Antwerp, Ghent, Zeebrugge and Ostend, the four ports in Flanders, are all within 62 miles (100 km) of each other and are leading players in international and intra-European cargo handling. Antwerp is consistently ranked among the world's top five ports. The quality and cost-effectiveness of all four Flemish ports have been factors in their growth over recent years. Antwerp and Zeebrugge, for example, offer some of the most competitive container handling costs of any of northern Europe's major ports.

Cargo links with Europe and the world...

All four ports are connected directly into the region's transport infrastructure - road, rail, waterway and air - providing rapid and efficient links within Europe and beyond. There is immediate access, for example, to one of Europe's leading waterway networks. This offers direct cargo transport to and from inland industrial zones and cities in other countries. Studies on overall inland accessibility have ranked the ports highly while the rail container terminal at Antwerp makes the port Europe's leading rail-maritime facility.