Doing business in the Netherlands
The Netherlands is one of the world’s leading business locations, serving as a “gateway to Europe” for North American firms like Bombardier, Starbucks Coffee, Boeing, Eastman Chemical, Medtronic, Cisco Systems, Abbott Laboratories, Reebok and NCR Corporation.
Six key reasons explain its continued success:
- Strategic geographical position to service markets within the European Union, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa
- Pro-business outlook that is engrained in the Dutch culture, along with a stable political environment
- Superior logistics and technology infrastructure
- Highly educated, multilingual and flexible workforce
- Favorable fiscal climate
- Enviable “quality of life” attributes
The Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA) facilitates direct investments of foreign companies in the Netherlands through its network of 19 offices in the United States, China, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, India, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, the United Kingdom and a representative office in Brazil. In 2009, NFIA supported the attraction of 155 foreign investment projects, representing 3,887 jobs and planned investment of $4.27 billion. Although more than half (82) of the projects came from Asia, the United States continued to be the leading single-country investor with 49 projects, of which 23 were initial establishments by companies in the Netherlands. Adding in projects from Canada and Mexico, North America as a region totaled 52 projects and 1,166 jobs.
In its 30 years, the NFIA has helped more than 2,500 foreign companies from 40 countries initiate or expand operations in the Netherlands.
NFIA support of foreign organizations in setting up and/or expanding their international activities in the Netherlands starts already in the country of origin through its network of 19 offices which each have extensive knowledge of country-specific issues. In addition, the NFIA works together with Dutch embassies, consulates-general, and other organizations that represent the Dutch government abroad, such as Netherlands Business Support Offices (NBSOs) and Technical Scientific Attachés (TWAs in Dutch), as well as with a broad network of domestic partners, including municipalities, provinces, regional development agencies, ports and airports, operational agencies for innovation programs, research centers and top institutes.
The NFIA’s pro-active approach in the marketplace is to provide specific business solutions for prospect companies. These include all the links in the corporate supply chain:
- European Headquarters
- Logistics Services
- Shared Services Centers
- Marketing and Sales
- Research and Development
- Customer Care Centers
- Answers for Businesses
Oftentimes, companies are looking for more than one business solution.
Learn more about the Netherlands as a strategic business location and the NFIA’s services by visiting www.nfia.com.
For more information about innovation programs in the Netherlands, please contact the Netherlands Office for Science and Technology at firstname.lastname@example.org