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As President Trump is in Davos, Switzerland, making waves with comments some worry will undermine American alliances in Europe, Georgia’s top salesman is headed to the continent to underscore investment ties with two key countries.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is visiting Belgium and the United Kingdom this week to shore up relationships, focusing on visiting existing investors and expressing gratitude for their bets on the state.
Belgium is home to five of the seven companies Mr. Kemp has publicly announced plans to visit, with the other two hailing from the United Kingdom: Construction equipment manufacturer JCB, with a major presence in Savannah, as well as business software provider Sage, which has its North American headquarters in Atlanta.
For its size, Belgium has a relatively large presence in the state, with more than 60 companies using Georgia as their U.S. market beachhead.
Brussels was the site of the original Georgia office in Europe set up under then-Gov. (and later U.S. President) Jimmy Carter, a 50-year bet that Mr. Kemp and the Georgia Department of Economic Development say has paid off in the form of thousands of Georgia jobs.
The state’s European office now resides in Munich, but Belgium has remained a key trade partner, accounting for $4.8 billion in total trade in 2024, 190 years after the first Belgian consulate opened in Savannah.
Atlanta is now home to the Belgian Consulate General and the Belgian-American Chamber of the South, or BACoS, and Delta Air Lines Inc. recently announced plans to move its nonstop Brussels flight from New York to Atlanta, fulfilling a key objective of the business community.
Mr. Kemp often announces new investments while traveling; his current Belgium itinerary includes visits with the following companies, some of which have been present in the state for decades (info from the governor’s office):
- Beaulieu International Group: Subsidiary Beauflor USA operates a flooring manufacturing facility in Bartow County.
- Bekaert: The global supplier of steel wire and coating solutions maintains operations in Rome and Marietta.
- Dumaplast: A leading manufacturer and supplier of sustainable cladding for walls, ceilings, and floors with operations in Canton.
- Prayon Group: This global manufacturer operates a production site in Augusta that primarily serves the food sector, in addition to supporting healthcare and technical markets.
- Resilux: A PET manufacturing and recycling company with operations in Pendergrass.
- UCB SA: The headquarters of the global biopharmaceutical leader’s U.S. subsidiary, UCB Inc., are located in Cobb County. Learn more about UCB in a Belgian Quality in the South interview conducted by the consulate
That last firm, UCB, has said that it will invest billions in its U.S. manufacturing footprint as FDA approvals ramp up for new drugs. Georgia has been in the running, but the firm has not confirmed that it would select the option of expanding its large Cobb County campus rather than creating a greenfield plant or upgrading one of its other U.S. facilities.
Global Atlanta is offering Georgians opportunities to engage with diplomats from both countries in the coming weeks, hosting a Consular Conversation Jan 28 at the Gwinnett Chamber with British Consul General Rachel Galloway…
…as well as a Global Trade and Investment Symposium in Macon on Feb. 19, featuring Belgium’s Katherine Raeymaekers as a speaker:
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