Amsterdam’s position as the best place in Europe for the international business community to settle, has dropped from sixth place in 2007 to eight place in 2009. That is bad for both Amsterdam and the expats who live there.
If you decide to pursue an international career, then you want to live in a city where businesses want to settle and where you feel welcome. If not in Amsterdam, then in one of the other beautiful cities in the Netherlands. On 3 March, municipal elections will take place, and many of the expats living in the Netherlands can cast their vote as well. But too often, this large group of residents is forgotten by local politics. Stereotype thinking prevents political parties from focussing on the specific problems this group has to face. One of the local candidates running for the Amsterdam council who does not think this way is Frank van Dalen. He is member of the liberal VVD party, listed No. 8 in Amsterdam.
“The Amsterdam ‘Zuidas’ should be an international icon”, City Council candidate Frank van Dalen (VVD) made this statement last Monday during a visit to the ‘Zuidas’. The area should be used as a means to end the city's inferiority complex from which it has suffered for years. The ‘Zuidas’ in the vision of Van Dalen is a combination of working, living and entertainment.
