Ford Genk site will be repurposed after closure next year

The European Parliament has approved a €50 million package of support measures for Ford Genk, as part of the 2014-2020 budget. The money will go to a reconversion of the Ford site as part of the SALK relaunch plan set up by the government of Flanders to help the province of Limburg recover from the loss of about 5,000 jobs at the factory, and as many again in the local economy.

Limburg has already received €17.5 million from the European Social Fund. The new money comes from the European Fund for Regional Development, which funds the repurposing of former industrial sites. 

The government of Flanders, meanwhile, has approved €139 million in aid for Limburg, as well as a line of credit guarantee of €100 million for the Limburg investment agency LRM to aid investment in growth sectors as well as small- and medium-sized enterprises. The city of Genk gave €20 million and the province of Limburg €50 million.

Last summer, Flemish minister-president Kris Peeters announced the government’s ambition to create 10,000 jobs in the province to replace those lost by the closure of Ford Genk, which shuts down definitively in December 2014.