Indian ICT sector leads in establishing base in The Netherlands; NFIA India 2010-11 annual results

New Delhi, February 16, 2012- The Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA) announced its annual results of global foreign investments into The Netherlands. Of the 193 projects of foreign companies which set up an establishment in the Netherlands in 2011, 10 of them were Indian companies. Among the key names are Mahindra Satyam, Tata Interactive Systems, OmnitechInfosolutions Ltd., Stellar Information Systems and Govind Rubber Limited.

According to Gerdalies van Diggelen, Executive Director NFIA India, “In 2011, NFIA India actively supported 10 Indian investment projects in The Netherlands. We have received repeated interest from the Indian ICT sector last year that clearly inclines towards the growing market for outsourcing in the Netherlands and N.W. Europe as the evident reason for establishing base. To date, a total of more than 160 establishments of Indian companies have been set up in the Netherlands to leverage the advantages it offers as a gateway to Europe.”

She further added, “Many of these companies use the Netherlands as the stepping stone into Europe, e.g. by setting up a marketing and sales offices, the country gives easy access to Europe’s major markets, and has an outstanding  transport infrastructure which  makes the Netherlands the country of choice for companies wishing to service Europe. We are expecting close to 200 new jobs being generated from the new investments in 2011.” 

The results also highlight Amsterdam as the number 1 choice for Indian investments, followed by The Hague region. With the steady growth of 2011, the total number of Indian establishments in The Netherlands is now calculated at more than 161 units. Besides ICT, also the Indian Chemical industry and Media & Entertainment are among the sectors which have decided to open in an establishment in the Netherlands. Their main reasons are  easy access to European markets, the favourable tax climate, easy access to R&D and high-tech knowledge, as well as the fact that almost 90% of the Dutch population speaks the English language.

The global NFIA results highlight a worldwide interest in The Netherlands with an increased awareness from Asia with exactly 100 projects. This was followed by 50 from North America and 31 from Europe. At a country level, the USA remains the most important source of investment projects (46), followed by China (29), Korea (25) and Japan (24).

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About NFIA

 The NFIA (Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency) is an operational unit of the ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation; NFIA India is an unit of the Dutch embassy in Delhi. The NFIA helps and advises foreign companies on the establishment, rolling out and/or expansion of their international activities in the Netherlands and can introduce them to the relevant networks (government and private partners). The NFIA was established more than 30 years ago, and has since then supported more than 2,800 companies from nearly 50 countries in the establishment or expansion of their international activities in the Netherlands.