Expatica news

Dutch news in brief, 16 December 2004

Philips agrees to sell flat screen business

Dutch electronics giant group Philips announced on Thursday it has agreed to sell most of its flat screen business to Taiwanese company TPV Technology in a deal valued at EUR 269 million. Philips is to acquire 30 percent of TPV under the arrangement. The deal will make TPV the biggest manufacturer in the world of flat screens for computers and televisions, producing 35 million units annually, Philips said. TPV will take over production of cheap flat screens made by Philips, which will continue making top-of-the-range flat screens.

House prices to continue to rise

The increase in house prices in the Netherlands is set to continue in coming years, the Dutch association of estate agents NVM said on Thursday. A collapse of the market or prize reductions is not on the cards even though the economic outlook remains sombre, the NVM said. NVM chairman Oscar Smit told newspaper Algemeen Dagblad that the Dutch housing market was built on stable foundations. He was responding to a claim in the Economist magazine in the UK which predicted a collapse in the housing market.

Sharp rise in healthcare insurance

About 4.3 million people in the Netherlands face a sharp rise in their health insurance costs because they go to the doctor too often, according to new calculations by the Dutch association of health insurers. People who regularly go to a doctor will be hit by higher premiums because they will lose out on the no-claims bonus to be introduced next year. Last week, the association estimated that one million people would fail to qualify for the bonus.

Parents not to name baby Jihad

The man who wanted to call his newborn baby daughter Jihad intends to change her name, it was reported on Thursday. The girl was born on 27 November and a public servant with the Amsterdam District Council had registered the girl’s name as Jihad, which means holy war. But because the girl was a dual Dutch-Moroccan national, the Moroccan consulate also needed to give assent. It didn’t. The district council in De Baarsjes then sent a letter to the parents requesting them to contact the municipal office, RTL News reported. At that point the father indicated he intended to change the name of his daughter, asserting that he did not want to her to start life with an emotionally charged name.

[Copyright Expatica News 2004]

Subject: Dutch news