 |
| |||||||||
UIA presentation at CESRBC conference - Thursday, 3 February
The Economic and Social Council for the Brussels Capital Region invites you to its next conference on Thursday 3 February 2011 from 12 noon to 2pm.
“Brussels, 1st in Europe and 2nd in the world for congresses and host to international associations”
Nancy Carfrae has been database manager at the Union of International Associations (UIA) for 20 years.
The UIA, founded in 1907, is an independent, self-financing research institute registered under Belgian law as a non-profit association. For one hundred years it has observed and documented the world of international associations – both non-governmental (NGO) and intergovernmental (IGO). The results can be found in its publications: the Yearbook of International Organizations, the International Congress Calendar, and the Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential. Today the UIA database includes profiles of 63,000 international associations and 350,000 international meetings. These data form the basis of its benchmark annual International Meetings Statistics Report.
What is Brussels place in this dynamic international world? How does Brussels rate as a host?
PLACE: Economic and Social Council for the Brussels Capitol Region, Bischoffsheimlaan 26, 1000 Brussels.
Summary of Nancy's presentation:
Brussels is number one in Europe and number two in the world when it comes to hosting the meetings of international associations. And it is the unrivalled top host city for the offices of international associations. So says the Union of International Associations (UIA), an independent research institute that has been observing and documenting international civil society for over one hundred years. And is itself located in Brussels.
It does, of course, depend on what is meant by “international association”. According to the UIA’s Yearbook of International Organizations there are either over 3,300 international organizations with offices in Brussels or there are none. The UIA’s classification codes help us sort out what is commonly acceptable and gives us (at the moment) 2,197. The same necessity for definition applies to the meetings of associations: according to the UIA’s criteria, there were 388 such meetings in Brussels in 2009.
If these numbers do not sound impressive, consider this: the international associations located in Belgium (80% of them are in Brussels) spent 1.4 billion euros in Belgium in 2009, and they employed 11,000 people. Add to this the services required by their 2,000 offices and, even more, by their 380 meetings, and it is clear that the total impact of international associations on the economic life of Brussels is substantial.
Brussels hosts more international associations than any other city in the world, whether we’re talking about intergovernmental or non-governmental bodies. However, in the last ten years the number of international association offices in Brussels has scarcely changed, although worldwide there are now 25% more international associations than there were ten years ago.
As for the meetings of international associations, the 388 meetings counted by the UIA in 2009 were attended by over 160,000 people. Most meetings lasted two days. June and November were the favourite months, each with 14% of the total number of meetings, and August was the low point, with scarcely 1%.
Brussels hosts more international association meetings than any other European city. In the world, it is second only to Singapore. Ten years ago, Paris was number one in Europe and in the world, while Singapore wasn’t even in the top ten. Brussels has not only been steady in second place worldwide, its growth has been significant: in 2009 it hosted 42% more meetings than it did in 2000.
UIA can give answers to questions about numbers and rankings, but it was up to the audience to come up with answers to more key questions: Why do international associations choose to locate their offices in Brussels? Why do they hold their meetings in Brussels? And… why not?
Date of release:
Fri, 2011-01-28 
