Invest in Holland helps foreign business set up in the Neth

THE GLOBAL CONDITION

At the time of publication, there are 7.98 billion people on Earth1. This population lives in disparate conditions across 195 countries depending on their region, demographics, and wealth2 .

13.7% of the global population are residents of continental Europe, where the average person’s consumption rate requires 4.7 hectares3 (235% beyond global capacity) to support their lifestyle. This consumption is a result of a high development status4, a mature commercial sector, and a history of benefit from colonisation and its subsequent wealth extraction.

1. United Nations. (z.d.). World population prospects 2022: Summary of results | UN DESA publications. United Nations. 2. United Nations. (z.d.). Member states. United Nations. 3. Ecological footprint of European countries. European Environment Agency. (2021, May 11). The Industrial Revolution, which transformed the global economy and made modern population growth and consumption patterns possible, began in Europe during the 1800s. However, the latter half of the 20th century saw widespread globalisation as corporations and countries shifted production from high consumption, high wage Western countries to low consumption, low wage countries in Eastern Asia and the Global South. As a result of this offshoring and the ensuing cost efficiencies, the modern economy in Europe is now highly advanced, with a significant service economy and focus on value-added industries.5

4. Hdro. (2022, September 20). Home: Human development reports. Home | Human Development Reports. 5. Invest in Holland helps foreign business set up in the Netherlands. NFIA. (2022, March 30).

Port of Amsterdam Amsterdam Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

Rotterdam Port of Rotterdam

Zeeland Seaports Vlissingen

Antwerpen Groningen Seaports

Hannover

Duisburg

Köln

Maastricht Aachen Airport

THE NETHERLANDS PLAYS AN INTEGRAL ROLE

One of the most important participants in this system is The Netherlands. As the originator of the first multinational corporation and a major global trader over the past four hundred years, it is now one of the primary links between global producers and consumers. In the 2020s, its inhabitants comprise only 0.22% of the global population, but are responsible for 1.1% of all global Gross Domestic Product (GDP)6 .

This difference can be attributed to the Netherland’s high levels of development access to knowledge, and well-established industrial and commercial sectors. The Netherlands’ primary products are no longer raw goods, but knowledge, and it exports this resource through its university system, extensive participation in international organisations, and successful multinational corporations.

The Netherland’s has a rich heritage of agricultural production for which it currently allocates 53.2% of total surface area7. From these arable lands and greenhouses, high-value dairy products, meats (particularly beef), flowers, and more are produced. Combined with the value of goods processed from raw materials (like chocolate), a total of 68.3 billion EUR in agricultural goods were produced domestically in 2020. In Zuid-Holland, the Westland municipality has more than 2,500 hectares of greenhouses producing goods with up to ten times the amount of yield with half the amount of water and fertiliser resources.

While some goods are destined for domestic consumption, a significant proportion are exported. The Netherlands has constructed a world-leading intermodal system effective not only at moving goods, but also at integrating valueadded processing during their time in the country.

6. GDP growth (annual %) - Netherlands. Data. (z.d.). 7. Cbs. (2021, February 9). How do we use our land? CBS.

“Food systems of any city around the world, whether small or large, will always be made up of mixture of various actors, local or global food chain, and different ways of distribution and consumption. The food systems can be better understood by dividing it into three (3) basic categories based on different factors with each offering specific opportunities to various actors.”

(Food in an Urbanised World, Jennings S. et al., 2015).

ROTTERDAM IS AN IMPORT / EXPORT HUB

In this way, the Netherlands has mastered a tri-prong agricultural value chain: production, processing, and distribution. With the quality of its air, rail, and sea ports, the Netherlands acts as the Gateway to Europe for many goods and re-distributes up to 70% of imports to 8neighbouring countries1 .

The Port of Rotterdam has been designed as an important component in this system. With a size of 12,600 hectares, it is the largest port in Europe and imports and exports hundreds of millions of tonnes annually. It contributes directly or indirectly to more than 565,000 jobs within the Netherlands and acts specifically as an

8. Adapted from De Bosatlas van Nederland (1ste editie). Noordhoff. (2007, 1 oktober) integral part of the agricultural 9supply chain.2 While only 3% of its total pass-through is designated as agribulk, this accounts for more than 8.6 million tonnes of product annually3 . 10 Whether involved in the food chain during one or many steps (from production, processing, distributing, to marketing of food), the Port of Rotterdam has a sophisticated, digitised system for managing these complex, often international networks of actors. From its early origins as a city on a dam to its modern role to a more circular future, the Port of Rotterdam is an integral part of the Dutch food system.

9. Viviano, F. (2021, May 3). How the Netherlands feeds the world. Magazine. 10. Facts and Figures Port of Rotterdam. Port of Rotterdam. (z.d.).

Small Scale Producers