In short the INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT 21
LOCALBUSINESS
MAASTRICHT
INDEPENDANT CENTRE OF THE SOUTH Photography: City of Maastricht Press Dept.
South Limburg is a singular place, at a distance from the rest of the country, an enclave between industrial regions in Belgium and Germany. This southern region has a history of strife with The Netherlands and other neighbours, but also a tradition of cooperation and dialogue. In recent years, it has developed a name as a conference location and university town, as well as a site for high value industry. And, with nearly 1,000 eating spots, Maastricht and surroundings attract millions of visitors seeking the Dutch version of la dolce vita. ‘The Hague is far away,’ says Harry Meens, waving vaguely in a northerly direction. Meens is director at Alfa Bier, a little family firm in the village of Schinnen, a stone’s throw from Maastricht. He represents the fifth generation that has run this brewery since it opened in 1870. At that time, nearly every village in South Limburg had its own brand of beer. But some breweries grew at the expense of their competitors in recent decades, and most of Meens’ colleagues dropped out of the business. ‘At the moment, it’s mainly the rules set by the Dutch politicians that threaten us,’ says Meens. ‘We are being forced to invest millions in our traditional businesses. Every cent that has to be passed on to our customers via the price of the beer is a cent too much. Drinkers can easily cross the border here to get cheaper beer. Belgium is less than 10 km to the west, the German border 15 km east, and this central location doesn’t only create trade advantages. It makes businessmen alert to competition on the other side of the border, and to the implications of decisions taken in The Hague. That has led South Limburg to develop over the centuries as an independent centre. The region is a part of The Netherlands, but in certain aspects, particularly economic and cultural ones, it’s also distinct. NATIONAL DISTINCTION The history of South Limburg extends back two millennia. Established on a major crossroads, the city was an important meeting point in the days of the Ancient Romans. In the centuries that followed, the region developed as a trading centre on the Maas river, servicing merchants heading towards Belgium and Germany. From 1300 Maastricht also acquired cultural and religious significance, evident in the many imposing Catholic churches and historic buildings in the provincial capital. In the 19th century the region became an industrial centre: because wages were low, German and Belgian entrepreneurs chose to set up production facilities here and the ceramic industry, in particular, blossomed.
But in the middle of the 20th century, the economy of the region slowed. Employment fell and South Limburg lost its drawing power. The national government took action to reverse this negative trend, investing heavily in the local economy. That paid off. Maastricht acquired national and international repute as a culinary haven and location for meetings and conferences. With an annual 18 million visitors, the 1,000 hotels, bars and restaurant are bustling. The high point on the annual congress calendar is the international art fair, Tefaf. This world famous event has been taking place in Maastricht for the past 25 years, in the MECC exposition hall, attracting wealthy art patrons as well as less-well-endowed art lovers from all over the globe. In recent decades, a lot has also been invested in education. The University of Maastricht, set up in the 1970s, had nearly 14,000 students last year, nearly 15 percent of whom were from Germany, Belgium and France. More recently, the Randwyck Campus was set up near Maastricht and it attracts increasing numbers of scientific firms working in the field of health care. Zuyd University, a combination of theatre school, conservatory, art academy and hotel school is also gaining popularity in The Netherlands and beyond. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION In the latest plans for the area, the city of Maastricht is to reverse its previous efforts to act as a magnet in relation to neighbouring urban centres and instead to seek dialogue with surrounding regions. There’s reason enough for this. Maastricht and its surroundings contain nearly 6,500 businesses and a workforce of around 75,000. The so-called Meuse-Rhine-Triangle has 40 times that number of businesses and a total workforce of nearly a quarter of a million. Because of international cooperation, Maastricht and South Limburg are growing as centres for service industries, life sciences, shared services and the call enter sector. In the wider European perspective, Maastricht is also a name to be reckoned with. In 1992, the Treaty of Maastricht was signed here, laying the basis for the European Union and the single currency. Based on an interview of The International Correspondent and Harry Meens in 2010