A record number of nearly 8.500 jobs were added to the Dutch economy in 2013, part of a total investment of 1,7 billion euros from foreign investment.

The Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA) released these figures along with a survey of foreign investors in the Netherlands that showed an increase in their appreciation of the Dutch investment climate.

Minister of Economic Affairs Henk Kamp, jointly responsible for the NFIA, said that the record number of jobs created by foreign investment last year shows that the Netherlands has "an attractive and competitive business climate."

Huge increase in job creation

In 2012, foreign investment created just over 5.000 jobs, whereas the annual result for 2013 showed an increase of 60 per cent, to 8.500 jobs.

Companies responsible for these new jobs or job retention over the past year include vegetable seed supplier Nunhems, with 500 jobs in R&D, supply chain management service provider Moduslink, with 500 jobs in distribution, and IBM, with 350 service centre jobs.

Most investment projects from Asia

Of the 193 investment projects responsible for the positions, the greatest number came from Asia, with 75 projects, followed by North America with 70 and Europe with 34. European companies showed the greatest increase, up from only 12 projects a year ago.

The United States remains the most important source for foreign direct investment projects, with China a far second. US companies are also responsible for the most jobs and the highest investment amount.

Current foreign investment projects are primarily in distribution, marketing and sales, and headquarter functions. 

Investment in R&D activities and data centres is also rising, good news for anyone looking for employment in these industries.

The Netherlands rated highly

In the NFIA survey of foreign companies, more than half of the 600 foreign respondents rated the Dutch business climate as good to excellent.

This reflects a previous survey by British newspaper The Financial Times that rated Eindoven as the third-best city in Europe for foreign investment, with other Dutch cities Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht also making the top 20.

Reflecting on the results, Minister Kamp said that the Dutch government will continue to work to maintain a business climate that is ahead of the competition.

"We do this by investing in decisive location factors for foreign companies, such as a well-educated labour force, an excellent physical and digital infrastructure, good amenities and further reduction of administrative burdens," he said.

Source: NFIA