Catalisti applauds strengthened ties between industry federations and strategic research centers

This joint commitment was officially signed today during the biannual Flemish industry forum, in the presence of Minister-President Matthias Diependaele.

The collaboration specifically targets several strategic value chains, including the circular economy, health, artificial intelligence, industrial productivity, and climate and energy technology. Crucially, the ambition to develop pioneering industrial applications in these domains will be realized in close collaboration with the existing innovation clusters, such as Catalisti.

Tine Schaerlaekens (General Manager of Catalisti): "It is highly positive that the ties between industry federations and research institutions are being further strengthened. Investing in innovation inherently means investing in resilience, competitiveness, and sustainability. From Catalisti's side, we have been working very closely with the strategic research centers for quite some time, and we will certainly continue to do so to stimulate innovation within the chemistry and plastics ecosystem."

Alignment with the Flemish "Actieplan Industrie"

This renewed commitment to collaborative innovation aligns perfectly with the strategy outlined in the recently published "Geïntegreerd Actieplan voor de Vlaamse Industrie". As detailed in Section 2.1 ("Innovatie stimuleren", Pages 5-8), the Flemish Government positions research, development, and innovation as the driving forces behind a strong, sustainable, and future-oriented industry. Key insights and strategic actions from the government's action plan include:

• Ambitious investment: The government is raising the long-term objective for joint Research and Development (R&D) investments to 5% of the GDP.
• Enhanced valorization: There is a strong focus on generating greater economic and international valorization from R&D investments. A specific action point dictates a stronger focus on the valorization and impact of the four SOCs (Flanders Make, VITO, imec, and VIB) and their collaboration with the industry via a joint knowledge platform, aiming to strengthen long-term competitiveness.
• Reforming cluster policy: The plan explicitly includes an action to reform the cluster policy and the spearhead clusters, with specific attention to stimulating innovation within the Flemish industry.
• Streamlining R&D funding: The future R&D policy will be built upon specific trajectories aimed at improving access to financing channels, investing strategically in research infrastructure, and reducing administrative burdens for researchers.

In a highly challenging economic context where industrial competitiveness in Europe and Flanders is under severe pressure, a long-term vision on innovation acts as a vital lever for the industrial transition. Catalisti looks forward to do its part to help Flanders continue to grow as an international industrial top region.