Innovation Platform plan stimulates extra economic growth

The economic power of the Netherlands has significant room for improvement. This was the conclusion of the Innovation Platform’s Competitive Strength study group in the report The Netherlands 2020: Back in the Top 5. The Economic Agenda: Innovative, International and Involving. This is the final report published by the Innovation Platform. The study group advocates a modern industry policy in which the Netherlands takes its strengths and builds on them: innovative sectors, the service industries, a strong international focus and good business instinct. Together with the necessary restructuring, wisely choosing strong economic sectors with promising international opportunities and investing more in education and innovation can boost economic growth above the 1¾ % predicted by the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB). That represents additional growth of the GDP of as much as 35 to 70 billion euros in 2020. The agenda was simultaneously presented in Amsterdam, Utrecht, Enschede, Eindhoven and The Hague, where it was accepted by Loek Hermans (MKB-NL), Bernard Wientjes (VNO-NCW), Henk van der Kolk (FNV) and Bert van Boggelen (CNV).

The Competitive Strength study group comprises members of the Innovation Platform:

Wiebe Draijer (McKinsey & Company) Marjan Oudeman (Corus), Alexander Rinnooy Kan (Social Economic Council), Feike Sijbesma (DSM) and Claudia Zuiderwijk (Tergooi Ziekenhuizen).

Wiebe Draijer: “We are on the brink of drastic government cutbacks. Policy and vision are crucial in the process; our nation is facing tremendous threats that jeopardise the Netherlands’ competitive position. Currently we are just barely in the top 10 of the world’s economically prosperous knowledge economies, and we want to return to the top 5. Once upon a time we were in third place, but we run the risk of being pushed out of the top 10 if we fail to find a way to respond to the global trends with which we are being confronted. I am talking about the ageing population accompanied by growing costs for the increasing demand for health care and costlier pensions; I am talking about the looming shortage of natural resources including gas and oil and the costs of energy transition and tackling climate change; and last but not least I am talking about the shift of economic and political power in the direction of Asia.”

The Netherlands 2020: Back in the Top 5 reveals that the Dutch corporate sector emerged from the crisis relatively intact. While significant measures are necessary in the wake of the financial crisis and ensuing recession, the study group calls for doing so in a way that promotes growth. Alexander Rinnooy Kan: “Of course national debt must be purged; however, what we are saying is: do not scrimp on the very engine that drives your economy. Do not cut spending on education, knowledge, research and innovation. Invest. Invest up to 6 billion euros’ worth of additional means annually in 2020. Doing so will prove worthwhile, and as a result future cabinets will not have to go through one round of cutbacks after another.” Feike Sijbesma: “Basically, we are asking all political parties, the employers’ and employees’ federations, and the education and knowledge sectors to collectively come up with a widely supported Delta Plan in order to offer an unambiguous economic and thus likewise social perspective through well-considered choices and extra investments. Embrace our agenda; it is important on a national level and ensures that education and innovation are a top priority in the Netherlands. Businesses remain active and invest in countries where innovation takes precedence, and where both public and private investments are made in education, research and innovation.” In the report, the study group writes that various companies have indicated that if the future cabinet can offer certainty with regard to the areas in which it says it will support innovation, then accordingly the corporate sector will be more willing to invest (long-term) in R&D in the Netherlands.

The sectors in which the Netherlands stands out and offers growth and innovation perspective are key areas including: High Tech Systems and Materials, Flowers & Food, the Creative Industry, Water and Chemicals, as well as the service industries (jobs generator) and certain segments of the sustainable energy sector (bio chains and offshore wind energy).

The economic agenda in summary:

Fortify education and the knowledge infrastructure; modernise labour relations, increase the participation of women, seniors and ethnic minorities; provide excellent basic infrastructure and cheap energy for businesses and a government that creates opportunities and stimulates.

The Netherlands 2020: Back in the Top 5. The Economic Agenda: Innovative, International and Involving was compiled in cooperation with hundreds of representatives from knowledge organisations, institutes and companies and individuals from every walk of life, hence the coordinated presentation at five different locations at the same time.

For more information about this press release and the Innovation Platform:
Maria Henneman, mobile telephone: +31 (0)6 11376550 or +31 (0)6 51 38 11 88; email: mh@innovatieplatform.nl

For more information, visit: www.innovatieplatform.nl

The Netherlands 2020: Back in the Top 5 publication (summary)

Think Big: A Vision of the Netherlands in 2020 video

Analyses and basis of The Netherlands 2020: Back in the top 5 (in Dutch)

Innovation in services study (in Dutch)