I amsterdam - Haarlem

Historical City
Haarlem is often regarded as an historic Dutch city. The city has a plethora of monumental buildings and culture, and also serves as the seat of provincial government for the Province of North Holland. Haarlem is proud of the Teylers Museum, the oldest in the Netherlands, and the Old Master painter Frans Hals lived in Haarlem and has a museum dedicated to his work. Traditional industries also abound, from breweries to textiles.

Modern & High-tech City
But Haarlem is also a business city that welcomes a whole variety of modern and high-tech businesses. A business park on the east side of the city, De Waarderpolder, is home to about 400 businesses that employ 13,000 people. One of many new developments in and around Haarlem is the Spoorzone project, with more than 400,000 square metres of commercial and retail space, 3,000 new homes and 60,000 square metres of recreational facilities. Haarlem is also a city of knowledge, with a highly qualified working population and an increasing role as a centre for the business services sector. Haarlem is only 15 minutes from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and the City of Amsterdam.

Zuidtangent
A new regional bus route, the Zuidtangent, connects Amsterdam Airport Schiphol with major regional industrial and business areas around Amsterdam. The new express bus service runs from Haarlem via Hoofddorp and SchipholAirport to Amsterdam’s southeastern borough, Amsterdam-Zuidoost. Because the bus travels much of the route in a dedicated bus lane, a trip from Haarlem to Schiphol takes only 23 minutes, with buses running every 7.5 minutes at peak times. By 2008, the route should be extended in both directions, to IJmuiden on the North Sea coast and to the new IJburg residential area to the east of Amsterdam city centre.

Contemporary & Historic
Haarlem dubs itself a ‘contemporary historic city’. It has a treasure trove of monumental buildings, historic hofje courtyards and cultural heritage, and is also the seat of provincial government for the Province of North Holland. Originally a centre for traditional industries, such as breweries and textiles, Haarlem has evolved into a modern business city that hosts a whole range of high-tech businesses.

Get in touch with the Amsterdam Foreign Investment Office at afio@ez.amsterdam.nl or see www.afio.amsterdam.nl for more information.