Utrecht is one of the Netherlands' principle economic centres, particularly noted for its IT and advanced sciences industries, especially in the field of biotechnological research and development and manufacturing. According to the Utrecht Foreign Investment Office, employment in the IT sector has risen by over 40 per cent since the end of the 1990s to around 37,000 people. There are in the region of 3,000 IT companies operating in the province, predominantly in the fields of software and services. Several prominent national and international IT companies have established themselves in Utrecht including Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, HP/Compaq, IBM Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Sybase, and Texas Instruments.

Other important industries in the province include construction, financial and business services, tourism and trade and logistics, while the region's main manufacturing products include chemicals, clothing, furniture, machinery, metal items, printed materials and processed food.

Utrecht benefits from an excellent location, at the meeting point of many of the country's road, rail and inland waterway networks. The world's largest seaport of Rotterdam and the cities of Amsterdam and The Hague can all be reached in less than 40 minutes by road or public transport. High-speed trains connect the province with many of Europe's most important business centres and Schiphol International Airport is only 30 minutes away.

Utrecht benefits from a well-educated and multilingual workforce which, according to The Netherland's Foreign Investment agency, totals in the region of 537,000 people. Its central location and excellent transport links also make it easy to source workers from neighbouring provinces.

Utrecht is home to the country's largest university and several research institutes, such as the internationally renowned National Institute of Public Health and the Environment and the Nutrition and Food Research Institute. The large student and graduate population help to ensure continued access to highly educated employees. For example, Utrecht University and the Utrecht Institute for Higher Professional Education have more than 3,000 students studying IT, communications technology, and computational sciences at any one time, while figures from the Utrecht Foreign Investment Office show that a third of people in the province have a university degree or higher vocational qualification.

The province offers a high quality of life combining the very best in culture, entertainment, education and housing. In a recent survey conducted by the Cologne Forschungsinstitut in April 2002, Utrecht was ranked 2nd out of 214 European cities and regions for overall quality of life and economic potential. The city of Utrecht is home to many places of interest such as the Central Museum, the Museum of the Utrecht Province Society of Arts and Sciences, the Netherlands Railway Museum, and a Protestant cathedral dating from the 13th century. In addition, there are numerous bars and restaurants and a lively nightlife. The city is also in the process of building the country's largest housing area, which will provide accommodation for approximately 78,000 people, and the city's population is expected to reach 325,000 by 2015.