Brabant - a geographically strategic location in Western Europe
The province of Brabant in the south of the Netherlands, Western Europe benefits from a geographically strategic location, centrally situated between Amsterdam/Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Rotterdam (Europe’s leading seaport), and the seaport of Antwerp, Brussels, and the major German economic core region of the Rhine Ruhr.The economic structure of North-West Europe is supported by important transport routes from the main ports to the densely populated urban and industrial areas in the region. Noord-Brabant offers access to 170 million consumers within a radius of 300 kilometers and up to 300 million consumers within 500 kilometers.
Covering 5,000 square kilometers (2,000 square miles) Brabant accounts for almost 15% (2.4 million) of the Dutch population. ‘s-Hertogenbosch is the capital of Brabant; other major urban regions are Eindhoven, Helmond, Tilburg and Breda.
Brabant offers great opportunities for companies looking for a Western European base from which to access Europe. It is an active, highly industrialized region and one of the most knowledge-intensive areas in Europe.
Foreign companies find exactly what they need here:
- perfect European location
- industrial environment that guarantees high-quality supplies
- infrastructure that enables efficient, cost-effective transportation
- highly motivated, well educated population with excellent language skills
Brabant accommodates over 1100 foreign companies, employing almost 80,000 workers in production and logistics facilities, European headquarters, marketing & sales offices and R&D centers. Key industry sectors are pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, medical technology, food, chemical and IT.
An impressive number of the top 100 (FT500) world’s largest companies are based in the area. A shortlist of multinationals includes:
| Acer | DHL | Mars |
| Alcoa | Ericsson | Philips Electronics |
| Amgen | Exxon Mobil | Philip Morris |
| Apple | FedEX | Ricoh |
| ASM Lithography | FujiFilm | Sabic |
| Bosch | GE | SAP |
| Coca-Cola | IBM | Samsung Electronics |
| DAF Trucks Paccar | Heineken | Siemens |
| Dell | LG Electronics | Shell |
| Sony | Tyco Electronics | |
| UPS | Unilever |
