Chapter 7 InternationaliSation

The Netherlands: we
open our doors for you

Innovation, entrepreneurship and cooperation are deeply embedded in the Dutch DNA. Living in a densely-populated river delta such as the Netherlands creates, by necessity, a culture of collaboration that is perhaps most clearly manifested in the country’s smart and effective defences against water. This propensity for cooperation and consensus can be found in every facet of Dutch society, including the LSH sector.

Close-knit community

As home to eight university medical centers, 3,100 LSH companies and 13 universities within a 120-mile radius, the Netherlands is one of the most concentrated LSH clusters in the world. Within this strong, close-knit, research infrastructure, anchored by public-private partnerships (PPPs), the Dutch strive for innovative moonshots that will contribute to improving healthcare and economic growth.

And the Dutch open-door policy pays off. In 2019, the Netherlands became Europe’s most competitive economy for the first time, according to the Global Competitiveness Index. On top of that, the Netherlands ranked amongst the strongest European innovators in the authoritative European Innovation scoreboard 2019, which assesses countries on indicators such as PPPs, investments in R&D, the impact of innovation by SMEs, digitisation, quality of (research) studies and the level of employment within innovative companies and knowledge institutions.

In 2019, the Netherlands
became Europe’s most
competitive economy
for the first time

The Netherlands
welcomes EMA

Exactly two years after it became clear that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) would be moving to the Netherlands, Amsterdam officially delivered the new headquarters for EMA on 15 November. Every year, EMA will bring 36,000 visitors to the Netherlands.

It will also contribute to a strengthening of the Dutch LSH sector and the arrival of many companies in the Netherlands. The Netherlands has already welcomed many new offices, for example from Norgine, KitePharma, Janssen Vaccines, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Sanofi.

Transatlantic Life
Sciences Partnership

Innovating Together to Improve Health

Top Sector Life Sciences & Health is committed to establishing new international partnerships in the field of Health & Care. During an official economic mission from the Netherlands to Boston led by Prime Minister Mark Rutte and former Minister for Medical Care Bruno Bruins, representatives from public investment agencies, the life sciences industry and other organisations convened to discuss an international partnership.

This partnership is in advance of the ongoing collaboration in life sciences between the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Netherlands. As a result, the Massachusetts Office of International Trade and Investment (MOITI) and their Dutch counterpart, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This MoU will be the foundation of a Massachusetts Netherlands Transatlantic Life Sciences Partnership.

Health~Holland goes international

Under the flag of Health~Holland, Top Sector LSH had a busy international year with a wide variety of international visits. This overview illustrates a selection of the international conventions, missions and events in 2019 and provides a sneak-peek of the upcoming events that will turn orange in 2020.

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