belgium with 3,000 items
in the furniture and accessories range coming from all over the world.
Dentressangle is a major player in Transport and Logistics in Europe.
These deals confirm its development strategy in its logistics business,
which account for 29% of total turnover, with 1.5 million m² of warehouse
space and 3,000 employees in Europe.
http://www.norbert-dentressangle.fr
GOVERNMENT
AND EDUCATION
LAMBERTZ
TO BE AN EU VP
[GOV: Eupen, February 6]
Prime Minister Karl-Heinz Lambertz of Belgium's German-speaking Community
has been appointed deputy vice-president of the EU's committee of the
regions. He noted in a BRF interview that this was important for the
status of East Belgium in Europe and for the related structural fund
subsidies.
http://www.brf.be
ROYAL VISIT TO EUPEN
[GOV: Eupen, February 4]
Unnoticed by the public, the Swedish queen Sylvia took the opportunity,
following the Royal wedding in Amsterdam, of paying a visit to family in
Eupen. She was also apparently accompanied by her ravishing daughters
Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Madeleine.
http://www/brf.be
LIFE SCIENCE AND SCI-TECH
AGRICULTURE AND FOOD
[Life-Sci: Juelich, February 14]
As part of a series of Juelich research reviews, there will be a
discussion at the Technology Center in Juelich on February 19 at 19.30
hrs. Professor Fritz Fuehr will talk about feeding a growing population
and Horst Wilhelm Mewis, chairman of the board of the Juelich sugar
factory, will talk about the food industry and the relations between the
producer, middleman and consumer. The discussion will be moderated by
Juergen-Friedrich Hake.
http://www.juelich.de
TAXING
ONLINE BUYERS
[TECH: Brussels, February 12]
The 15 finance ministers of the EU passed a law on Tuesday authorizing
taxes on online sales of software, computer games and some TV and radio
services from non-EU suppliers, who will have to register with a VAT
authority and then levy the applicable tax on European customers. The
idea is that this will make EU companies more competitive with non-EU
companies. The law is not intended for business sales and is expected to
affect only 10% of sales from non-EU retailers.
http://europa.eu.int/
BIOTECH TRADE CENTER
[Life-Sci: Maastricht, February
9]
Maastricht entrepreneur Jan Huynen, who also established the forerunner of
the MECC, is intending to set up a biotechnology trading center adjacent
to the current Randwyck campus of the University of Maastricht, which is
already home to the Faculty of Medicine, the University Hospital and
Medtronic's Bakken Research Center. It is also the location for the new
medtech incubator building, an initiative of the Maastricht University
holding company. The BTC will provide 50,000 m² of space for offices,
trading and exhibition facilities in addition to other features, including
a gym, travel agents, TV studio, recreation center and parking for 1200
cars. The complex can be expected to attract 1500 visitors a day. Official
approval and zoning adjustments are to be dealt with in a meeting on
February 26.
http://www.limburger.com
NEW BOSS AT THE CHU
[Life-Sci: Liège, February
8]
The CHU, Liège's hospital center which employs 2,600, has acquired a new
boss in the shape of Pol Louis. Pol Louis(41), a lawyer and a socialist
with a political and an accounting background - clearly not incompatible
- is not well known in the Liège region.
http://www.lesoir.be
GaN
high power electronics
[TECH: Aachen, February 7]
A new semiconductor technology, likely to affect everyone in future is
under development in Aachen. Gallium Nitride Semiconductor Material, which
has already created a revolution in the lighting technology, will do the
same in high power, high frequency applications. Some examples of this are
base solutions for mobile communication and high temperature, industrial
and utilities power control circuits in automotive applications. Due to
its unique properties, this material can be used to produce transistors or
integrated circuits operating at extreme temperatures, high power levels
or high frequencies. These new semiconductor materials can also be
combined on classical silicon wafers using AIXTRON’s advanced HeteroWafer™
Technology, leading to significant cost advantages for producers. AIXTRON
and a NRW ministry will co-sponsor a EUR 1m research project on "High
Power Electronics with Group III Nitrides" already launched in April 2000.
http://www.aixtron.com
HIGH
THROUGHPUT EXPERIMENTATION
[Life-Sci: Heerlen, February 4]
DSM and Avantium Technologies announced that they have entered into a
cooperation agreement to discover new and improved catalytic systems
relevant to DSM’s life sciences business. Avantium will provide services
relating to high throughput experimentation and simulation methods for
screening experiments related to catalytic systems used in the production
of specialty chemicals. DSM’s initial commitment is about EUR 1 million,
with further follow-on phases under discussion. High throughput
experimentation is a rapidly growing R&D tool in chemical research and
deals with methods and concepts aimed at increasing the output of
research. This tool enables screening a large number of catalysts and/or
process conditions on a small scale.
http://www.dsm.com
IONIC GOES
WEST
[TECH: Liège, February 4]
Liège-based Ionic software has established a subsidiary in the US after
three years of solid growth. Ionic's unique software allows the exchange
of large amounts of geographical data in real time and the company has
among its partners NASA, the US Army, Lockheed Martin and the OpenGis
consortium. In future, you will not only be able to access Ionic at its
home base in Grace-Hollogne, but also in Washington.
http://www.ionicsoft.com
LIOF TO
CLOSE tUL GAP
[Life-Sci: Maastricht, February
2]
The Limburg Development Company LIOF is to contribute EUR 2.1m to close
the budgetary gap and allow the transnational university of Limburg to
start up its life sciences program. tUL is a joint effort of the
University of Maastricht and the Limburg University Center in Diepenbeek.
EUR 14m is required for the project 2002-2006. The province will provide
half, the city EUR 2.3m, students fees and Ministry funding EUR 2m and EUR
0.8m will come from EU Interreg subsidies.
http://www.ld.nl
LEISURE
MAIGRET AND TOOTSIE
[LEI: Liège, February 14]
The Château de Colonster, part of the University of Liège, enshrines the
library and study of the late Georges Simenon, the creator of the famous
detective Inspector Maigret. Simenon (1903-1989) produced 400 novels, 75
of which feature Maigret. These novels have sold 853 million to date and
the worldwide estimate of his sales is estimated at 1.4 billion books. The
stories are also the subject of 60 films and 500 hours of TV programming.
Next year, to mark his centenary, Liège, his birthplace, will be holding a
special Simenon festival. Among the events proposed is a musical. The idea
comes from Jean Paul Grinda, the Molière-winning director of the Royal
Walloon Opera, celebrated for his production of 'Singing in the rain' and
'Titanic'. The show proposed will deal with Simenon's very literal
entanglement with Josephine Baker. The result of this encounter of two
people well known for their high levels of sexual energy should be
interesting. In addition to the musical, there will be the major
exhibition of the life and works of the writer, February 14 through
September and the inclusion of the first volume of Simenon's works in the
French publisher Gallimard's Pléiade series - a true apotheosis.
There will also be a new planned Simenon walk through Liège. Incidentally,
in the master's study, in addition to a collection of Charatan pipes and a
tin of Dunhill Royal Yacht mixture, there was a list of names which he
used to plan his novels. One name, underlined three times, was Tootsie.
http://www.webcontentnow.com
FORMULA I FOOTNOTE
[LEI: Eijsden, February 14]
According to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Bernie Ecclestone wants to buy back
his Formula I share from the Kirch Group and sell it on to the
DaimlerChrysler, BMW and Fiat Group, but only wants to pay EUR 800m, half
of what the currently much beleaguered Kirch paid for it last year.
http://www.sueddeutsche.de
24 ARTISTS SAY
BONJOUR
[LEI: Liège, February 14]
From March 1 through May 5, the center of Liège will be filled with the
works of 24 local artists. The circuit will take you from l'îlot Saint
Michel to the Saint-Antoine church, passing through Place Saint-Lambert,
the market and the Tivoli area.
http://www.brel.prov-liege.be
LA PETITE TABLE
[LEI: Rocourt, February 10]
Our trencherman, on receiving the news of the latest Michelin red guide
and having already dined well at Tout à Fait in Maastricht on another
occasion, set out in the direction of La Petite Table, the new star in the
Meuse-Rhine culinary firmament. It was hard to find. Entering the
restaurant is rather like walking into someone else's living room. There
are about 18 covers, all of which were occupied. In the corner of the room
there is a square spiral staircase ascending vertically to the lavatories
above. Essaying the staircase is something of a challenge, but the
prospect for the viewer seated below can, on occasion, be interesting.
However, this is clearly a place where you come for the food. The three
varieties of foie gras, the superb scallops in a mouthwatering buttery
chive sauce matched with a delicately flowery Sauvignon, was a triumph.
The spinached-filled rabbit was also a delight, although it was initially
accompanied by a corked wine. This is something that one can encounter
anywhere, including in one's own cellar, but surely it would be better if
the staff tasted the open wines themselves first. Nevertheless, the food
was memorable and of superb quality.
http://www.webcontentnow.com
SITE OF THE DAY AND THE WEEK
[LEI: Maastricht, January 23]
Maastricht's Natural History Museum website was recently selected by a
leading US team from Macromedia.com as the website of the day and of the
week. This produced a fourfold increase in the number of daily visitors on
that day, raising it to 300,000. In 1995, the museum was one of the first
Dutch museums to go live and it won the Limburg Wide Web award in the same
year for its presentation entitled Dinosaurs, ammonites and asteroids. The
site was designed by Bureau Interactieve Communicatie in Bemelen.
http://www.nhmmaastricht.nl
THE CHATEAUX OF THE MEUSE
[LEI: Liège, January 23]
Everybody is familiar with the attractions of the Chateaux of the Loire
and now the Tourist Authorities of the Province of Liège want to give the
chateaux of the Meuse an equal resonance and eventually to upgrade the
tourist attractions along the river. There are 20 chateaux which are
already part of a route in the tri-border area.
http://www.lalibre.be
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