Netherlands Investments

Country name: The Netherlands

Location:Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between Belgium and Germany

Area:41,526 sq km

Population:16,715,999

Capital: Amsterdam

Language:Dutch and Frisian

Natural resources:natural gas, petroleum, peat, limestone, salt, sand and gravel, arable land

Government type:constitutional monarchy

Legal system: based on civil law system incorporating French penal theory; constitution does not permit judicial review of acts of the States General; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations
Currency: Euro

Economic overview:

Foreign trade is the main component in the Dutch open economy. The economy is characterized by stable industrial relations, moderate unemployment and inflation, a sizable current account surplus, and an important role as a European transportation hub. Industrial activity is predominantly in food processing, chemicals, petroleum refining, and electrical machinery. A highly mechanized agricultural sector employs no more than 3% of the labor force but provides large surpluses for the food-processing industry and for exports. The Netherlands, along with 11 of its EU partners, began circulating the euro currency on 1 January 2002. The country has been one of the leading European nations for attracting foreign direct investment and is one of the four largest investors in the US. The pace of job growth reached 10-year highs in 2007, but economic growth fell sharply in 2008 as fallout from the world financial crisis constricted demand and raised the specter of a recession in 2009.