The Union of International Associations (UIA) is a research institute and documentation centre, based in Brussels.  It has been a pioneer in the research, monitoring and provision of information on international organizations, international associations and their global challenges since 1907.

In 2009, according to the UIA, Brussels hosted 402 meetings, thus putting it behind Singapore (746 meetings) but now ahead of Paris (386 meetings) and Vienna (331 meetings). Our capital has therefore gone up a step in the rankings since last year, coming before Paris, while in 2007 Brussels was in 4th place behind Vienna.

Brussels has risen not only to first place in Europe but also to second in the world according to the UIA criteria, which take into account meetings of at least 300 participants of 5 different nationalities for a minimum of 5 days. According to these same criteria, at least 40 per cent of the participants must come from abroad.

This is an historic position for the capital and one which confirms Brussels’ huge potential in terms of conferences. At a time when the economic crisis has hit most conference cities, Brussels has been able to extricate itself thanks to its great natural assets: its status as capital of Europe, Europe, its central position and its unbeatable accessibility in the heart of Europe.