Knot: Highly skilled foreign workers add value to the Dutch economy

Highly skilled foreign workers who come to the Netherlands to work represent added value for the Dutch economy. It is therefore up to the government to ensure that the Netherlands remains an attractive place for them to settle, Klaas Knot, President of De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), said on the television program Buitenhof.

Knot was responding to questions about statements made by top manager Peter Wennink of chip machine manufacturer ASML. Wennink expressed concern about the vote in The Hague to limit the number of foreign workers in the Netherlands. This is because the company benefits from having enough qualified employees who do not only come from the Netherlands.

According to Knot, highly skilled foreign workers "ensure above-average growth of our economy and our prosperity". "The last thing we should do is turn our backs on Europe. We benefit from European integration and integration from countries outside Europe like no other. We should not start slaughtering the goose that lays the golden eggs," said the DNB president.

What the government must look at critically, however, are the consequences of a growing economy. He referred to the extensive electricity grid, the road network and the nitrogen space. This is where the bottlenecks lie, said Knot. "The cabinet should focus on eliminating these," he said.