Booming business climate for Swedish companies in the Netherlands

Håkan Jevrell, State Secretary for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, discussed the results of the BCS2023 for the Netherlands via link from Stockholm.

“The Business Climate Survey deepens our understanding of the current business climate in the Netherlands and gives us a sound basis for the continued business dialogue. The Swedish–Dutch business relations run deep, which is reflected in the optimism felt by Swedish companies here”, said Ambassador Johannes Oljelund while opening the launch.

Håkan Jevrell, the State Secretary for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade underlined that the Swedish and Dutch markets share common features with a high level of innovation, technology, digitalisation and sustainability. “This presents further possibilities for deeper and broader business relations between Sweden and the Netherlands”. State Secretary Jevrell also encouraged Swedish companies to continue promoting the benefits of doing business in the Netherlands:

“The report shows that the Netherlands is a shining example of how things could and should be for Swedish companies abroad. I’m very confident that the Netherlands will remain an important trade partner for Sweden. The strategic location, and high level of innovation and digitalisation, also makes it a steppingstone for entering new markets for many Swedish companies”.

Kerstin Gerlagh, managing director of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce presented the Business Climate Survey 2023 for the Netherlands and highlighted some of the key findings: 

• Swedish companies in the Netherlands rate the business climate in the Netherlands 4.5 out of 5 which ranked the Netherlands first in Europe and third globally.
• In 2022, an impressive 83% of Swedish companies in the Netherlands reported profitability, surpassing the global average of 68%.This was the highest profitability rank globally, together with Brazil.
• The Netherlands has the highest environmental and sustainability interest from customers globally, together with UK and Germany. In the Netherlands, the rate is at 87%.
• 34% of the responding Swedish companies report to have between 20-50% female staff in their management teams.

   
In the panel discussion that followed, Swedish companies based in the Netherlands elaborated on the following themes:  

Sustainability:

That sustainability means a lot to the Dutch customer is no surprise for Swedish companies, and many of them are confident that their Swedish roots help them to deliver on that promise. “Maybe not everyone realizes it, but Swedish companies here have a very significant presence in sectors as energy, mobile traffic and transportation. Our Swedish values and strive for sustainability do add to the success Swedish companies experience in the Dutch market”, on company representative underlined.

Finding talent:

The survey showed that one of the few challenges Swedish companies in the Netherlands have, is finding talent not least female talent in the tech sector. One suggestion was to involve school pupils to get to know tech from an early age and what it actually means to the society today.  

Housing:

Companies recognized the difficulty in finding affordable housing in the Netherlands when having to attract talent from abroad. “Why should talents come to the Netherlands when the cost of living is so high?” one company representative said, adding one suggested solution: “We don’t move them any longer – we work online”.

Conclusion:

The conditions in the Netherlands are very good for Swedish companies. Swedish values mean added value when attracting customers and talent. Sweden leads in equality, innovation, sustainability and design. Sharing Swedish values more both internally and externally can help boost business even further.