Magazine N°156

AMSTERDAM ALREADY IN THE 3.0 ERA

Growth rate: +2.4 %. Unemployment rate: 5.6 %. These more than encouraging results testify to the economic stability of the Netherlands, a small country of just 17 million inhabitants. As a result, optimism is high in Amsterdam. Particularly as the city has jumped on the high-tech revolution bandwagon and intends to play a full part in the great upheaval of the early 21st century.

Of course, the legendary Dutch pragmatism does not intend to abandon its traditional sectors - finance, horticulture, design, etc. - which are doing very well, particularly the banking sector, which alone accounts for almost 20 % of jobs. But above all, it is clearly banking on new technologies and e-commerce. In fact, in 2015, the municipality set up StartupAmsterdam, a four-year plan, one part of which is designed to attract specialists from all over the world and get them to present their projects to Dutch companies.

So we don't hesitate to give expatriates tax breaks or work permits. Everything is simple and obvious. Everything is done to attract talented young people from all over the world to settle on the banks of the canal. Even the university, particularly the nearby Utrecht University, has come out of its ivory tower, albeit an old and famous one, to cooperate directly with industry.

The momentum is there, just a stone's throw from the festive canals. New districts are springing up, derelict docks are being taken over, previously ignored islands are being conquered, while former prisons are opening their doors wide to start-ups. Add to the cocktail a traditionally relaxed and permissive way of life, a real openness to foreigners and new ideas, and a visceral rejection of the stuffy and the quintessential in day-to-day relationships... Mix it all up, shake it up, preferably in the organic bar of a coworking space: you're sure to get a society that's ready for life in 3.0. A good life, it would seem.

Serge Barret, Editor-in-Chief

In this issue

TRAVEL DIARY : Alain Connes: "Idleness is essential
NEWS aircraft, railways, hotels, conventions, meetings/businesses, cruises, throughout the world
TECHNOLOGIES
The blockchain revolution is underway
High-tech bedrooms: the voice of its master
NOMADE - Digital shopping
AIR - Business Aviation Save time, save money
HOTELS : Charming hotels : atmosphere
BUSINESS DISTRICT Beirut: the energy of a business renaissance
BUSINESS DESTINATION : NETHERLANDS
INCENTIVE :
Wide Angle South India: Tamil Nadu: between sacredness and nostalgia
Theme : Morocco: Medinas on a breadcrumb trail
Update - Rail : Staying top of the class
SURVEY - Sustainable events eco-responsibility in power
MANAGEMENT
Business travel for women The slow mixing of genres
Rent a car Rental companies are stepping up their focus on mobility
SHOPPING : business class shopping
DECIDEUR Pierre-Frédéric Roulot, CEO of Louvre Hôtels Group and Jin Jiang Europe