Why Belgium ?

Because I live there. In Brussels to be exact.

I've lived in other countries and have extensively travelled in my life, but at the end of the day, even if it certainly isn't perfect in every way, Brussels is quite a good place to take a look at the world around you.

It's an international minded city, being the capital of Europe, but also the capital of a small multi-lingual country. The number of languages spoken on its streets is quite astounding and in the western world, probably only New York, London and Geneva would rank at least as high according to internationalisation metrics, if those exist.

Being in a small country also forces you to think outside of your own borders and consider things from the perspectives of others, which is not always a given if you live in a much larger country where domestic issues take precedence.

A specific aspect of living in Belgium also pushes you in the back towards investing in equities, and that is taxes. Taxes on salaried income are a killer here (top rate as of a bit more than 30k per annum is almost at 60% incl. social security contributions)... but capital gains are entirely exempt and dividends received are taxed at a flat rate of 25% (though no credit for any taxes paid abroad).

This is quite an impressive incentive to aim for capital appreciation !