In 2016, Japanese air conditioning king Daikin cranked up the heat and invested EUR 25.5 million in Flanders, the northern region of Belgium. EUR 6.6 million went to its European Development Center in Ostend, where the company will add 2 state-of-the-art testing rooms and hire 35 engineers.

The investment earned Daikin a nomination for Foreign Investment of the Year at the Foreign Investment Trophy 2017 – an event hosted by Flanders Investment & Trade (FIT) on Feb. 21. Frans Hoorelbeke, Chairman of Daikin Ostend, invited FIT for a company tour in Ostend and commented on the nomination.