Who owns the gateways? A geoeconomic perspective on diverse ownership in landlord ports.

Description

Presentation of our study on ownership structures of the enterprises located in the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, with special attention to the value of the research for Belgian policy makers.

Additional Description

Abstract of the study:
In recent years, concern over Chinese influence
dominated public debate regarding foreign
involvement in European ports. China’s state-led
economy, combined with its geopolitical
aspirations, cast doubts over whether
commercial and strategic objectives can be
separated in the context of Chinese investments
in such strategic infrastructure. This paper uses a
case study of the Port of Antwerp Bruges (PoAB),
one of Europe’s major seaports, to argue that (1)
the landlord model of port governance, entailing
operational privatisation, creates geoeconomic
vulnerabilities involving a variety of foreign
entities beyond China, (2) that local (Belgian)
and regional (EU) actors remain prevalent in the
PoAB, indicating resilience to extensive foreign
involvement, and (3) that foreign involvement is
not uniform but concentrated in strategically
relevant sectors.

Period	29 Jan 2026
Event title	Geoeconomics Group Conference: Geoeconomics for Belgium - Bringing together research and policy
Event type	Conference
Location	Brussel, BelgiumShow on map
Degree of Recognition	National