Leuven, Belgium LMS announced that as of today its Chairman and CEO, Dr. ir. Urbain Vandeurzen has also become Chairman of VOKA, the leading employers association in Flanders, for a term of 3 years. VOKA unites more than 17,500 member companies, represents 60% of the employment in Flanders and coordinates the global network of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Flanders. Under Urbain Vandeurzen’s chairmanship, VOKA will develop and deploy a strategic transformation program for Flanders with the aim to strengthen the economic position of Flanders in Europe and to accelerate the economic growth in the region.
“Although Flanders is one of the wealthiest and most competitive regions in Europe, our region faces a number of tremendous external challenges, including relocation challenges to Eastern Europe and new competition and opportunities related to the growth economies in China and India. In addition, we face internal challenges like the pressure on our social welfare, the increasing high costs associated with our aging population and the need to strengthen the innovation capacity and entrepreneurial spirit in the region”, commented Dr. Urbain Vandeurzen. “Increasing economic growth and accelerating job creation will require an in-depth transformation of our socio-economic system. VOKA has taken up the challenge to initiate this long term transformation program to sustain Flanders’ position as one of the top economic regions in world.”
According to Dr. Vandeurzen, VOKA will develop this strategic transformation program along key axes such as international entrepreneurship, innovation and talent development that are crucial to compete in the global knowledge economy. The programs will be based on a bottom-up, project driven approach, with a direct contribution from a large number of companies in Flanders and continuous cooperation with the Flemish Government, the trade unions and other stakeholder organizations.
“The program will include specific business platforms and projects to transform and strengthen the key exporting industry sectors in Flanders, like the automotive, chemical, pharmaceutical or food industries”, added Dr. Vandeurzen. “We will strengthen and promote key assets of Flanders, like our sea ports, logistics infrastructure and the position of Brussels as ‘main port’ of Europe. We will properly position Flanders as a ‘brain port’ region with talented multi-lingual, multi-cultural people to attract more foreign capital investments. Our program will also include a multitude of bottom-up projects with private businesses and research institutes to develop new jobs in the services and promising high tech industries that make the difference in the knowledge-based economy.”
About LMS:
LMS is an engineering innovation partner for companies in the automotive, aerospace and other advanced manufacturing industries. LMS enables its customers to get better products faster to market, and to turn superior process efficiency to their strategic competitive advantage. LMS delivers a unique combination of virtual simulation software, testing systems, and engineering services. We are focused on the mission critical performance attributes in key manufacturing industries, including structural integrity, handling, safety, reliability, comfort and sound quality. Through our technology, people and over 25 years of experience, LMS has become the partner of choice for most of the leading discrete manufacturing companies worldwide. LMS, a Dassault Systèmes Gold Partner and SIMULIA Partner, is certified to ISO9001:2000 quality standards and operates through a network of subsidiaries and representatives in key locations around the world. Visit www.lmsintl.com for more information on LMS.
LMS Press Contacts:
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sukhee.jeon@lmsko.co.kr
