Belgium

Aid

Aid quality is just as important as aid quantity, so the CDI measures gross aid as a share of GNI adjusted for various quality factors: it subtracts debt service, penalizes "tied" aid that makes recipients spend aid only on donor goods and services, rewards aid to poor but relatively uncorrupt recipients, and penalizes overloading poor governments with many small projects.

• Score: 5.1
• Rank: 6

• Prevents project proliferation; large average project size (rank: 4)
• High net aid volume as a share of the economy (0.40%; rank: 8)
• Small share of tied or partially tied aid (7%; rank: 8)

• Selectivity: large share of aid to less poor and relatively less democratic governments (rank: 21)

Trade

International trade has been a force for economic development for centuries. The CDI measures trade barriers in rich countries against exports from developing countries.

• Score: 5.9
• Rank: 12

• High protection of agricultural commodities (rank: 17)

Investment

Rich-country investment in poorer countries can transfer technologies, upgrade management, and create jobs. The CDI includes a checklist of policies that support healthy and productive investment in developing countries.

• Score: 6.5
• Rank: 10

• Employs foreign tax credits to prevent double taxation of corporate profits earned abroad
• Provides official support for outflows of portfolio investment

• Does not screen projects for social impacts through national political risk agency
• Does not participate in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)
• Does not provide official assistance in identifying direct investment opportunities
• Does not provide official assistance to developing countries to set up investment promotion agencies

Migration

The movement of people from poor to rich countries provides unskilled immigrants with jobs, income and knowledge. This increases the flow of money sent home by migrants abroad and the trasfer of skills when the immigrants return.

• Score: 2.6
• Rank: 16

• Only a small increase during the 1990s in the number of unskilled immigrants from developing countries living in Belgium (rank by share of population: 18)
• Small number of immigrants from developing countries entering Belgium in 2003 (rank by share of population: 12)
• Small share of foreign students from developing countries in 2003 (49%; rank: 16)

Environment

Rich countries use a disproportionate amount of scarce resources, and poor countries are most vulnerable to global warming and ecological deterioration, so the CDI measures the impact of policies on the global climate, fisheries and biodiversity.

• Score: 6.6
• Rank: 7

• High gas taxes (rank: 6)
• Low fishing subsidies (rank: 3)

• High greenhouse gas emissions rate per capita (15 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent; rank: 15)
• No policy to regulate imports of illegally cut timber

Security

Since security is a prerequisite for development, the CDI rewards contributions to internationally sanctioned peacekeeping operations and forcible humanitarian interventions, rewards military protection of global sea lanes, and penalizes arms exports to poor and undemocratic governments.

• Score: 3.4
• Rank: 16

• Arms exports to poor and undemocratic governments (rank by share of GDP: 17)
• Small financial and personnel contributions to internationally sanctioned peacekeeping and humanitarian interventions (overall contribution rank over last 10 years by share of GDP: 16)
• No protection of global sea lanes

Technology

Rich countries can contribute to development through the creation and dissemination of new technologies. The CDI captures this by measuring government support for R&D and penelizing strong intellectual property rights regimes that limit the dissemination of new technologies to poor countries.

• Score: 4.5
• Rank: 16

• Low share of government R&D expenditure on defense (0.4%; rank: 3)

• Low government expenditure on R&D (rank as share of GDP: 17)
• Low tax subsidy rate to businesses for R&D (rank: 15)