March 10, 2026
EUROPE · STRATEGY
Amsterdam inbusiness (now Amsterdam Trade & Invest), the foreign investment agency of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area in the Netherlands, engaged FDI Center to develop a new strategy for attracting foreign direct investment.
The agency’s objective was to become more selective and proactive in its approach to investment attraction, while aligning its activities more closely with those of important stakeholders in the region.
Over 14-months, FDI Center worked closely with the agency’s management and team to develop a new approach for attracting FDI. During this time, we:
• held interviews with each member of the agency’s management and staff.
• conducted a full review of the agency’s activities and processes.
• defined the key benefits of attracting FDI to the Amsterdam region to help position the value of the agency to stakeholders.
• supported meetings with key regional stakeholders to generate their support for FDI attraction and identify opportunities for collaboration.
• introduced a process for identifying target groups for FDI attraction and directly contacting potential investors.
• created a system for qualifying potential investment projects and streamlining the service provided to investors.
• assisted in forming an “operational excellence” team within the agency to continuously improve processes for supporting investors.
• held several workshops with the agency’s management to shape the new strategic direction.
• coached individual teams on implementing the new strategy.
Based on our support, the agency has transitioned to a more structured and focused approach to investment attraction.
