Doing Business in the Netherlands

EENI- School of International Business

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

  1. Introduction to the Kingdom of the Netherlands (the European Union)
  2. The Dutch Economy
  3. Doing Business in Amsterdam
  4. The Dutch Foreign Trade
  5. The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the Netherlands
  6. The 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
The subject “Foreign Trade and Business in the Netherlands” is studied...
  1. Doctorate: Europe
  2. Professional Master's Programs (e-learning): European Union, International Business

Recommendations for the Dutch Students

Course learning materials in English + Spanish Paises Bajos French Pays-Bas Portuguese EU.

  1. Credits of the subject “Doing Business in the Netherlands”: 1 ECTS
  2. Duration: one week

Description of the Subject: 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. Population: 17 millions of 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. Religion in the Netherlands: Christianity
    1. Catholicism: 27%
    2. Protestantism: 17%. The Baptist Church was created by John Smyth in the Netherlands
  8. The Netherlands belongs to the Western Christian Civilisation (European Economic Area)
  9. Independence: 1581 (Spain)
  10. 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
  11. Indonesia (Dutch East Indies, independence in 1949), Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles, belonged to the Dutch colonial empire
  12. Abolition of the slavery: 1814
  13. The seat of the International Court of Justice (United Nations) is in The Hague

The 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. The Dutch GDP (nominal): 836,000 millions of euros
  7. GDP per capita: 50,087 euros
  8. 79% of the Dutch workforce works in the services 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

The Dutch Foreign Trade.

  1. The 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 Free trade agreements of the EU 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 the Caribbean States (ACS)

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

European Union-Chile Free Trade Agreement

Association of the Caribbean States (ACS)

European Union-Egypt Association Agreement



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