A total of 40 foreign companies have set themselves up or relocated to the region of West Holland in 2012, with 889 new jobs expected from the investment.

The West Holland Foreign Investment Agency (WFIA), the agency that is responsible for attracting foreign investments and companies to the region, has revealed in its annual results that its work has resulted in the direct creation of 168 new jobs, with a total of 889 to follow over a three year period.

Though the same amount of companies were aided by the agency in 2011, the forecast for jobs created has almost doubled from the 482 projected two years ago.

More than half of the projects came from China and North America, while a large portion also came from Europe - namely the United Kingdom and Russia. Much like the trend for foreign investment in Amsterdam, most of the jobs created are in the IT & Telecom sector as well as the business services sector.

Of the 40 projects, seven were relocations or expansions of companies already established in the region.

This, according to Managing Director Imanda Wapenaar, "has become one of the core activities of the WFIA."

Though somewhat more gloomy figures have been encircling the Dutch economy in recent weeks, the reputation of the Netherlands as a good business location remains strong.

Source: WFIA