Newsarchive June 2010

27-06-'10 Astellas moves to Leiden Bio Science Park
21-06-'10 First Chinese pharma company to settle at Leiden Bio Science Park
11-06-'10 RiHealth signs contract with Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food quality
09-06-'10 Netherlands has lowest tax rate in Europe
03-06-'10 The Netherlands popular with highly-skilled migrants

Astellas moves to Leiden Bio Science Park

The Japanese pharma concern Astellas has decided to move to the Leiden Bio Science Park. On behalf of Astellas, Mr Masao Yoshida, President and CEO, has signed a contract with Leiden University, owner of the land, and with project developer G&S Vastgoed (Real Estate).

The new building, which will be completed at the end of 2012, will also house an ultramodern laboratory for scientific research. At the moment Astellas is spread over a number of buildings, situated in Leiderdorp. All 550 employees will transfer to Leiden.

The Leiden Bio Science Park is not only attractive to Astellas because of its situation and accessibility, but also because various biotech companies are already located there. University Leiden, the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) and the laboratory education of the Hogeschool Leiden are also in the vicinity. Astellas expects to expand further over the next few years and will therefore require new, often highly-educated people. Being in the proximity of these places of higher education is seen by Astellas as a definite advantage.

Nettie Buitelaar, CEO of the Leiden Bio Science Park foundation: “Astellas will fit in perfectly well, we are very proud to have them here on the science park.”

Ben van Berkel of UN Studio, the architect from Amsterdam who has designed the new building, has adhered to the so-called BREEAM standard, which is an international standard for sustainability. Because of that, approximately 40 percent less CO₂ greenhouse gas will be emitted during construction than would normally have been the case. The new laboratory and offices are the first of their kind in the Netherlands to meet this standard.

The Works Council has been informed and has reacted positively to the intended move.

Article added on 27-06-'10.

First Chinese pharma company to settle at Leiden Bio Science Park

On Monday June 14, during the Dutch Life Sciences week at the World Expo in Shanghai, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Yangtze River Group, Leiden Bio Science Park and the Province of South-Holland on this occasion. Leiden Bio Science Park is very proud to host Yangtze River Group soon. SU Biomedicine focuses on the introduction of herbal medicines on the Western market. Yangtze River Group produces both generics and herbal medicines and they will enter the Western market through this new Joint Venture which focuses entirely on safety, quality and effectiveness of their products. More information can be found on the website of Yangtze River Group and TNO Bedrijven.

Article added on 21-06-'10.

RiHealth signs contract with Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food quality

Zoetermeer based RIhealth has signed a contract with the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food quality. RIHealth brings healthy working. RIhealth is specialised in delevoping softwareprograms for healthmanagement of employees. Since 2007 RIhealth is located in Zoetermeer.

Article added on 11-06-'10.

Netherlands has lowest tax rate in Europe

A recent study conducted by KPMG has shown that taxation of foreign companies in the Netherlands is the lowest in Europe, and third lowest in the world.

The Competitive Alternatives 2010 Special Report: Focus on Tax compared tax rates of 95 cities in 10 countries in North America, Japan, Australia and several European states. Researchers included several types of taxes, including those specifically levied on companies, local rates, and labor taxation.

“Our study reveals that there is no standard approach in setting tax policy among the countries examined,” says Greg Wiebe, KPMG Canada’s Managing Partner, Tax. “Although the types of taxes used to raise government revenues are more or less the same, there is a huge range in how these taxes are weighted and applied. A country’s tax policy choices can significantly affect the tax cost of doing business in that country.”

KPMG found that companies wanting to initiate “real economic activities,” such as production, services or R&D, find the lowest European taxes in the Netherlands.

The Netherlands’ favorable ranking in the survey is attributed in part to two initiatives. The Dutch fiscal stimulation package compensates for labor costs incurred during research and development. In addition, profits of certified innovations are taxed at lower rates according to “the innovation box,” a new policy that took effect on Jan. 1.

The Netherlands ranked behind only Mexico and Canada on the worldwide list of tax-friendly countries.

Source: RNW and www.competitivealternatives.net

May 2010

Article added on 09-06-'10.

The Netherlands popular with highly-skilled migrants

Monday 31 May 2010

The Netherlands is one of the most popular countries in the west for highly-skilled migrants to move to, according to a survey of 11 industrialised countries by the SEO Economic Research bureau for the economic affairs ministry.

Only the US and Switzerland are more popular with so-called knowledge migrants, the research showed.

The Netherlands is popular for its labour market, salary levels, the reputation of its higher education and its knowledge infrastructure. It scores less well in terms of the living environment, with only France, Belgium and Denmark performing worse.

According to the economic affairs ministry some 26,000 foreign nationals are working in the Netherlands under the highly-skilled migrants scheme. Half come from Asia and 11% from the US. They are young and largely male.

Some 40% of the migrants questioned for the survey want to stay in the Netherlands, 15% for the long term.

Dutchnews.nl

Article added on 03-06-'10.