Noord-Brabant At A Glance

• The province of Brabant has a geographically strategic location in the southern part of the Netherlands and Western Europe.
• The region is centrally located between Amsterdam/Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Brussels, Rotterdam - Europe’s number one port - and the port of Antwerp.
• It is a busy industrial region. Over 20 per cent of the Netherlands’ industries are located in Noord Brabant. It is also one of the most knowledge-intensive regions of Europe.
• The economic structure of North-West Europe is supported by important transport routes, corridors – from the main ports mentioned above to the densely populated urban and industrial areas in this area, offering access to 300 million consumers.
• Brabant is also close to the Rhine-Ruhr area, the major German economic core region, covers 5,000 square kilometers (2,000 square miles), and accounts for almost 15% (appr. 2.4 million) of the total Dutch population.
• The main cities are – ‘s Hertogenbosch (unofficially Den Bosch), the capital, Eindhoven (largest), Breda, Helmond and Tilburg. Eindhoven is the home of lighting and electronics giant Philips and car and truck manufacturers Van Doorne’s Automobiel Fabriek (DAF)
• Brabant accommodates over one thousand international companies, employing almost 75,000 highly qualified, mulitilingual, flexible and motivated workers, mainly in production and logistics facilities, European headquarters, marketing & sales offices and R&D centers. Represented sectors are, among others, pharmaceutical/biotechnology, medical technology, food, chemical and IT.
• This is one of the most R&D intensive regions in the country. It is responsible for almost one-third of all Dutch research and development research. The Technical University of Eindhoven and the Agricultural University of Wageningen are major entities in this aspect with their tie-ups with private companies.
• The breweries of Noord Brabant are well known as are its textile and food processing industries.
• The region offers a fairly high quality of life that blends culture, tradition and a modern international environment.