The local business fabric
Liège Province rebuilt itself on three very concrete pillars. The first is logistics: the Port of Liège is Belgium's largest inland port and one of Europe's biggest, connected to the Meuse, the Albert Canal and Antwerp, with the trimodal Trilogiport platform. The second is air freight: Liege Airport specialised in cargo and ranks among Europe's leading cargo airports, surrounded by forwarders, customs agents and warehousing. The third is scientific: the University of Liège and its GIGA biomedical research centre feed an ecosystem of biotech, medtech and spin-offs, extended by the space and aerospace cluster around Herstal and Sart-Tilman. Add a long-standing mechanical and firearms industry, the wool and textile heritage of Verviers, and a distinct German-speaking economy in the East Cantons. The result is a province where logistics and research coexist, with a layer of SME subcontractors in between.