elgian companies long ago developed experience in dealing with foreigners and export markets, and most of its citizens are multi-lingual. The government has also fostered both import/export trade as well as foreign direct investment. The country historically has fostered growth in small to medium sized companies (in 1989, only four Belgian companies were listed on the Forbes International 500; Switzerland, with half of Belgium's population, had three times as many companies listed) (Tigner, 1990, p. 56). This tendency toward small companies has both advantages and disadvantages for the country. On the one hand, companies are able to keep production runs short and offer fast turnaround times. On the other hand, companies may lack the financial resources necessary to prosper in high technology fields that may require significant capital investment.
Smaller companies and Belgium companies in particular can also be vulnerable to takeovers. Two holding companies (SBG and GBL) dominated the Belgium economy in the late 1980s and 1990. SBG controlled Belgium's largest bank; GBL controlled the second largest. SBG exerted influence on the nonferrous metals sector, cement, engineering, chemicals, and insurance industries. GBL's influence extended primarily toward finance and investment services. Both groups share control of the nation's three private utility companies. After a failed takeover attempt by Italian entrepreneur Carlo De Benedetti, SGB was acquired by Suez of France. At this point also, the Brussels stock market was inactive, as it has been historically, the result of tight government regulation combined with corporate conservatism. The market specialized in government bonds and corporate debt (Tigner, 1990, p. 57).
The mid-1980s were characterized by a lackluster economy in Belgium, but the country began to recover by 1988, a trend which continued into 1989. Real growth in GDP increased by 2.2 percent in 1989 follo...