The local business fabric
No Belgian province has had to reinvent itself as thoroughly as Limburg. After the coal mines closed, and later the car assembly plant in Genk, the economy was rebuilt on other pillars: logistics along the Albert Canal and the corridor towards Liège and the Netherlands, manufacturing and supply chains, healthcare, and tourism in Haspengouw and the Hoge Kempen National Park. The old mining sites were literally reused: Thor Park in Genk, built on the Waterschei colliery, now houses EnergyVille and an energy-focused technology campus, while the Corda Campus in Hasselt, on the former Philips site, has become one of Flanders' largest technology hubs. Beyond that, Limburg remains a province of family-run SMEs, fruit growing and construction firms. The paradox is striking: a region that has absorbed so much industrial reconversion often still works conservatively in digital terms — the appetite for change is there, the time and the in-house IT people are not.