Gelderland also wants mega investment in the chip sector: ‘Province is aging’

Following the enormous investment that the Eindhoven region has received to stimulate the chip sector, Gelderland also wants to receive a significant amount. The province, together with The Economic Board Arnhem Nijmegen, warns that chip companies will leave if hundreds of millions are not invested, the FD writes. ‘Half of the employees of NXP, for example, come from abroad. We can only deal with that in this way,” says Jan van Dellen, director of The Economic Board.

The province is home to chip companies that generate annual turnover of 3 billion euros. There is a large chip sector in Nijmegen in particular, partly thanks to the activities that Philips started in that area in the 1950s. According to Van Dellen, the province therefore faces ‘the same challenges’ as the Eindhoven region. Earlier this month, that region received more than 2.5 billion euros in investments to stimulate the investment and business climate.

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To also support the sector in Gelderland, the province, together with The Economic Board Arnhem Nijmegen – a regional collaboration of governments, entrepreneurs and education – wants hundreds of millions to be pumped into the province. The money must then be invested in housing, business parks, accessibility and education, among other things. ‘We already have many plans in consultation with the minister and the ministries, but we can also learn from this move in Eindhoven and we must copy it.’

Van Dellen does not consider the fear that important tech companies will leave the province as a threat. ‘I’m very careful with that.’ He does recognize the challenges that companies have. For example, he refers to NXP, which has a production facility in Nijmegen. ‘Huge investments are coming. Such a company then has the choice whether this happens in the Netherlands or not. That is why I am very much in favor of a good business climate, so that NXP and similar companies can make investments in the Netherlands.’

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Project Chopin

The investments and the associated plans have already been given a project name: Chopin, derived from Project Beethoven that the Ministry of Economic Affairs has attached to the plans for the Eindhoven region. Regardless of the different name, the effect should be the same. ‘We want to focus on a very strong business climate.’ This must be done, among other things, by keeping the province attractive for talent from the region, but also for talent from abroad. ‘We have a huge aging population in the Netherlands, but also in our region. For example, half of NXP’s employees come from abroad. We can only deal with it this way.’