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During a Belgian Economic Mission to the West Coast of the USA, today we announced plans to invest over €1 billion in Belgium from 2025-2027. This investment continues Amazon’s commitment to innovation and providing an even better experience to customers through low prices, selection, and convenience, while helping small businesses in Belgium succeed.

This represents our largest investment in Belgium to date, supporting jobs, infrastructure development, and Belgian partnerships including our continued work with bpost, Belgium’s national postal operator. In addition to supporting our Belgian customers, these investments will also help small and medium-sized businesses to expand their reach to customers both in Belgium and internationally, helping them grow their businesses while supporting job creation and economic growth. The announcement builds upon our growing presence in Belgium since opening our first office in 2015 and launching amazon.com.be in 2022. After investing more than €250 million in 2023 and €300 million in 2024, this new announcement accelerates our planned investment in the Belgian economy.

“Our planned investment of more than a billion euros in Belgium will go towards expanding our logistics network, enhancing our delivery capabilities, and strengthening our local infrastructure to better serve Belgian customers,” said Eva Faict, Country Manager for Amazon Belgium and the Netherlands. “Since launching amazon.com.be in October 2022, we’ve helped more than a thousand Belgian businesses reach new customers, created hundreds of local jobs, and worked with local delivery partners. This new investment will allow us to further support Belgian entrepreneurs with our technology and expertise, while continuing to offer customers low prices, wider product selection, and faster delivery options.”

Economic impact and growth

We have invested more than €800 million in Belgium since 2015. We now employ over 400 people across Belgium, from our Belgian headquarters in Brussels including AWS, to our delivery station in Antwerp, and our Mechatronics Research & Development Center in Hamme. In 2024 alone, third-party research by Keystone Strategy^[1] estimates that our investments supported more than 1,000 indirect jobs and 200 induced jobs^[2] in construction, logistics, and professional services.

“Amazon’s investment is a powerful endorsement of our region’s economic strengths. As a government, we are committed to fostering innovation and supporting companies that create sustainable jobs and economic opportunities across our regions. This significant investment demonstrates that our region continues to attract global technology leaders, strengthening our position as a strategic hub for digital commerce in Europe,” said Matthias Diependaele, Minister-President of Flanders.

According to Keystone estimates, Amazon’s investments contributed more than €140 million to Belgium’s GDP in 2024, with more than €350 million to Belgium GDP since 2015.

Supporting Belgian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

The 2024 Amazon SME Impact Report^[3] shows that Belgian SMEs have achieved remarkable international success through e-commerce, with 90% of businesses selling on Amazon exporting their products internationally. These SMEs generated over €350 million in total export sales in 2023, demonstrating the store’s effectiveness in helping Belgian businesses expand internationally.

“Amazon’s €1 billion investment solidifies Belgium’s role as a leading hub for innovation and digital transformation, driving competitiveness, fostering job creation, and fueling economic growth. Today’s announcement demonstrates the strong potential of e-commerce for businesses of all sizes, with particular promise for Belgian SMEs. We see how this lever can help local entrepreneurs strengthen their market presence and even expand beyond borders, reaching millions of customers across Europe and beyond” said Eléonore Simonet, Belgian Minister for SMEs, Self-Employed and Small Businesses.

Building a more sustainable future

As a co-founder of The Climate Pledge, with the goal of reaching net-zero carbon by 2040 – an ambitious commitment we are actively working towards – Amazon is investing in sustainability across its businesses to drive down carbon emissions. Amazon’s commitment to sustainability takes root in concrete actions, from investing in the National Park Brabantse Wouden’s scientific research and habitat restoration to funding technology solutions that enhance biodiversity monitoring and visitor experience in Belgium’s newest national park with Leuven MindGate. We are decarbonising last-mile deliveries across Belgium, with over 9 out of 10 parcels delivered to customers by electric vans in Antwerp and electric cargo bikes serving Brussels’ Pentagon area. More than 50% of European shipments now come in reduced delivery packaging, such as a paper bag or cardboard envelope, or with no added packaging at all. To help customers in Belgium to make environmentally conscious choices, Amazon has launched the Climate Pledge Friendly programme, which features products that are certified by one or more of over 50 sustainability certifications, and to help customers give products a second life, they can take advantage of Amazon Used, Trade-in programs, and the Fix-it store. These initiatives demonstrate Amazon’s holistic approach to environmental stewardship, combining technological innovation, operational excellence, and customer empowerment to build a more sustainable future.

[1] All investment and economic impact figures have been estimated by Keystone Strategy, an independent macroeconomic consultancy.
[2] Indirect jobs = jobs supported through business-to-business transactions (supply chain)
Induced jobs = jobs supported through consumer spending of direct and indirect employees
[3] 2024 Amazon Small and Medium-sized Impact Report available here.

Although dapagliflozin may reduce death or worsening heart failure (HF) in patients with aortic stenosis (AS) undergoing TAVI, it showed limited improvement in patients’ health status post TAVI, according to a prespecified subanalysis of the DapaTAVI trial published Oct. 6 in JACC. Dapagliflozin may be most relevant in patients with a residual symptomatic burden.

A total of 964 patients from the DapaTAVI study group enrolled between January 2021 and December 2023 were included in this independent, investigator-initiated trial. Clara Bonanad-Lozano, MD, PhD, et al., used the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) to assess the effect of dapagliflozin on health status post TAVI. Of note, the primary endpoint was the change in KCCQ score from baseline to one year. The mean baseline KCCQ score was 39.9 in the dapagliflozin group and 39.1 in the control arm (p=0.404).

Using an ordinal logistic regression model to analyze the primary endpoint, the authors assessed the change in KCCQ score from baseline to three and 12 months, as well as the effect of dapagliflozin on the composite of death or worsening HF by baseline KCCQ score.

Researchers found no significant differences in change of KCCQ score at three months (odds ratio [OR ], 0.96; p=0.745) or 12 months (OR, 1.03; p=0.819) between the two groups. Additionally, at 12-month follow-up, similar proportions of patients in the dapagliflozin and control groups showed clinically meaningful improvements, with 43.4% vs. 45.4%, respectively, improving by >50 points, highlighting that the clinical benefits of dapagliflozin after TAVI appeared to be similar across the full range of baseline KCCQ scores.

“…Our findings suggest that future trials should consider targeted inclusion criteria, such as patients with persistent congestion, elevated biomarkers or low KCCQ scores after TAVI, to better identify those patients who may benefit symptomatically from SGLT2 inhibition,” write the authors.

In an accompanying editorial comment, Chetan Prakash Huded, MD, FACC, et al., express their belief that “future studies should focus on patients who remain symptomatic after successful TAVR.” “…Only through such a multidisciplinary approach are we likely to fully achieve the fundamental goals of treatment in valvular heart disease – increasing longevity and optimizing health status,” they write.