The amount of foreign investment in the Netherlands has doubled over the first six months of this year to €827m, creating 4,332 new jobs, economic affairs minister Henk Kamp said on Monday.

He was speaking in Utrecht at the opening of the new international research centre Nutricia Research, part of the French baby and medical food company Danone.

The centre has created a minimum of 400 jobs and chose Utrecht after lobbying by the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency.

Kamp said ‘active lobbying’ by the government has doubled foreign investment in the Netherlands. ‘We have a great deal of innovative know-how which is a decisive factor for companies like Danone,’ he told news agency ANP.

‘There are 12 of the world’s biggest agrifood companies with a research centre in the Netherlands and Wageningen university is globally known for its food research,’ he said.