Western Europe

Netherlands

Europe's logistics gateway and its most critical chip-equipment maker

Overview

The Netherlands is a small country with an outsized role in world trade: the Port of Rotterdam anchors European logistics, and Dutch firms sit inside supply chains few consumers ever see.

Its most strategic asset is ASML, the Veldhoven company whose lithography machines are required to make the most advanced chips on earth — a near-monopoly at the heart of the global technology contest.

On the rise

The Netherlands' grip on advanced chipmaking equipment has turned it into a decisive player in the geopolitics of technology.

Companies from Netherlands

ASML

Veldhoven, Netherlands

Develops lithography systems used by chipmakers to manufacture advanced semiconductors.

Official website