Modern Netherlands - industrial country with intensive agriculture and development of foreign economic relations. Kingdom of the Netherlands , with a population of only 0.3 % of the world population , according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF ) is the eighteenth largest economy in the world and a major player in international investment . Netherlands ranks 9th among importing countries , 2nd place in the world among countries exporting agricultural products and 7th place in the list of leading trading nations of the world . On the Netherlands accounted for over 4 % of world trade .
Netherlands - a country with an open economy , which has a favorable geographical position to attract foreign companies active not only in the Netherlands, but also in neighboring European countries . The role and place in the world economy of the Netherlands is determined primarily on the orientation of the country's export- import transactions ( " Gate of Europe" ) .
According to a rating agency Bloomberg (Best Countries for Business , 2013) Netherlands occupies first place in the ranking of the most attractive countries for doing business in Europe and fourth place - in the world. The main advantage of the Netherlands are the lowest cost of doing business , namely the small cost of transporting goods and low operating costs.
