“If there is one major challenge today, it is reaching non-professionally active Flemish people,” says Brouns. “This requires one very big change: tax reform. Working should pay much more in this country. The difference between working and not working is far too small. Together with colleague Vincent Van Peteghem (CD&V, federal Minister of Finance) we must work to direct as many people as possible to local traders. They need those forces to continue doing business.”
For Brouns, entrepreneurship should become even more part of the DNA of the Flemish: “We should not create and transfer the culture that if you fall, you are, as it were, written off. Entrepreneurship is trial and error. You must be given another chance after falling.”
Brouns complimented the entrepreneurs of Flanders: “They are enterprising people who take on our challenges. Entrepreneurs are the soul of Flanders, we must cherish that.” Finally, the minister does not forget the customers this weekend: “Without a customer, there is no local trade, which is very important for the social fabric. In a lonely world, where online information is becoming more important, we need local traders. There is no association that can do without them. We must cherish that.”