The Vlaams Economisch Verbond (VEV) is a Flemish

employers' organization An employers' organization or employers' association is a collective organization of manufacturers, retailers, or other employers of wage labor. Employers' organizations seek to coordinate the behavior of their member companies in matters of mutu ...

and

lobbying group Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by various entities, in ...

. The main objectives of the organization were the development of the Flemish economy and to improve the status of

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

as a business language in Flanders. It is an important partner of the

Flemish government The Flemish Government ( ) is the executive branch of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region of Belgium. It consists of a government cabinet, headed by the Minister-President of Flanders, Minister-President and accountable to the Flemish Par ...

on business in Flanders, and also participates in the Socio-economic Council of Flanders.

History

It was founded in 1908, by among others

Lieven Gevaert Lieven Gevaert (28 May 1868 – 2 February 1935) was a Belgian industrialist. His father died when he was only three years old. He started his career in the company he founded together with his mother in 1889, which produced photographic paper ...

as the ''Vlaamsch Handelsverbond'', to create a Flemish counterpart of the

Federation of Belgian Enterprises The Federation of Enterprises in Belgium (, VBO, , FEB) is the only Belgian non-profit organization representing companies in all three regions of Belgium. Its members, the different Belgian sectorial employers' organizations, represent companie ...

, and it became the VEV in 1926. From 1971 to 1993, René De Feyter was the managing director of the VEV.

In 2004, VEV formed an alliance with the Flemish Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCI's) to create . Today, there are still eight Voka - Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCI) in Flanders (West Flanders, East Flanders, Antwerp-Waasland, Kempen, Mechelen, Halle-Vilvoorde, Leuven and Limburg). Together with the VEV, these eight CCI's form the Voka-Alliance, the largest Flemish network of enterprises. This 'Voka-Alliance' unites more than 17,000 businesses from all sectors within the

Flemish region The Flemish Region (, ), usually simply referred to as Flanders ( ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—alongside the Wallonia, Walloon Region and the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region. ...

. The alliance is politically independent; there is no structural funding from government. It is a non-profit organisation: small, medium and large-sized companies of all sectors everywhere in Flanders can become member on a voluntary basis.

References

External links

voka.be
Labor relations organizations Trade associations based in Belgium Economy of Belgium Employers' organizations 1926 establishments in Belgium Flanders Organizations established in 1926 {{Belgium-org-stub

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links