Knowledge migrants who come to the Netherlands to work add great value to the Dutch economy. It is therefore up to the government to ensure that the Netherlands remains an attractive location for them.
This was stated by the head of De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), Klaas Knott, on the TV programme Out of court.
Knot responded to questions regarding statements made by CEO Peter Wennink of chip machine manufacturer ASML. Wennink expressed concerns about the policy vote in The Hague to limit the number of migrant workers to the Netherlands. The company benefits from sufficiently qualified people who come not only from the Netherlands.
According to Knott, knowledge migrants “bring above-average growth to our economy and prosperity.” “The last thing we should do is turn our backs on Europe. We benefit like no other from European integration and integration from countries outside Europe. We should not kill the goose that lays the golden eggs,” the central bank head said.
He believes that what the government should look at critically are the consequences of a growing economy. He referred, among other things, to the complete electricity network, the complete road network and the nitrogen area. This is where the bottlenecks lie, according to Knott. “The government should focus on eliminating this.”
