News item | 6/30/2023 | 13:15
The government is investing 4 billion euros from the National Growth Fund in 18 projects that should ensure long-term economic growth and future prosperity. This has been decided by the Council of Ministers on the proposal of Minister Adriaansens of Economic Affairs and Climate and Minister Kaag of Finance. The cabinet hereby adopts the advice of the committee chaired by Rianne Letschert, chair of the board of Maastricht University. Economic growth enables us to continue to invest in, for example, healthcare, education and measures against climate change. Growth also provides more income, so that we can maintain our prosperity in the future.
The committee advised the government to allocate 4 billion euros from the National Growth Fund in this third round, with conditions still applying to part of those allocations. For the total of 1.9 billion euros in reservations, the applicants must take extra steps before a final decision to grant follows.
For the development of circular solar panels, the cabinet is allocating the highest amount, namely 412 million euros, of which 277 million is conditional. This project should ensure that solar panels are made from less critical raw materials and that the Netherlands becomes less dependent on foreign production of panels. The maritime sector wants to become more sustainable in order to be future-proof, for example by using sustainable ships. The government has therefore allocated 210 million euros to the Maritime Master Plan, of which 110 million euros is conditional.
Because the demand for care is increasing and the shortage of personnel continues to increase, a shortage of 20% in operating capacity is expected in 2030. In order to increase the training capacity and to be able to offer sufficient further training, a change or development of care training is necessary. The DUTCH project replaces part of the practical hours in the training with physical and virtual simulation in order to train healthcare professionals faster and more completely. The National Growth Fund invests a maximum of 132 million euros in the project, of which 84 million euros is conditional.
The quality of school buildings influences the learning performance and health of pupils and teachers. A conditional award of 275 million euros from the Growth Fund should lead to cost savings in the construction of new school buildings. The government is also reserving another 209 million euros in the National Growth Fund for innovations that make this possible.
National Growth Fund
The National Growth Fund was launched in 2020 with the aim of strengthening the sustainable earning capacity of the Netherlands. The National Growth Fund invests together with initiators in projects that ensure sustainable economic growth in the longer term. A total of 20 billion euros is available in the National Growth Fund for investments in knowledge development and research, development and innovation. In the first two rounds, the government allocated 7.8 billion euros for (conditional) grants and reservations to various projects. The first projects are now being implemented.
In the third round, various ministries submitted investment proposals to the Growth Fund in collaboration with public and private parties. Consortia could also submit their investment proposals directly via a subsidy scheme to the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. Consortia consist of companies, knowledge and educational institutions, governments, social organizations and other parties.