In last week’s article, the evolution of the relations between The Netherlands and Japan over the last 400 years was introduced. For this week, it is interesting to go further and explore the impact of this long lasting relation over the economical relations between the two countries.

It is known that The Netherlands is the fourth largest destination for Japanese investments and around 700 companies operate here. Both countries are keen on fighting for democracy, human rights and taking action on climate change, commitments that are only strengthening their alliance. Both, The Netherlands and Japan are closely working together on private sectors as well as government-to-government in order to develop further areas of common interest, especially within the domains of renewable energy and energy transition.

 For the most important goods that are of high interest in The Netherlands, the following are identified: industrial printers, large construction vehicles, and motor vehicles, with a value of approximately 12 billion euro in export in 2021. On the other side, the Dutch products that are of high interest on the Japanese market, the following are identified: medical instruments, machinery having individual functions, and orthopaedic appliances. All these exports summed a value of approximately 5 billion euro in 2021. Therefore, the biggest opportunities on the Japanese market, coming from a Dutch company, would be the mechanical and medical domains as they registered the highest value in exports in the past 2 years. As the article mentioned last time, the Japanese people were impressed by the skilfulness of the Dutch engineers and crafters, reason which made the Japanese to fully entrust the Dutch on these domains. The trust gained by the Dutch in the past 4 centuries is considered as being one of the key factors that drives the major exports of medical and mechanical machineries from The Netherlands to Japan nowadays.

Furthermore, the most recent Japanese investment in The Netherlands that will have a long-term impact on the renewable energy industry is the acquisition of Eneco by Mitsubishi Corporation in 2020. The purpose of the acquisition is to expand Eneco internationally while serving as the European base of the energy activities of the Mitsubishi Corporation. While Mitsubishi is willing to transfer 400MW of its offshore energy to Eneco, the now-mother-company can also take advantages of the strengths and capabilities of Eneco’s expertise and accelerate its own renewable developments internationally. Simultaneously, this acquisition will also contribute to minimising Mitsubishi’s greenhouse emissions, while generating economic, societal and environmental value through its businesses.

 This article introduces the economical advantages of the long-term relation between The Netherlands and Japan. It is used as an introduction for the following article that will investigate further the advantages for companies going to Japan and the immigration process for both Dutch and Japanese citizenships.

Sources

Japan Times. (2023, May 20). The Netherlands and Japan: Moving forward together. Retrieved from Japan Times: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/country-report/2023/05/20/the-netherlands-report-2023/netherlands-japan-moving-forward-together/

OEC World. (2023, May). Japan/ Netherlands . Retrieved from OEC World: https://oec.world/en/profile/bilateral-country/jpn/partner/nld#economic-complexity

Power Technology. (2020, March 26). Japanese consortium acquires Dutch energy company Eneco for $4.4bn. Retrieved from Power Technology: https://www.power-technology.com/news/japanese-consortium-acquires-dutch-energy-company-eneco/?cf-view