Japanese executives appear to be satisfied overall with doing business in Belgium, the administrative center of the European Union, but many find its slow-moving government machinery and high taxes to be a headache.

Such mixed sentiment was revealed by a new study conducted by the Belgium-Japan Association and Chamber of Commerce (BJA). The results of the study gave the Belgian government some food for thought on how to attract more investment from Japan.

The association noted that while Japan's direct investment in all of Europe has remained fairly stable over the years, with slight increases in 1998 and 1999, it dropped significantly in Belgium, from 210 billion yen in 1998 to 47 billion yen in 1999.

"Since the recent trend was more favorable to Europe (overall) than to Belgium, action is needed (in Belgium) to attract potential new Japanese investors," the association said.