Glossary

Born global

An enterprise which pursues international trade activities (goods or services) starting from the year of its establishment.

Control of enterprises

The control of enterprises is determined on the basis of the country where strategic decision-making takes place. This control lies with the Ultimate Controlling Institutional Unit (UCI). Foreign control means that the country of residence of the UCI is a country other than the Netherlands.

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 enterprises listed in the Standard Industrial Classification (Dutch SBI 2008) sections B up to and including N, exclusive of K plus S95. This classification is referred to internationally as non-financial business economy.

This category is composed of the following sectors:

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 specialised business services

N Renting and leasing of tangible goods and other business support services

S95 Repair of personal and household goods

Enterprise

The actual transactor in the production process, characterised by self-sufficiency with respect to the decisions about that process and by offering its products to third parties. An enterprise comprises 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.

Enterprise (enterprise group)

The statistical unit acting as the financial transactor. In operational terms, the enterprise group is defined as the most comprehensive collection of legal units established in the Netherlands over which control can be exercised and which is homogeneous by institutional sector. An enterprise group may consist of one or more business units. See also: Enterprise.

Entrepreneur

A person who works for his/her own account and risk in his/her own company or practice (self-employed) or as a salaried director of his/her own company (director-major shareholder).

Export earnings

The value of gross exports minus the consumption of imported raw materials, intermediate products and support services.

Exports

The sum of Dutch domestic exports and re-exports.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

An enterprise receiving direct investments from abroad is an enterprise in which a foreign investor holds at least 10% 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.

Foreign-owned enterprise

A foreign-owned enterprise is classified according to the country where it is ultimately controlled. This is done 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 subsidiary

If a Dutch company holds a majority stake in a foreign company, this company is a subsidiary of a Dutch company, or a foreign company under Dutch control. There is no minimum amount of investment or minimum share of voting rights in the foreign company. Such investments abroad, made by a company in the Netherlands and under Dutch control (Dutch multinational), are aimed at building up a lasting interest in a foreign company.

FTE

A measure of labour volume, calculated by converting all full-time and part-time jobs to full-time jobs. Two half-time jobs (0.5 FTE each) add up to a labour volume of one labour year.

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.

Holding (holding company)

A holding company is the parent company of a corporate group consisting of one or several operating companies and the parent company. Day-to-day, high-risk operations take place in the operating company. The holding company houses the important assets such as profits or property. A holding company is also called a parent company, a holding company, or management company.

Import intensity

The import intensity ratio is an indicator of the degree of international competitive pressure in the local market. It 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.

Imports

The sum of imports for domestic use and imports for re-export.

Imports for domestic use / expenditure

Goods, destined for Dutch residents, transported from a foreign country into the economic territory of the Netherlands. Included are raw materials needed for processing in the production process, semi-manufactures, fuels and fixed assets earmarked for investment.

Imports for re-export

Goods entering the Netherlands which are (temporarily) owned by a resident of the Netherlands and subsequently leave the Netherlands without having undergone any significant industrial processing.

Independent SMEs

Independent small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) comprise all businesses in the Netherlands owned by Dutch residents with total numbers of employed persons in the entire organisation falling below 250.

Independent SMEs with foreign subsidiaries

All small and medium-sized enterprises under Dutch control with an umbrella group of enterprises employing fewer than 250 persons and operating at least one foreign subsidiary.

Independent SMEs without foreign subsidiaries

All small and medium-sized enterprises under Dutch control with an umbrella group of enterprises employing fewer than 250 persons and with no foreign subsidiaries.

Intellectual property

A collective term for rights granted on detailed ideas and concepts, for example patents, trademarks and copyrights.

Intermediate goods

Inputs in the production process, such as raw materials, semi-manufactures and fuels. An intermediate product is used during the production process. It is often transformed and then incorporated into the end product. Intermediate goods are therefore used to make other products.

International production chain (global value chain)

An international production chain comprises all activities – in more than one country – that are required to deliver a product or service from the concept phase through the various production stages to end users and post-use processing.

International trade in goods

International trade in goods involves Dutch residents who deliver goods to locations outside the Netherlands, and residents abroad who deliver goods to locations in the Netherlands. 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 costs 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 International Trade in Goods (ITG) statistics. The IHG source statistics use different concepts from National Accounts. For instance, source statistics assume cross-border movement of goods and economic ownership is leading for National Accounts. Integration into National Accounts also produces additional differences.

International trade in services

International trade in services occurs when a resident of one country provides economic services to residents of another country. Services are products that are generally not tangible, such as transportation, business services and personal, cultural and recreational services. Dutch residents refer to enterprises and individuals that engage in economic activities from any location in the Netherlands that has been in use for more than one year.

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. See also: Foreign subsidiary.

Non-multinational

An enterprise without a parent or subsidiary abroad.

Outsourcing

International outsourcing of business activities to foreign suppliers.

Quasi transit trade

Import of foreign goods that undergo little or no processing upon arrival in the Netherlands and are then forwarded again to a foreign country. The goods are owned by a foreign company while they are in the Netherlands (as opposed to re-exports). Furthermore, at least one of the following administrative tasks must be completed in the Netherlands in order to be deemed quasi transit:

• Upon arrival in the Netherlands, goods from outside the EU are cleared through customs;
• The goods leave the Netherlands and the EU and an export document is drawn up by customs;
• The international goods are stored in the Netherlands for at least one day. This makes the owner subject to VAT and therefore the owner has to register for VAT.

The quasi transit is not part of the Dutch trade figures, but is included in the European trade figures (Eurostat). See also: Transit trade.

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 basis of total Dutch export figures.

Royalties

Remuneration payments for the ongoing use of someone else’s intellectual property rights. Examples include copyrights, trademark rights and patent rights.

Special Purpose Entity

Special Purpose Entities (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 entities 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’, for example the institution transferring assets and/or credit risks to the SPE).

Starting exporter

A starting exporter is an enterprise that exports goods or services in year T, but did not (yet) do so in both years T-1 and T-2, irrespective of the existence of the enterprise in those years.

Two-way trader

An enterprise or business establishment which both imports and exports either goods or services. This is unlike what is called a one-way trader, which is either a one-way importer or a one-way exporter.

Value added

The gross value added equals the production (in basic prices) minus intermediate consumption (excl. deductible VAT).