According to the Economic Intelligence Unit’s Global Outlook Country Forecast Rankings of 2004, the Netherlands will be the best place to do business in Europe for the next five years, ranking second after Canada globally. As the capital of the Netherlands, Amsterdam and the Amsterdam Area is a prime location for business in Europe. Its central geographical location make the Amsterdam Area an ideal gateway to European markets. It is strategically positioned with high-quality air, road, water, rail and telecommunications links to the rest of Europe and the world.
Advantages
It is a combination of competitive advantages that makes the Amsterdam Area unique. Consider these:
- Amsterdam Airport Schiphol handles more than 40 million passengers and 1.4 million tonnes of cargo per year and is located only 15 minutes from the city centre. Schiphol has been favourite in the Business Traveller magazine’s annual survey for many years and has received plenty of other international accolades.
- The Port of Amsterdam complex handles more than 70 million tonnes of cargo per annum and houses business parks specifically for light-industrial processing, to add value before shipping products onward.
- AMS-IX with over 200 connected parties coming from all around the world, the Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX) is one of Europe’s largest independent ‘marketplaces’ for exchanging internet traffic.
Talented Workforce
Enjoying higher employment rates than the national average, the Amsterdam Area’s workforce is flexible and highly educated. No fewer than 35 percent of the population has completed university-level study. There is also a large international community that adds to the renowned multilingual skills of the Dutch – in a recent survey by the European information network, Eurydice, Dutch people were the top of the league for ability in foreign languages, with about 75 percent of people in the Netherlands conversant in English.
Clusters of Knowledge
With two universities, the knowledge economy can rely on stimulus from research institutes and academic input in a whole range of disciplines, from sociology to nuclear physics. This is encouraged by public-private initiatives to twin the latest advances in the academic world with business ventures, such as Science Park Amsterdam.
Quality of Life
The Netherlands is a country with an international outlook, where foreign visitors and expatriates quickly feel at home. For centuries, Amsterdam has been a ‘melting pot’, and its lively, international and cosmopolitan atmosphere explains its popularity with other nationalities; close to half the city’s residents have foreign or dual nationality. Amstelveen (to the south of the city), for example, is home to the second largest Japanese community in Europe.
The Amsterdam Area caters for its large expatriate community with a variety of international schools, associations and social centres.
Get in touch with the Amsterdam Foreign Investment Office at afio@ez.amsterdam.nl or see www.afio.amsterdam.nl for more information.
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