Agree, and I'd like to add that I know at least two companies in the Netherlands where the 'actual work' in innovation is done at big chemical plants in the south-east of the country, but patenting and other administrative stuff however is done at the company HQ in Amsterdam, the capital.
This will probably be counted in their "Amsterdam-Brussels-Antwerp" statistic, but no real-life innovation has taken place there.
The other side to this story is that non-Europeans would probably still consider this place part of the "Amsterdam-Brussels-Antwerp" axis since it is only 100km outside of it, while for Dutch people this is 'the other side of the country' and thus, considered far away.
The "patent capital" area in NL is centered around the area where ASML and NXP is located too. These two giants bring around the whole semiconductor market up and make them famous for the innovation/patents
This will probably be counted in their "Amsterdam-Brussels-Antwerp" statistic, but no real-life innovation has taken place there.
The other side to this story is that non-Europeans would probably still consider this place part of the "Amsterdam-Brussels-Antwerp" axis since it is only 100km outside of it, while for Dutch people this is 'the other side of the country' and thus, considered far away.