Task Force on Future Prosperity and the Business Environment
The Taskforce on Future Prosperity and the Business Environment is tasked with helping the Netherlands achieve structural economic growth of 1.5 per cent per year, as agreed in the coalition agreement. According to the government, this is necessary to ensure that healthcare, education and other public services can continue to be funded in the long term. The approach focuses on four areas that are crucial to our future prosperity and competitive position: Digitalisation & AI, Security & Resilience, Energy & Climate Technology, and Life Sciences & Biotechnology — all sectors in which the Dutch high-tech industry plays a key role.
Update July 2026
The Task Force on Future Prosperity and the Business Environment is pressing ahead with the new, focused strategic industrial policy. Together with the business community, knowledge institutions and other partners, a programme is being developed with specific objectives and actions across six markets that are important for earning potential, social impact and resilience, and which align with existing Dutch areas of expertise: Digital Services and AI, Semiconductors, Defence-related applications, Biotechnology, Mechanical Engineering and Innovative Chemistry. Where necessary, the task force will help to drive breakthroughs.
Second Productivity Agenda: six action points
The second Productivity Agenda has been drawn up in response to the disappointing productivity growth of 0.3 per cent per year on average over the past decade, whilst an ageing population actually makes it more difficult to increase the number of hours worked. The agenda focuses on six themes:
A well-educated workforce.
A more efficient labour market through regional Job Centres.
Digitalisation and the adoption of innovation by businesses.
A stronger European single market.
Better access to finance for start-ups and scale-ups.
Less regulatory burden thanks to a more decisive government.
For high-tech companies, the key themes are digitalisation, innovation and adoption: in this regard, the government is working on establishing the National Agency for Disruptive Innovation (NADI) and on providing support for the adoption of new technologies. The new National Investment Institution (NII), which is intended to facilitate funding for start-ups and scale-ups, also forms part of this agenda.
The Productivity Council will be established on 1 August 2026 to advise on next steps. The Council will issue annual advice to the Government.
Talent strategy: focus on key sectors
The Talent Strategy is designed to ensure that the Netherlands is able to attract, train and retain people in the four selected sectors, so that crucial high-tech sectors such as digitalisation, energy and climate technology, and life sciences can continue to grow. Education is the driving force behind this: the government aims to lay a broad foundation of skills from primary school onwards and then provide more young people with targeted training for the four sectors, including through more structured collaboration between educational institutions and the business community.
In addition, the Government is committed to lifelong learning, so that experienced workers and jobseekers can also undertake further training and retraining, and to a more strategic approach to labour, knowledge and student migration in order to continue attracting international technical talent. At the same time, dependence on low-productivity labour migration must be reduced. Concrete measures will be implemented, amongst other things, through a vocational education (MBO) Pact yet to be finalised and an approach involving higher professional education (HBO) and university education (WO). The government will report on the progress of these elements in separate letters to Parliament over the coming months, with a comprehensive progress update on the entire strategy due by the end of 2026.
