Netherland Country Profile
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Netherland Country Profile NETHERLAND Country Profile Politics Economy Trade & Industries General Profile Total area 41,543 sq km Population 16,730,632 (July 2012 est.) 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Growth World Population YOY (in billions) 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 7.0 1% Government type constitutional monarchy Chief of state Queen BEATRIX Head of Prime Minister Mark RUTTE government Capital Amsterdam Climate temperate; marine; cool summers and mild winters Language Dutch (official), Frisian (official) AMSTERDAM (capital) 1.044 million; Rotterdam 1.008 million; The Hague Major City (seat of government) 629,000 (2009) Economy Profile 2009 2010 2011 World GDP Real -0.8% 5% 3.6% Growth World GDP (in 58.1 63.3 70.2 Trillions) Netherland GDP -3.5% 1.6% 1.6% Real Growth GDP $858.3 billion (2011 est.) GDP – Per capita $42,300 (2011 est.) Profile General GDP – Composition agriculture: 2.7% by sector Chapter: Chapter: 1 industry: 24.2% services: 73% (2011 est.) Inflation 2.3% (2011 est.) Exchanges Rates euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.7107 (2011 est.) Services account for about three-quarters of the national income and are primarily in transportation, distribution, logistics, and financial areas such Primary Economy as banking and insurance. Industrial activity generates about a fourth of Sector the national product and is dominated by the metalworking, oil refining, chemical, and food processing industries. The agriculture and fisheries sector account for some 2% of GDP. Unemployment 5.2% (2011 est.) Rate Economy Profile Economy Chapter: Chapter: 2 Ports and Amsterdam, IJmuiden, Moerdijk, Rotterdam, Terneuzen, Vlissingen Terminals International Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Eindhoven Airport, Groningen Airport Eelde, Airports Maastricht Aachen Airport, Rotterdam Airport First Chamber - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - VVD 16, PvdA 14, CDA 11, PVV 10, SP 8, D66 5, GL 5, other 6; Second Chamber - percent of vote by Election results party - VVD 20.5%, PvdA 19.6%, PVV, 15.4%, CDA 13.6%, SP 9.8%, D66 6.9%, GL 6.7%, CU 3.2%, other 4.3%; seats by party - VVD 31, PvdA 30, PVV 24, CDA 21, SP 15, D66 10, GL 10, CU 5, other 4 Queen BEATRIX Prime Min. Mark RUTTE Dep. Prime Min. Maxime Jacques Marcel VERHAGEN Johannes Stefanus Joseph "Hans" Min. of Defense HILLEN Min. of Economic Affairs, Agriculture, Maxime Jacques Marcel VERHAGEN & Innovation Marja VAN BIJSTERVELDT- Min. of Education, Culture, & Science VLIEGENTHART Min. of Finance Jan Cornelius "Jan Kees" DE JAGER Min. of Foreign Affairs Uriel "Uri" ROSENTHAL Ministry Name Min. of Gen. Affairs Mark RUTTE Min. of Health, Welfare, & Sport Edith SCHIPPERS Min. of Immigration & Asylum Gerd LEERS Melanie SCHULTZ VAN HAEGEN-Maas Min. of Infrastructure & Environment Geesteranus Min. of Interior & Kingdom Relations Liesbeth SPIES Min. of Security & Justice Ivo OPSTELTEN Min. of Social Affairs & Employment Henk KAMP Pres., The Netherlands Central Bank Klaas Henderikus Willem KNOT Permanent Representative to the UN, Herman SCHAPER New York Christian Democratic Appeal or CDA [Sybrand VAN HAERSMA BUMA]; Christian Union or CU [Arie SLOB]; Democrats 66 or D66 [Alexander PECHTOLD]; Green Left or GL [Jolande SAP]; Labor Party or PvdA [Job COHEN]; Party for Freedom or Political parties PVV [Geert WILDERS]; Party for the Animals or PvdD [Marianne THIEME]; and leaders People's Party for Freedom and Democracy or VVD [Stef BLOK] (Liberal); Reformed Political Party of SGP [Kees VAN DER STAAIJ]; Socialist Party of SP [Emile ROEMER]; plus a few minor parties The Netherlands is a prosperous and open economy depending heavily on Netherland foreign trade. The economy is noted for stable industrial relations, moderate inflation, a sizable current account surplus, and an important role as a European Economy transportation hub. Industrial activity is predominantly in food processing, Characteristics Terminals Ports and chemicals, petroleum refining, and electrical machinery. A highly mechanized agricultural sector employs no more than 4% of the labor force but provides Chapter: Chapter: 3 large surpluses for the food-processing industry and for exports. The Netherlands, along with 11 of its EU partners, began circulating the euro currency on 1 January 2002. The country continues to be one of the leading European nations for attracting foreign direct investment. Economic growth slowed considerably in 2001-02, as part of the global economic slowdown, but for the four years before that, annual growth averaged nearly 4%, well above the EU average. Netherland Economy Characteristics Economy Netherland Chapter: Chapter: 4 The Netherlands is an attractive destination for foreign investment, given its open economy, outward focus, sound public sector, good social services, modern and effective infrastructure and a dynamic private sector. One in ten private sector employees works for a foreign company. The Netherlands is an Investment important international investor in its own right, being home to a number of Policy large companies with multinational operations, including Royal Dutch Shell, ING Group and Rabobank. The Netherlands has one of the world's most highly developed pension fund industries, with significant levels of private assets under management . In addition, the Dutch venture-capital market is among the best developed in Europe. Key objectives of the Netherlands' foreign policy are promoting and defending Dutch prosperity and national security. The Netherlands, which is highly dependent on foreign trade, has a direct interest in and seeks to promote a stable international legal order. It has a long history of promoting human rights Foreign Policy worldwide as an essential part of foreign policy. Other foreign policy priorities include addressing global poverty and inequality, climate change and other environmental threats, energy scarcity, international terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and human trafficking. ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, Benelux, BIS, CBSS (observer), CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, International ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD (partners), IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, organization Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS participation (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNRWA, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC Transport equipment Chemicals Trade Fuels Opportunities Foodstuffs Clothing agroindustries, metal and engineering products, electrical machinery and Main Industry equipment, chemicals, petroleum, construction, microelectronics, fishing Industry Type Name of the company Aerospace & Defence EADS Beverages Heineken Holdings LyondellBasell Industries Diversified Chemicals Akzo Nobel Royal DSM Biggest Food Processing Unilever Company HAL Trust Investment Services Van Lanschot ASML Holding Semiconductors NXP Semiconductors KPN Telecommunication Service Policy Investment VimpelCom Chapter: Chapter: 5 Referensi http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/netherlands/netherlands_country_brief.html Chapter: Chapter: 6 .