International companies to Amsterdam in 2011
In 2011, a total of 118 new international companies established offices in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. The majority of these new companies are active in the ICT sector, the creative industry and financial & corporate services. Collectively, these companies have created employment for 1,231 people - an increase of 18% compared to the previous year, when 1,008 new jobs were created.
A total of 23 companies also extended their activities in 2011, creating another 324 jobs. These figures are drawn from results released by amsterdam inbusiness, the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area’s marketing and acquisition organisation.
118 international companies to Amsterdam in 2011
On 1 January 2012, more than 2,200 international companies had established offices in the region, creating direct employment for 156,905 people. Nearly a quarter of these offices are headquarters. Amsterdam is second only to London when it comes to attracting headquarters within Europe: in 2011, 31 new headquarters were established in the city.
A hub for ICT companies
Nearly a quarter of the new companies that established offices in the region are active in the ICT sector. One such example is ReachLocal, an American company offering online marketing solutions to small and middle-sized enterprises. Chinese ICT and telecom giant Huawei also opened an Amsterdam office for the Huawei Enterprise Business division. This directly created an additional 100 jobs, alongside the 300 jobs Huawei previously brought to Amsterdam.
Creative sector
The Amsterdam Metropolitan Area represents strong appeal to the creative sector. The sector was responsible for the introduction of 21 new companies, including Hi-Tec Sports that moved its headquarters from the United Kingdom to Amsterdam and American advertising agency Anomaly. These companies joined other creative companies that established offices in the region in recent years such as Taxi, Adaptive Path, Gree, DeNA and Perfect World.
Business partners
The advance of Asian companies into the Amsterdam Area has been highly visible for several years now. Japan remains a significant country of origin for international companies: in 2011,11 new Japanese companies established offices in the region, including Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. Nine new companies arrived from China, five from India and four from Korea. The majority of companies (43) came from North America; 38 of these came from the United States of America - the Netherlands’ primary business partner. These companies are primarily active in the ICT sector and creative industry.
Companies stay in Amsterdam
In 2011, 23 companies already established in the region extended their operations. Aramex, a logistic services provider from Dubai, completed extensive expansion at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The world’s largest data transport hub, AMS-IX, is on the doorstep - a primary reason behind why the region became an exceedingly popular location for data centres during the last year. Major players such as Global Switch and Equinix were already active in the region and extended their operations in 2011.
The economic crisis affected all European economies and while Amsterdam also suffered to some extent, the regional economy proved to be resilient. The Amsterdam Area strongly benefitted from increasing export levels achieved by transport and trading companies located around Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and Aalsmeer. The regional economy grew by 2.6% in 2010, higher than the national growth percentage of 1,8% (CBS). With its youthful population and multifaceted economic foundations, the region is resilient and remains the driving force behind growth in the Netherlands.
Economic Development Board
The Amsterdam Metropolitan Area is devoted to strengthening its leading position as a business city even further in the approaching years. Governmental agencies, knowledge institutions and the trade and industry sector in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area came together to establish the Amsterdam Economic Development Board. In 2011, the Board formulated a comprehensive strategy based on a Knowledge & Innovation Agenda for seven economic clusters including ICT/eScience, Creative Industry and Trade & Logistics.
amsterdam inbusiness
Amsterdam inbusiness assists international companies looking to establish offices in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area and supports the existing international business community. Under the collective title of amsterdam inbusiness, the municipalities of Amsterdam, Almere, Amstelveen and Haarlemmermeer unite to work towards developing an increasingly attractive business climate for international companies.
More information
Annemarie Satink, International Press Officer, City of Amsterdam, Tel. +31 (0)6 5577 0310. satink@ez.amsterdam.nl
Press release, 19 January2012
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