Trade promotion
Trade promotion focuses on collective activities such as trade missions and fairs. Trade missions are specifically for SMEs because they are, unlike large companies not yet established, represented or positioned in the foreign markets relevant to them. Trade promotion is important for the strategic fairs. Both large companies and SMEs participate in fairs, although SMEs seem to be confined to Europe and their limited resources appear to be a barrier to participation. The strategic fairs are therefore the main activity of trade promotion.
Strategic Fairs
To support the internationalization of the Top Sectors, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Strategic Grants Programme has been in existence for some time now. The aim of the programme is for companies in the Top Sector to present themselves at trade fairs as a collective Dutch entry. The entry is then supported with an NL pavilion, networking activities during the exhibition entry, promoting the Netherlands and facilitating the presence of a minister, ambassador or other senior official delegation.
The activities organized by the government aim to promote the sector as a whole. This increases the opportunities and visibility for individual Dutch companies. The support is in addition to the companies’ own input, such as the programming and financing of their own stands next to the NL pavilion, coordination costs and matchmaking. The essence of the scheme is therefore that the companies themselves take care of their presence and stand, while the scheme provides for the common facilities and profiling. To be eligible for the subsidy, at least 15 companies with their own stand must participate.
Planned activities in 2023:
- 25 – 27 April 2023, Paris FR
JEC WORLD – The leading international composites show – CompositesNL and ChemistryNL partner up - 24 and 25 October 2023, Rotterdam NL
EFIB 2023 (European Forum for Industrial biotechnology & the bioeconomy) – hosted by HollandBio and ChemistryNL. - Exploring new trade fairs within the SME segment