Information Technology in the

Netherlands

About The Netherlands
	About The Netherlands	Overview “Background: The Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed in 1815. In 1830 Belgium seceded and formed a separate kingdom. The Netherlands remained neutral in World War I but suffered a brutal invasion and occupation by Germany in World War II. A modern, industrialized nation, the Netherlands is also a large exporter of agricultural products. The country was a founding member of NATO and the EC, and participated in the introduction of the euro in 1999. Population: 15,892,237 (July 2000 est.) Age structure: 0-14 years: 18% (male 1,497,290; female 1,431,671) 15-64 years: 68% (male 5,490,518; female 5,305,848) 65 years and over: 14% (male 885,839; female 1,281,071) (2000 est.) Population growth rate: 0.57% (2000 est.) Birth rate: 12.12 births/1,000 population (2000 est.) Death rate: 8.72 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.) Net migration rate: 2.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.) Constitution: adopted 1814; amended many times, last time 17 February 1983 Legal system: 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 Executive branch: chief of state: Queen BEATRIX Wilhelmina Armgard (since 30 April 1980); Heir Apparent WILLEM-ALEXANDER (born 27 April 1967), son of the monarch head of government: Prime Minister Wim KOK (since 22 August 1994) and Vice Prime Ministers Annemarie JORRITSMA (since 3 August 1998) and Els BORST-EILERS (since 3 August 1998) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the monarch elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; following Second Chamber elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the monarch; vice prime ministers appointed by the monarch note: government coalition - PvdA, VVD, and D'66; there is also a Council of State composed of the monarch, heir apparent, and councilors consulted by the executive on legislative and administrative policy Legislative branch: bicameral States General or Staten Generaal consists of the First Chamber or Eerste Kamer (75 seats; members indirectly elected by the country's 12 provincial councils for four-year terms) and the Second Chamber or Tweede Kamer (150 seats; members directly elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: First Chamber - last held 25 May 1999 (next to be held NA May 2003); Second Chamber - last held 6 May 1998 (next to be held May 2002) election results: First Chamber - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - CDA 20, VVD 19, PvdA 15, D'66 4, other 17; Second Chamber - percent of vote by party - PvdA 30.0%, VVD 25.3%, CDA 19.3%, D'66 9.3%, other 16.1%; seats by party - PvdA 45, VVD 38, CDA 29, D'66 14, other 24 Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Hoge Raad, justices are nominated for life by the monarch Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Appeal or CDA [Jaap de Hoop SCHEFFER]; Democrats '66 or D'66 [Tom KOK]; Labor Party or PvdA [Wim KOK]; People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (Liberal) or VVD [Hans F. DIJKSTAL]; a host of minor parties Economy - overview: The Netherlands is a prosperous and open economy in which the government has successfully reduced its role since the 1980s. Industrial activity is predominantly in food processing, chemicals, petroleum refining, and electrical machinery. A highly mechanized agricultural sector employs no more than 4% of the labor force but provides large surpluses for the food-processing industry and for exports. The Dutch rank third worldwide in value of agricultural exports, behind the US and France. The Netherlands successfully addressed the issue of public finances and stagnating job growth long before its European partners. This has helped cushion the economy from a slowdown in the euro area. Strong 3.8% GDP growth in 1998 was followed by an only slightly lower 3.4% expansion in 1999. The outlook remains favorable, with real GDP growth in 2000 projected at 3.25%, along with a small budget surplus. The Dutch were among the first 11 EU countries establishing the euro currency zone on 1 January 1999. GDP: purchasing power parity - $365.1 billion (1999 est.) GDP - real growth rate: 3.4% (1999 est.) Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.2% (1999 est.) Labor force: 7 million (1998 est.) Labor force - by occupation: services 73%, industry 23%, agriculture 4% (1998 est.) Unemployment rate: 3.5% but generous welfare benefits have prompted large numbers to drop out of the labor market (1999 est.) Budget: revenues: $163 billion expenditures: $170 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.)”[1] The Netherlands and the US “The Netherlands is the third largest foreign investor in the U.S. (64.6 billion in 1997) and the Dutch subsidiaries provide 350,000 jobs in the U.S. 57% of all U. S. companies operating in Europe establish their distribution centers in the Netherlands In 1998 there were nearly 1,4000 American companies operating in the Netherlands, employing over 181,000 people.”[2]
	Telecommunication Infrastructure
	Liberalization and Deregulation
	Internet Diffusion
	Electronic Commerce
	Hardware manufacturing
	Software development
	Who Uses IT
	IT Geographics
	IT Financing
	IT Labor Market
	Government Policies
	Legal Environment
	Transborder Data Flows
	Analysis: IT strengths and weaknesses
	Analysis :Impacts on the Business
	Sources and Links
	About the authors

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The MOGIT site	TheKogod School of Business	AmericanUniversity

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Last update: December 18, 2000

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[1] http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/nl.html

[2] www.netherlands-embassy.org