The Netherlands is losing ground in terms of education, research and innovation, according to a new report on the state of the nation’s efforts to develop a knowledge-based economy.

The government wants to be in the top 5 knowledge-based economies but still has a long way to go and risks missing the target altogether, the report by the government backed KIA organisation shows.
While private investment in Dutch education has gone up and entrepreneurship is a respected profession, many ‘excellent’ students are not being sufficiently challenged, the number of researchers is falling and the government and private sector are not putting in enough money, it says.
Resources
KIA chairman Alexander Rinnooy Kan said in a statement that the Netherlands cannot afford to lose its grip on the top. ‘We will have to do more with the existing resources over the next few years,’ he said. ‘We will have to make sharp choices.’
In addition, foreign firms were not being encouraged enough to set up R&D departments in the Netherlands, he said. Others, such as Organon and Abbott are disappearing, and that is not a good sign.
A report by the national statistics office CBS on Monday showed the Netherlands spends 0.88% of GDP on research and development, compared with an EU average of 1.25%.