Economic importance of the Flemish maritime ports: Report 2002

Apart from this classification by clusters and branches of the NACE-Bel nomenclature, table 45 also shows thesectors of activity that were mentioned in previous editions of the study. For each port, the change in activity ofeach cluster and each sector appears in chapter 4.Comments:• The level of aggregation chosen for the branches noted above depends on the precision required fortheir definition. For example, branch 45 (construction) calls for precision level 5, since two NACE-Bellevel 5 branches (45.241 and 45.242) form part of the maritime cluster while the rest of branch 45belongs to the non-maritime industries segment. This is not the case for branch 24 (chemicals) which,although aggregated at level 2, falls completely within the industry segment.• In relation to previous editions, a change has taken place in the classification of the following « public »companies: the SNCB (Belgian National Railway Company) and port companies. Given that the choiceof companies was based on their NACE-Bel branch, and that these companies do not belong to branch75 of that nomenclature, the SNCB was allocated to the « other services » sector and the portcompanies to the « cargo handling » sector instead of the public sector.• For the first time, companies of the public sector (NACE-Bel 75) appear in the classifications by valueadded, employment and investment (Top 10 classifications). « Public administration » is taken to meanthe whole branch (NACE-Bel 75) excluding the Navy (Defence activities). This distinction was particularlynecessary for the ports of Ostend and Zeebrugge.3 Geographical selection3.1 ApproachesTwo approaches have been selected, depending on whether the company in question forms part of the maritimecluster or not.For non-maritime companies, geographical location within the port area is the determining factor. In fact, it isassumed that these companies are linked to the port precisely because of the location of their activities, even ifthey do not appear to have an immediate link with the port. All the companies located in the port area in thenarrow sense are included in the sample if they belong to a branch of interest to the study, in accordance with thereports previously produced.Definition of the port area in the narrow sense is in accordance with the Royal Decree of 2 February 1993,published on 4 March of that year. A definition of the four port areas in question can be found in annex 2.A complete review of the definition of these four areas was undertaken for this study, in order to take account ofpolitical decisions, and environmental/land-use planning changes and agreements.For larger companies established in more than one location, whose head office may not necessarily be located inthe port area, the NAI data enable tracing of their centres of operations within the port area in the wider sense.This latter corresponds to the National Statistical Institute’s (NSI) classification and also takes precedence in thechoice of companies for two of the maritime cluster branches (see below).Companies in the maritime cluster demonstrate a direct operational link with port activity but are not necessarilysituated in the port area. Depending on the definition of their activity, a geographical approach based on thenarrow or wider sense has been adopted in the selection of the companies for this cluster (see below).NBB WORKING PAPER No. 56 - JUNE 2004 75