Where Part I demonstrated the necessity of investing in economic growth and increasing technological and strategic relevance, Part II focuses on what the Netherlands must concretely do to make that possible. The additional EUR 151 to 187 billion in productivity-enhancing investments that the Netherlands needs will only materialise if the Netherlands once again becomes an attractive country in which to innovate, build and scale up. Our technological position also depends on economic preconditions in the Netherlands. Ultimately, the preconditions determine whether our societal ambitions can become reality.
At present, however, the preconditions are inadequate. In conversations with dozens of companies, knowledge institutions and financial parties, a striking degree of unanimity can be heard: they want to invest, but are stuck on preconditions that have structurally deteriorated in recent years. Licensing procedures are slow and uncertain, the nitrogen deadlock is blocking economic development, and objection procedures can delay projects for years. Access to affordable energy is also a hard brake: more than 14,000 businesses are waiting for an electricity connection, while those that are connected pay higher electricity prices than in neighbouring countries. At the same time, shortages of well-qualified personnel are growing because the Netherlands trains too little STEM talent, discourages international knowledge workers and allows educational performance to decline.
Our economic infrastructure is also under pressure. The mainports - the Port of Rotterdam, Amsterdam Schiphol and Brainport Eindhoven - owe their strength to the convergence of scientific knowledge and industrial competences. Together with our innovation ecosystems, they form places where new technologies are rapidly developed, tested and scaled up.
At the same time, conversations with 31 consortia also reveal optimism: once the preconditions are restored, there is investment potential of at least EUR 126 billion ready in the four domains of this report. And this only covers the projects submitted for this report; the underlying potential is considerably greater. This makes one thing clear: the Netherlands does not lack willingness to invest, but investment opportunities. The will to build is there, but the climate to build is not.
The bottlenecks are known, and so are the solutions. Licensing can be made faster and more predictable. The nitrogen deadlock can be broken. The energy supply can be made reliable and more affordable again by investing in the electricity grid and making better use of the existing grid. Talent can be strengthened with more focus on STEM, large-scale up- and reskilling programmes and a modern migration framework for knowledge workers. And our mainports and innovation ecosystems can once again lead internationally when targeted investment is made in their physical, digital and knowledge infrastructure.
The task is clear: the Netherlands must once again become a country where investments can land, technology can grow and businesses can scale up. But choices are needed. Not everything is possible in the Netherlands, and certainly not at the same time. The preconditions that the government creates for the economy must be geared towards a highly productive economy that innovates in socially important domains.
The following two chapters show how this can be achieved: first, which preconditions the Netherlands must strengthen to make investments possible, and then which concrete projects from the investment pipeline can be realised once these preconditions are in order.
The Netherlands can only achieve its societal goals if the economic preconditions are geared towards a highly productive economy. This requires that investments can land here, technology can grow and businesses can scale up. Without these preconditions, growth of at least 1.5 to 2.0% will not be achieved and our technological gap will continue to widen.
"If a car has four flat tyres, all four need to be replaced."
- Peter Wennink
This chapter does not show what could be, but what is ready. It is based on 51 propositions from businesses and knowledge institutions that together form a directly realisable pipeline for unlocking growth opportunities and strategic positions. Note: once the preconditions are in order. It illustrates what the Netherlands can already achieve in the short term and what opportunities will be lost if we do not act.
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