NFIA Newsletter July 2012

As the world becomes more inter-connected, ambitious companies are investing overseas to spur growth and to open up new mar-kets. In fact, the FDI Forecasting Unit at the Financial Times is cau-tiously optimistic of a 4.4% growth in global FDI in 2012, with particu-larly strong growth in renewable energy and data centres*.

Top European destinationsOf the top 10 European destinations for FDI, the Netherlands was the best performer in terms of growth in the number of FDI projects in 2011.

Expanding overseas The UK government is encourag-ing companies in the UK to increase their trade and investment activi-ties abroad and expand into addi-

tional markets. Research by RSM Tenon in 2012, revealed that a third of UK entrepreneurs are planning to expand their business overseas. Of them, nearly half are looking to Western Europe as their best oppor-tunity for business growth, regard-less of the Eurozone crisis.

Next step into EuropeThe NFIA results for 2011 reveal that many companies from the UK and

Ireland take their first steps into the markets of mainland Europe by investing and expanding into the Netherlands. “This shows the Nether-lands still has a favourable investment climate,” says Mr Henk Bleker, Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Investment. “Companies favour our position as a stepping stone to Europe because of our language and educa-tional skills as well as our fiscal climate.”

The Netherlands

Prime MovesA publication of the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency | July 2012 | UK & Ireland Edition

The Netherlands: gateway to growth

Contents The Netherlands is ‘Open for Innovation’ 2-3

Ventac and Terremark’s new home in Holland 4

NFIA News 5

Prime Moves 6

Source: NL Agency

Country Growth in number of 2011 projects (% change on 2010)

The Netherlands 29%

Ireland 22%

Romania 20%

UK 13%

Spain 0.4%

France -2%

Czech Republic -5%

Poland -13%

Russia -16%

Germany -22%

Source: The FDI Report 2012. Fdi Intelligence, a division of the Financial Times Ltd.

The Dutch are well known for their innovative culture – from solutions for use in the natural environment, such as combating rising water levels and building islands in the sea, to developing new technologies such as Tom-Tom and Wi-Fi.

The Open Innovation Model‘Open Innovation’ is a term promoted by Berkeley Professor, Henry Ches-borough, as a way of managing inno-vation and bringing monetary value to technical knowledge and creativ-ity. Dutch companies successfully adopt an open innovation culture – using external as well as inter-nal ideas, partnerships and risk and reward sharing.

The High Tech Campus Eindhoven is synonymous with open innova-tion. Philips was the driving force behind its establishment in the 1990s and its continued growth is a result of several public and private sector collaborations. Now, over 8,000 researchers, developers and entrepreneurs work closely together developing new products and tech-nologies in high tech systems.

Other smaller scale examples include the Open Innovation Cen-tre Advanced Materials (OICAM) in Nijmegen. This network of com-panies and knowledge institutes focuses on sharing knowledge, con-ducting research into and devel-oping high-grade materials and material technology. Closely linked, 200 researchers at the Dutch Pol-ymer Institute perform explora-tory research in the area of polymer materials together with the Univer-

sity of Twente. This university also hosts Nanolab NL, and conducts joint research into nanotechnology. All these networks provide important platforms to link scientific knowl-edge with the commercial need for innovation and help with faster and lower cost routes to market.

Clusters of expertiseIn international rankings, Dutch universities score highly for both teaching and research. Moreover, the presence of home-grown lead-ing multinationals, such as Akzo-Nobel, Philips, Shell and Unilever is combined with many other global businesses, such as Danone, Dow and Yakult, who have chosen the Netherlands for their R&D activi-ties. This ensures a solid, broad and extremely knowledgeable business base. Food Valley and Leiden Bio Science Park are two examples of world class clusters of expertise.

The Netherlands ‘Open for Innovation’ | page 2

The Netherlands is ‘Open for Innovation’New R&D fiscal policyThe Netherlands has a new com-petitive R&D fiscal policy to help companies looking to finance their R&D activities. As well as the corporate tax rate of 20% on tax-able profits up to €200,000, (25% > €200,000) Dutch-based companies can make use of the:• WBSO: R&D allowance deduct-

ing wage tax and social insurance contributions from the wage bill

• RDA: general tax facility seeking to reduce companies’ R&D op-erating costs and investment in R&D assets

• Innovation Box: Effective tax rate of only 5% for R&D income from self-developed patented and un-patented intangible assets which qualify for the WBSO.

Source: Jeroen Verreijt ǀ Dutch Polymer Institute

Food ValleyWageningen University lies at the heart of Food Valley, one of the larg-est agri-food and nutrition centres in the world. The combination of 1,400 food companies, 70 research com-panies and 20 research institutions gives this region an excellent knowl-edge infrastructure. Food Valley is also home to the Top Institute Food & Nutrition, the public-private inno-vation programme Food & Nutrition Delta and NIZO food research. For-eign agri-food companies use the Food Valley region for food related science and development as well as manufacturing of agri-food and nutrition products.

Leiden Bio Science ParkThe Leiden Bio Science Park is home to the largest concentration of life sciences activities in The Nether-lands. Most of the biomedical life sciences companies located in Lei-den are spin-offs from the university and the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC). This includes start-ups and multinationals like Crucell and Janssen Biologics, with activi-ties ranging from R&D to manufac-turing. Several centres of academic research in the areas of drug dis-covery, industrial biotechnology and medical technology are are also based in Leiden Bio Science Park.

The Netherlands ‘Open for Innovation’ | page 3

TEDxBinnenhof Catwalk for Innovation

On 25th June 2012, the TEDx Cat-walk for Innovation in The Hague turned the spotlight on the in-novative powers of the Nether-lands. Ten inspiring speakers showcased their groundbreak-ing Dutch ideas on tackling pol-lution, health care costs, bio-diversity, climate change and scarcity of natural resources, food and energy. Watch all the Dutch ideas worth spreading via www.tedxbinnenhof.com.

Source: Royal Grolsch N.V.

Terremark chooses Schiphol for its first European data centreTerremark provides clients with a broad package of IT services, includ-ing colocation, managed hosting, cloud computing, and security, from almost 50 data centres across the globe. In September 2011, they opened their first private European data centre at Schiphol. “We considered various locations across Europe,” says Eric Lisica, Terremark’s VP of Data Centre Services Europe, “but, the Amsterdam/Schiphol area

offered the best opportunities. The Neth-erlands has a favourable commercial cli-mate and the colocation market is better developed here than in other European countries. Practically all the large car-riers have a facility in the Netherlands, while the fact that a sufficient power sup-ply was available to us played an impor-tant role. The global recognition of Schiphol was also a crucial factor. “Wherever you are in the world, everyone knows Schiphol,” explains Eric. “It was also a nice symbolic touch that Schiphol is known as the ‘mainport’ to Europe: in our industry, that is what we are too.”

Green powerThe data centre building has been renovated with particular attention to sustainability. “We only purchase green electricity,” says Eric, “and we

have a very modern cooling system that allows us to keep power consumption to a minimum.“There are, of course, a number of per-mits required to build a data centre, which makes the preparatory phase very complex,” Eric recalls. “But, we’ve had enormous help from the NFIA and its regional partners (amsterdaminbuis-ness, Schiphol Area Development Com-pany and Amsterdam Airport Authority). We have been able to approach them for free support, information and advice in areas, such as tax, subsidy and incen-tive programmes. They have an extensive network of partners, and have put us in touch with the right people at organisa-tions such as the Tax Authority and NL Agency.”

www.terremark.com

Ventac Group is a leading pro-vider of innovative noise control solutions for industrial vehicles and buses. From their state of the art laboratory and manufac-turing facilities in County Wick-low, Ireland, they provide a com-prehensive service that includes development, design, testing and manufacturing solutions for OEM’s across the world. Darren Fortune, Ventac’s MD, explains why they chose the High Tech Auto-motive Campus (HTAC) in Helmond, the Netherlands, for their European support office. “We want to build on our presence within the European market,”

says Darren, “as we have strong busi-ness relationships in mainland Europe. Geographically, it’s the perfect location in Europe with easy access by air and road. “We were also impressed with the facili-ties and opportunities at the Campus and we liked their ethos. They are aiming to be a centre of excellence for the automo-tive industry. That makes it an inspiring environment for our business.”Getting the right advice“Setting up in the Netherlands was rela-tively straightforward for us,” says Dar-ren. “We already had experience of doing business there and we knew some good people. The NFIA and Brabant Develop-ment Agency (BOM), in particular, helped us on the legislative side. “One thing to bear in mind is that the business environment is very structured

and you need to do your research and have a robust business plan. On a practi-cal level, personnel contracts, cost struc-tures and pensions are all different and we had some conflicting advice from the different people we spoke to. If I were doing this again I would say ‘speak to the NFIA first. They have all the knowl-edge and contacts and you know you can trust them’. “I enjoy working with the Dutch because they are friendly yet direct and open to new innovative business partners. How-ever, to be successful in the Netherlands,” Darren concludes, “you need a good partner to help you understand the cul-ture and develop your strategy.”

www.ventac.com

Ventac and Terremark’s new home in Holland | page 4

Ventac and Terremark find a new home base in Holland

On June 5 Minister Verhagen offi-cially opened the new NFIA office in Israel. The office is located within the Dutch Embassy in Tel Aviv and is headed by Mr. Marnix van Voorber-gen. The Israeli economy is boom-ing, driven by new technologies and internationalisation. The NFIA aims to play an important role in helping Israeli companies to internationalise and seize global opportunities faster. The office will serve as the local base to promote economic, innovation and R&D cooperation between Dutch and Israeli companies and organisa-tions as well as facilitate Israeli com-panies’ European expansion plans in the Netherlands.

NFIA News | page 5

NFIA News

New NFIA office opened in Tel Aviv

Investing in peopleEncouraging innovation is about more than infrastructure and fis-cal policy. Ultimately, it’s about people and attracting talent from across the world. The Dutch Gov-ernment has, therefore, intro-duced a simplified procedure for ‘Knowledge Migrants’ coming to the Netherlands for short term projects.

To make life easier for investors and entrepreneurs, The Minis-try of Social Affairs and Employ-ment has announced a ‘short stay pilot scheme for highly-skilled migrants’. The scheme is an exten-sion of the current highly-skilled migrants scheme (kennismigrant) and includes those coming to the Netherlands for short term assign-ments of up to three months (90

days). It has been designed to help approved employers attract tal-ented people from outside the Netherlands to work on short-term projects or provide training or con-sulting services.

Under the scheme, individuals who qualify as highly-skilled migrants, will have the process for applying for a work permit shortened sig-

nificantly (from around five to two weeks), as less paperwork will be required. This pilot scheme will run until the end of 2013 when the IND (Dutch Immigration and Naturalisa-tion Service) will assess whether these simplified entry procedures should be implemented indefinitely.

More highly-skilled migrants in the NetherlandsDuring 2011, more highly-skilled people came to the Netherlands than ever before – mostly from India, the US, China and Japan. The Dutch Gov-ernment has a very welcoming attitude towards highly-skilled migrants and strives to reduce obstacles to obtaining visas, residence and work permits, if certain salary criteria are met. Recently, the Ministry of Social Affairs announced a pilot for larger knowledge intensive companies who need to bring in staff for specific orders.

Source: NFIA Israel

NFIA UK & Ireland38 Hyde Park GateLondon SW7 5DPUnited KingdomT: +44 20 7225 1074F: +44 20 7584 [email protected]/NFIALondon

Netherlands Foreign Investment AgencyThe Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA), an operational unit within the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation provides assistance to companies interested in setting-up, expanding or restructuring their pan-European operations in the Netherlands. The NFIA is here to assist you at every stage of your strategic decision making by offering a combination of information, advice and practical help. Free of charge, without obligation and on a confidential basis.

While information in this newsletter has been compiled from reliable sources, the Government of the Netherlands takes no legal responsibility for any of the state- ments made. Articles in this newsletter may only be reproduced with permission of the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency.

Prime Moves

Ireland-based Intuition, opened an Amsterdam office to serve Northern European markets. ServInt, a leading cloud infra-structure US-based cloud host-ing provider, opened their first data centre presence outside North America in Amsterdam. “Amsterdam’s available resources of premium connectivity and the most highly skilled technical support, are unparalleled in the region”.Council of International Sch-ools, a non-profit member-ship organisation supporting improvement of international education, consolidated its global operations in Leiden.Hoyu Co. Ltd., a Japan-based manufacturer of hair-colouring and hair-cosmetics products, has opened a new European sales office in Amsterdam, relocating from London. GoGrid, a leading cloud infra-structure company, established its EMEA Headquarters and a new data centre in Amsterdam.Ireland-based Kerry Ingredi-ents & Flavours has announced the opening of a new emulsifier plant in Zwijndrecht, the Nether-lands.GE Benelux, the regional divi-sion for US-based General Elec-tric, opened its new divisional headquarters in Rotterdam. “GE has strong ties with the region and will focus on transportation, mobil-ity, energy and healthcare sectors”.

The Netherlands: competitive and happyRecent surveys confirm the Netherlands is a great place to do business in and offers an excellent quality of life.It ranks: • 2nd Bloomberg Best Countries For Business 2012 • 3rd worldwide in the UN Human Development Index 2011 – best

countries to live in • 4th worldwide in the newly created United Nations World Happiness

Report • 6th in the WIPO and INSEAD Global Innovation Index 2012 • 7th in the World Economic Forum’s survey of most competitive

economies • 10th in the IMD’s Global Quality of Life 2011 survey.

Editorial: Wendy Sayer

Source: NBTC – Jochem Tack