The Netherlands is a top destination of foreign direct investment, according to the Netherlands' central bank.

fDi Markets data shows that the country surpasses neighbours Belgium and Luxembourg in terms of the number of companies investing investing there. Since 2003, there have been 975 companies that have invested into the Netherlands, compared with 843 in Belgium and 134 into Luxembourg.

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Also in this time frame, there has been a general increase in the number of FDI projects into the Netherlands. In 2003 there were 104 FDI projects recorded on fDi Markets, which rose steadily to a peak in 2008 of 175 projects. Despite the global economic crisis of 2008/09, investments into the country decreased only slightly, with 162 projects recorded in 2009; a drop of only 7.43% from the previous year.

The Netherlands also ranks top in the Benelux region in terms of capital expenditure and jobs created, with 52% of total capital in the region being invested in the Netherlands and almost 96,000 jobs created through FDI.

Of the total of 1811 FDI projects into the Netherlands since 2003, software and ICT services accounted for the most, with 223. This was closely followed by business services (100), textiles (79) and transportation (72).  Similarly, the top business function for the projects recorded was sales, marketing and support, with 351 projects, followed by logistics centres (162) and business services (152).

fDi Markets also records the top motives stated for companies investing into a country. For the Netherlands, the top motives included proximity to markets and customers, with many companies serving Europe from their unit in the Netherlands. Other motives included logistics and infrastructure, a skilled workforce availability, local business climate and language skills available in the country.

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