Dutch American Financial Ties Throughout History

Serge Melki/Wikimedia Commons

It's 404 years ago since the Dutch East India Company financed the journey of Henry Hudson resulting in the discovery of New York. Now in 2013 the Dutch still play an important role in cross-border investmenst with the U.S. In his column in the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, Cees Vermaas, CEO of NYSE Euronext Amsterdam (NYSE Euronext is the first global equities exchange formed in 2007 when the New York Stock Exchange merged with Euronext) describes his visit this week to New York, joined by the other European sister-exchanges, as part of the Pan-European Days. During those days, 16 leading Dutch companies and others listed on the European sister-exchanges are meeting with U.S. institutional investors, offering them their latest business insights and also participating in a seminar about the European capital markets. Mr Maas makes a number of interesting observations about the importance of Dutch-US ties throughout the ages. As his Telegraaf column is in Dutch, let me highlight here some of those remarks:
 - the U.S. invest 24% of its total European investments in the Netherlands and are the largest investor in the Netherlands with an annual investment of $52 billion



-  the Netherlands are the third largest investor in the U.S. - after the U.K. and Japan - with a total of $240 billion, having generated 343,000 American jobs

 - also, not only did the Dutch finance the voyage of British captain Henry Hudson in 1609, but  in the 18th century they also financed the Louisiana purchase  and railway investments in the U.S.

So, we are now full circle: time has passed, and the U.S. has developed into the leading economic power in the world, while the Dutch have succeeded in continuing to play an important role as a gateway for investments and business ties with the U.S. As we would say in Holland, something where a small country can show its greatness.

 

 For further reading:

Henry Hudson in Holland

Banking Through the Ages