The Dutch Foreign Investment Agency said on Friday that investments by 300 foreign firms in the Netherlands totalled nearly €1.9bn last year, creating an additional 9,300 jobs.

Most of the jobs were created at new HQs, production sites and distribution centres, the NFIA said. For example, fashion group Michael Kors is building a large distribution centre in Venlo and Tesla has expanded in the Netherlands with a new factory for electric cars in Tilburg.

Nevertheless, the investment is well down on 2014, when foreign firms invested a record €3.2bn in the Netherlands, creating 6,304 new jobs, according to economics ministry figures. In 2013, foreign firms invested some €1.7bn.

Amsterdam

Meanwhile, more than 140 new international companies set up in business in the Amsterdam region last year and will create almost 3,000 jobs over the next three years, the city council said on Friday. It did not say how many jobs were created last year.

In addition, 35 international companies expanded their workforces in the Dutch capital, creating an additional 3,000 jobs in 2015, the council said.

Of the new arrivals, 36 are IT or technology companies and 23 focus on business and financial services. A third of the new arrivals come from the US.

The increase in foreign firms also helped boost the number of residency permits processed at the city’s expat centre by 26% to 10,000 last year.

The Hague

The West Holland Foreign Investment Agency, which covers The Hague, said it had brought 44 foreign firms to the region last year, creating 350 new jobs. Most of the new firms are IT and telecoms companies.

China was again the number one investor, accounting for 17 of the new arrivals.