Utrecht At A Glance

Home to Netherlands’ no.1 and one of the world’s top educational institutions, the Utrecht University, this region is attractive to foreign companies because of the availability of a highly skilled workforce. Over 39 percent of Utrecht’s 1.2 million inhabitants are university educated and about 1,100 foreign companies are already located in the province. Utrecht is also centrally located within the Netherlands and well connected; therefore foreign companies find it easy to source talent from all over the country.

Availability of educated personnel in Utrecht

Key Sectors

Lifesciences

Of the 140,000 educated personnel available in Utrecht, over 75,000 have a university or applied scientific degree. No wonder that Utrecht is a leader in lifesciences, particularly in R&D related to biotechnology and human health. Utrecht University and Medical Centre Utrecht alone educate over 7,500 students in lifescience disciplines, including veterinary sciences. The province is also home to several internationally renowned research institutes, such as RIVM (National Institute of Public Health and the Environment), NVI (Netherlands Vaccine Institute), the Hubrecht Laboratory (Netherlands Institute for Developmental Biology), TNO Pharma, and TNO Nutrition and Food. The area also is home to ‘Immuno Valley’, a consortium of renowned knowledge institutions as well as companies focused on fighting the challenge of infectious diseases.
A healthy climate for partnership between academia and the industry ensures that companies can access an excellent infrastructure for funding, expertise in business consultancy, clinical trials, patenting and licensing. Utrecht offers various kinds of industry support, financial incentives and subsidies to foreign companies looking at starting lifescience ventures in the region. Sufficient suitable space is available for lifesciences companies in the university campus as well as in the Science Park Utrecht, ‘De Uithof’.

ICT

The ICT sector in Utrecht employs about 43,000 people and houses 3,000 companies with a focus on software and services including development, distributions and implementation of software applications. Though the cities of Nieuwegein, Papendorp and Houten are important sites for ICT, it is Amersfoort that has recorded a high growth rate of 20 percent in 2008 for ICT activity. The City of Utrecht’s own network platform ICT Skill City has been active in bringing together professionals and though there isn’t a substantial Indian community yet in Utrecht, an increasing number of knowledge migrants are finding a comfortable life in the province.
Some of the well-known international ICT companies with substantial operations in Utrecht are Sun Microsystems, Oracle, Fujitsu Services, Atos Origin, Asus and Sybase, among others.

Gaming

With the local government supporting the industry strongly, gaming has emerged as a strong industry in Utrecht. The Dutch Game Garden, located close to the Utrecht Central Station, helps young entrepreneurs set up gaming related businesses in Utrecht by assisting with funding, office space as well as contacts in local and international networks.
A growing emphasis on new media, including online gaming and a government emphasis on using gaming technology to develop simulation and training products are providing a constant impetus to the gaming industry. With Nintendo setting up its Europe sales office in Utrecht, international gaming companies are also recognising the promise of the infrastructure here.