This week, Dutch Prime Minister Rutte visited China for the first time in five years and expressed his stance on the export of lithography machine giant ASML to China. As soon as he returned to the Netherlands, he had to continue to face this thorny problem: ASML "wanted to go".
According to a Reuters report on the 28th, local time on Thursday, the Dutch government announced that it would spend 2.5 billion euros (about 19.4876 billion yuan) to improve transportation and other infrastructure in the Eindhoven area, where ASML is headquartered, to ensure that ASML continues to stay in the Netherlands and does not move its business abroad. The report quoted an official statement as saying that the Dutch cabinet is also preparing to take measures to reduce the tax burden on companies in order to alleviate the concerns of some blue-chip companies in the country.
ASML welcomed the move, but did not make it clear whether it would stay in the Netherlands as a result. In a statement, the company stressed that "the decision we need to make is not whether we will stay, but where we will grow." ”
ASML headquarters in the Netherlands Picture from Visual China
Earlier this month, ASML, Europe's largest technology company and the world's largest equipment supplier to computer chip manufacturers, announced that it was planning to move out of the Netherlands because it was dissatisfied with the government's anti-immigration policies.
According to public information, ASML, headquartered in the Netherlands, is the third largest company in Europe by market capitalization, with a market capitalization of nearly 365 billion euros. Last year, ASML achieved record revenues of 27.6 billion euros, up 30% from 2022, and net profit surged to 7.8 billion euros, an increase of around 2.2 billion euros.
In order to retain this company, which is extremely important to the Netherlands, the Dutch government has set up a task force called "Operation Beethoven", led by Prime Minister Mark Rutte, to study ways to retain Asmarc.
Reuters noted that the investment plan of up to 2.5 billion euros is part of the "Beethoven Initiative", which Dutch Economy Minister Micky Adriaansens confirmed to reporters. According to reports, the funds will be used in the coming years to improve housing, education, transport and the power grid in the Eindhoven region, where ASML is headquartered.
The Dutch cabinet said in a statement that it also plans to take steps to reduce the tax burden on companies after some blue-chip companies in the country expressed concern, but the article did not specify specific measures. "Following these measures, the Cabinet considers that ASML will continue to invest and keep its statutory, fiscal and physical headquarters in the Netherlands. The statement reads.
ASML welcomed the plan, saying it would benefit not only technology companies in the Eindhoven region, but the Netherlands as a whole.
ASML reportedly expects the company to have a decade of growth as the computer chip industry grows. It believes that the company can achieve "significant" growth in the Netherlands as long as it is supported by favourable business conditions such as "high-quality talent, infrastructure, public housing supply, and a strong business environment".
However, the company also said in an emailed statement to the media: "The decision we need to make is not whether we will stay, but where we will grow." ”
According to the report, ASML CEO Peter Wennink publicly complained earlier this month about the Dutch government's fiscal measures, including plans to remove tax breaks for skilled migrants, saying it would make it more difficult for ASML to hire key employees. ASML is also dissatisfied that the government has not made adequate investments in the infrastructure of the Eindhoven region, improving the problems of highways, housing and the power grid.
ASML CEO Wennink video screenshot
According to Reuters, the news that "Asml is leaving the Netherlands" has since "shocked" the Dutch government. According to the results of the media's survey of Dutch blue-chip companies this month, more than a dozen companies have expressed similar views, claiming that they are considering moving operations out of the Netherlands. (Editor's note: A blue-chip company generally refers to a large company that occupies an important dominant position in its industry, has good performance, has active transactions, and has good profits.) ）
Many have mentioned a worrying "shift to the right" after the Freedom Party (PVV) led by far-right populist Geert Wilders in the Netherlands won a resounding parliamentary election last November.
Wilders, known as the "Dutch Trump", has stated that he wants to become the next prime minister of the Netherlands. He has repeatedly said that if he is in power, he will focus his main efforts on curbing immigration, including curbing the number of overseas students and reducing tax breaks for foreigners. He spoke out against Islam and the European Union, and supported a referendum on whether the Netherlands should leave the European Union.
According to Reuters, negotiations for a new right-wing government are progressing gradually, and the policies pursued by parliament are seen as "short-sighted" by these companies, which also forces the current government to act.
Earlier this month, Dutch Economy Minister Adriansen admitted that the government was in a "very intensive" dialogue with ASML, "I don't know if they will leave the Netherlands, they want to grow, they want to continue to grow, and this goal is putting pressure on our infrastructure." It's because we want to know, can we solve this problem?"
According to The Telegraph, ASML's departure or overseas expansion would be an extremely sensitive blow for the Netherlands. In recent years, concerns about the Dutch business environment have reached a boiling point, with multinational companies Shell and Unilever leaving the Netherlands and relocating to London, England.
According to Bloomberg, manufacturing the most advanced chips requires a highly sophisticated machine - EUV lithography machines, and ASML is the only company in the world that can provide the most advanced lithography machines, which not only has great economic value, but also strategic importance at a time when the "chip competition" between China and the United States is intensifying.
At the same time, in response to ASML's exports to China and other issues, Dutch Prime Minister Rutte's latest statement in Beijing on the 27th said that the Netherlands will ensure that export control measures will not be specific to a certain country and strive to reduce the impact of export restrictions. Rutte said the Netherlands will always try to reduce the impact and avoid shocks to the supply chain, so as not to affect the overall economic relationship.
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