Glossary
Born global
An enterprise which pursues international trade activities starting from the year of its establishment (imports, exports or both).
Brainport
Cluster of enterprises that work together and share know-how, enabling them to produce innovative, high-grade products or services which can be sold in the international market more quickly.
Brownfield FDI
A foreign direct investment (FDI) in an existing foreign production facility.
Direct jobs
Jobs that are the result of exporting in the exporting sector itself.
Discontinuing exporter
A discontinuing exporter is an enterprise which does not export goods or services in year t, nor in t-1, but which did export these goods or services in year t-2. The enterprise must still be in existence in year t in order to be listed as discontinuing exporter.
Domestic exports (Dutch-manufactured exports)
Exports after production in the Netherlands, or after significant processing of foreign-produced goods (taking into account the level of adjustments in the product’s HS code). Re-exports and domestic exports combined constitute the basis of total Dutch export figures.
Dutch business economy
The General Business Register (ABR) is based on the Dutch Standard Industrial Classification (SBI) which classifies business units according to their main activity. The business economy in the Netherlands comprises all companies listed in the Standard Industrial Classification (Dutch SBI 2008) sections B up to and including N, exclusive of K plus S95. This delineation is referred to internationally as ‘non-financial business economy’.
This category is composed of the following branches of industry:
B Mining and quarrying
C Manufacturing
D Production and distribution of and trade in electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply
E Water supply; sewerage, waste and wastewater management and remediation services
F Construction
G Wholesale and retail trade; motor vehicle repair
H Transportation and storage
I Accommodation and food service activities
J Information and communication
L Renting, buying and selling of real estate
M Consultancy, research and other specialist business services
N Renting and leasing of tangible goods and other business support services
S95 Repair of personal and household goods
Entrepreneur
Person who performs work at his/her own company or office for his/her own account and at his/her own risk, or who is the owner of the company and employed there in the capacity of company director.
Enterprise
The actual transactor in the production process is characterised by decision-making autonomy in this process and by the offering of its products to third parties. An enterprise is composed of one or several legal entities. A distinctive feature is the autonomy in the decision-making with regard to production taking place within this composite entity. The Dutch component of an entity whose activities extend across multiple countries is considered an enterprise in itself for the sake of national statistics.
Foreign enterprise
A foreign enterprise is classified according to the country where it is ultimately controlled. This is based on the Ultimate Controlling Institutional Unit (UCI). The UCI is defined as that enterprise which is placed higher up in the chain of control of the Dutch enterprise that is not under the ultimate control of any other company or enterprise. Foreign control means that the country where the UCI is established is not the Netherlands.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
An enterprise receiving direct investments from abroad is an enterprise in which a foreign investor holds at least 10 percent of the ordinary share capital or the voting rights, or the equivalent thereof. This involves having a controlling interest and substantial influence on the management of the enterprise. Direct investment consists of share capital, participating interests in group companies abroad and credit lending.
FTE
A measure for the labour volume, calculated by converting all jobs (both full-time and part-time) into full-time jobs, also referred to as full-time equivalents (FTEs). Two half-time jobs (0.5 FTE each) add up to a labour volume of one labour year.
Greenfield FDI
A foreign investment in a foreign subsidiary that is yet to be established from scratch.
Gross domestic product (GDP)
GDP is a measure for the size of a country’s economy. This is calculated from the sum of the value added by enterprises, households and governments to the goods and services they have used in their production activities. This sum is referred to as the value added at basic prices. To arrive at GDP at market prices, the balance of taxes on production plus other subsidies is added as well as the difference between the attributed VAT and paid VAT.
Gross value added
The gross value added equals the production (in basic prices) minus intermediate consumption (excl. deductible VAT).
Import intensity
The import intensity ratio is an indicator of the degree of international competitive pressure in the local market. The index is expressed as a percentage share which shows to what extent domestic demand for goods or services depends on foreign imports. The higher the import intensity ratio, the larger the contribution of imports in meeting the total demand for goods and services.
Independent SMEs
Independent small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) comprise all businesses in the Netherlands owned by Dutch residents with total staff numbers in the entire organisation falling below 250.
Indirect jobs
Jobs that are the result of exporting in other supplying sector than the exporting sector itself.
Intellectual property
A collective term for rights granted on detailed ideas and concepts, for example patents, trademarks and copyrights.
Intermediate goods
These include all inputs into the production process, such as raw materials, semi-finished products and fuels. An intermediary product is used during the production process, often transformed and then processed into the final output. In other words, it serves to produce other goods.
International trade in goods
International trade in goods involves Dutch residents who deliver goods to locations outside the Netherlands, and vice versa. In intra-EU imports, this is the value of the goods including freight and insurance costs up to the Dutch border. In extra-EU imports, this is the value of the goods including freight and insurance charges up to the external border of the European Union. The export value is including freight and insurance costs up to the Dutch border. This is in line with the statistics on International trade in goods.
International trade in services
International trade in services involves Dutch residents who perform services for residents of another economy and vice versa. Services are products which are not tangible. For example, transportation services, business services and personal, cultural or recreational services. Dutch residents are all enterprises and individuals that engage in economic activities from any location in the Netherlands which has been in use for more than one year.
Investments in tangible fixed assets
Goods which are either purchased or developed internally in order to be deployed in the production process as capital goods. This includes goods that have a life span exceeding one year, such as buildings, dwellings, machinery, modes of transport and the like.
Large enterprise
All companies established in the Netherlands as part of a group of companies with at least 250 employed persons and/or part of a group of companies under foreign control.
Mainport
A hub where important connections and activity flows in both the Netherlands and abroad conjoin and separate again.
Multinational
An enterprise with a parent or subsidiary abroad.
Non-multinational
An enterprise without a parent or subsidiary abroad.
Outsourcing
International outsourcing of business activities to foreign suppliers.
Re-exports
Goods which, after being imported into the Netherlands, undergo little or no significant processing before being exported from the Netherlands again. Unlike in quasi transit trade, the goods are (temporarily) owned by a resident enterprise while in the Netherlands. Re-exports and domestic exports combined constitute the aggregate Dutch export.
Royalties
Remuneration payments for the ongoing use of someone else’s intellectual property rights, for example copyrights, trademark rights and patent rights.
Special Purpose Entity (SPE)
SPEs are subsidiaries of foreign enterprises which are established in the Netherlands that act as cross-border financial intermediaries between various composite entities of the group in which they operate. The receivables and liabilities of these institutions usually concern direct investments from one country to another via the Netherlands, or channelling of resources collected abroad to the foreign parent. In this respect, SPEs are dedicated legal entity concerned with securitisations. As part of the securitisation transaction, an SPE takes over assets and/or credit risks and issues securities, securitisation fund units, other debt instruments and/or financial derivatives, or is the owner of any underlying assets. An SPE is safeguarded against the risk of bankruptcy or other default of the initiator (also referred to as ‘originator’, i.e. the institution transferring assets and/or credit risks to the SPE).
Start-up exporter
A start-up exporter is an enterprise which exports goods or services in year t which it did not export (yet) in t-1 nor in t-2, regardless of whether the company already existed in those years.
Top sectors
The Dutch Cabinet has designated nine economic top sectors: Agriculture & Food, Chemicals, Creative industries, Energy, High Tech Systems and Materials (HTSM), Horticulture and starting materials, Life Sciences & Health, Logistics and Water. These are sectors which are (1) knowledge-intensive, (2) export-oriented, with (3) mainly specific laws and regulations, which (4) (may) contribute significantly to the resolution of outstanding issues in society. Entrepreneurs, scientists and public authorities work together in so-called top teams to draft recommendations on the kinds of measures that need to be taken in order to remain competitive in the global market.
Two-way trader
An enterprise or business establishment which both imports and exports goods and/or services. This is unlike the so-called one-way trader, which is either a one-way importer or a one-way exporter.