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Download - Union Wallonne des Entreprises

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© belpress.comIN WALLONIA. ABOUT 80% OF THEM ARE STILL IN ACTIVITY.financial assistance, such as export support.The Walloon government sees these results asencouraging, and hopefully they are indicativethat the region has started a new positivegrowth dynamic. However, everything is notperfect yet as far as spin-off policy is concerned.The different actors must stay alert and not reston their laurels. For instance, improvements inthe selection method for spin-offs could betteroptimise the use of seed capital. These kind ofmeasures could increase the number of highgrowth-potentialspin-offs.Success breeds successEven so, Wallonia has already experienced manyspin-off success stories.IBA (Ion Beam Applications S.A.) is one of these.It was launched in 1986 as a spin-off of theCyclotron Research Center at the CatholicUniversity of Louvain-la-Neuve. The companywas first active in medical imaging beforediversifying into radiotherapy, technologicallyadvancedcyclotrons and, later, industrialsterilisation and ionisation. Today, with 20 yearsof operations under its belt, and with more than200 IBA particle accelerators used around theworld, IBA is the world leader in its sector. Its40 sites located on three continents employmore than 1100 people.Eurogentec was created one year before IBA, asa spin-off from the University of Liège.Eurogentec’s activities include <strong>des</strong>igning anddelivering services and products for scientists inlife science research, molecular diagnostics andtherapeutic development and commercialisation(see page 38). The company’s headquarters arestill located in the Liege Science Park, but it alsohas subsidiaries in France, Germany, the UK,the Netherlands and Switzerland; a partnershipin Singapore; and production facilities in theUSA and Japan.The company now employs around 294 people.Another Walloon success story, IRIS, waslaunched in 1987 in Louvain-la-Neuve.DIDIER PAQUOTIS AN ECONOMISTWITH THE WALLOONBUSINESS FEDERATIONSpin-offs show a new face of industryThe successful economic revivals in the USduring the 90s and in Germany more recentlyshow that a broad, sound, dynamic industrialbase is still necessary for sustainableeconomic development -- even in “old, developed”economies. Indeed, R&D and technologicalprogress are rooted in industry, whileexports and many services significantlydepend on industrial production.Thus, for regions like Wallonia, the key challengelies not in moving from a “traditionalindustrial” economy to a services-based economy,but rather to an economy based onadvanced, technological industry.In many high-knowledge sectors, like biotechnology,nano-technology, new materials,ICT and food, our economies still enjoy advantagesover emerging countries. So economicpolicy must do more than initiate and supportthe creation of new enterprises aimed at economicallyexploiting the results of scientificresearch. It must also establish the frameworkand tools that allow the new companiesto experience high-growth development.The evolution from a small, research-orientedentity (the first step of a spin-off) to a growing,commercial company is not easy and can bepainful for the spin-off’s founders. They canexperience difficulties in: delegating control oftheir “baby”, admitting their own managementlimitations, finding capital for expansion,unavoidable organisational changes, etc.Public authorities can play a key role byoffering efficient and well-<strong>des</strong>igned servicesto help spin-offs successfully survive thisevolution.However, creating hundreds of spin-offswhose development stalls at 10 employeeswill not seriously help an economy catch up orgrasp new market opportunities. The ultimateobjective of any spin-off policy must be toregenerate the economic fabric by creatingknowledge and export-oriented companiesthat employ hundreds of people. ■Dynamisme December 2008 .11

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