Doing Business in the Netherlands

Syllabus of the Subject - Doing Business in the Netherlands. Amsterdam.

1. Introduction to the Kingdom of the Netherlands (European Union)
2. Dutch Economy
3. Doing Business in Amsterdam
4. Dutch Foreign Trade
5. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the Netherlands
6. Port of Rotterdam (the largest in Europe)
7. Access to the Dutch market
8. Business Plan for Netherlands

The objectives of the subject “Doing Business in the Netherlands (Holland)” are the following:

1. To analyse the Dutch Economy and Foreign Trade
2. To evaluate the business opportunities in the Dutch market
3. To analyse the trade relations of the Netherlands with the country of the student
4. To know the free trade agreements of the Netherlands as a member of the European Union
5. To develop a business plan for the Dutch market

Description of the Subject (Online Learning): Doing Business in the Netherlands (Holland)

The Kingdom of the Netherlands (Europe)

1. Capital: Amsterdam and The Hague
2. Official Language: Dutch
3. Area: 41,543 square kilometres
4. Dutch Population: 17 million people (one of the most densely populated countries in the world)
5. Type of Government: Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
6. Borders of the Netherlands: Germany and Belgium
7. Independence: 1581 (Spain)
8. The three Caribbean islands of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba belong to the Netherlands and are considered as overseas territories of the European Union, i.e., they are not part of the customs union or the Schengen area
9. Indonesia (Dutch East Indies, independence in 1949), Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles, belonged to the Dutch colonial empire
10. Abolition of the Slavery: 1814
11. The seat of the International Court of Justice (United Nations) is in The Hague

Religion in the Netherlands: Christianity

1. Catholicism: 27%
2. Protestantism: 17%.
3. The Baptist Church was created by John Smyth in the Netherlands

The Netherlands belongs to the Western Christian Civilisation (European Economic Area)

Economy of the Netherlands (Holland).

1. The Kingdom of the Netherlands is one of the most developed countries in the world, occupying the third place in human development (United Nations Human Development Index)
2. According to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the Netherlands is the 18th largest economy in the world
3. The global financial crisis triggered a major crisis
4. The Netherlands has been a member of the European Union since 1958
5. Currency: Euro (1999)
6. Dutch GDP (nominal): 836,000 million EUR
7. GDP per capita: EUR 50,087
8. 79% of the Dutch workforce works in the service sector
9. The Netherlands is the eighth most competitive country in the world
10. Main Dutch industrial activities: food processing, chemical industries, petroleum refining, electric machines
11. Main Dutch companies: Royal Dutch Shell (oil), ABN AMRO Bank, Philips (consumer electronics), Heineken (Beers), Unilever (consumer products), KLM
12. Many non-Dutch companies are based in the Netherlands, such as EADS, LyondellBasell and IKEA, due to low corporate taxes
13. The Netherlands has significant natural gas resources
14. The Netherlands has significant resources of natural gas

Dutch Foreign Trade

1. Dutch agri-food sector is crucial and highly export oriented (the third largest exporter of food products in the world)
2. Main Dutch Exports: natural gas, machinery, chemical products, fuels, food products
3. Top Dutch exports destinations: Germany (24%), Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, Italy
4. Main Dutch Imports: machinery, transport equipment, chemical products, fuels, foods, textiles
5. Main suppliers of the Netherlands: Germany, China, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Russia, Norway
6. As a member of the European Union, the Netherlands is the beneficiary of the EU Free trade agreements with South Korea, Chile, Lebanon, India, etc
7. The Port of Rotterdam is the seventh largest port of the world for container traffic and the largest European port. Distances from the Port of Rotterdam to:
   1. Port of Durban (South Africa): 8,156 Km / 34 days
   2. Port of Duala (Cameroun): 5,092 Km / 21 days
   3. Port of Dakar (Senegal): 2,558 Km / 8 days
   4. Port of Mombasa (Kenya): 7,120 Km / 29 days
   5. Port of Casablanca (Morocco): 1,681 Km / 7 days

International Economic Relations of the Netherlands

1. Inter-American Development Bank
2. Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
3. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
4. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
5. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
6. Council of the Baltic Sea States
7. World Bank
8. International Chamber of Commerce
9. European Union
10. World Trade Organisation
11. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
12. Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
13. International Monetary Fund (IMF)
14. European Investment Bank (EIB)
15. Asia-Europe Economic Meeting (ASEM)
16. Group of States of the Council of Europe Convention against the corruption (GRECO)
17. United Nations

The Netherlands is an observer country to the Association of Caribbean States (ACS)

Examples of the subject - Foreign Trade and Business in the Netherlands:

(c) EENI- Business School & Hispano-African University of International Business