Nearly 40 Chinese companies – including Huawei, Opple, Navinfo – have established themselves in Brabant in recent years. Conversely, Brabant is also very interested in doing business with China, according to an overview published recently by the Brabant Development Company (BOM). “The missions are the start of close cooperation with partners in China for many entrepreneurs”, says the BOM.
Emile Asselbergs, CEO of the Eindhoven based Phenom World, expects that he scored about 3% of the annual turnover during a trip organized by the BOM at the end of October. Joost van Kuijk, CEO of Adimec, also predicts concrete results from relationships built up during the trip: “We have made initial contacts with both small companies and world-class organizations in the mobile phone industry. Our first estimate is that we will achieve a 5 percent increase in turnover over the next two years”, he says to the BOM. “In this mission, it has become clear to us that doing business in China is not a threat but an opportunity. It is now time for us as a high-tech company to get involved in China’s growth. If we continue to innovate in technology, there will be a huge market for us there.”
Holst Centre also made the most of the trip, says managing director Ton van Mol to the BOM. “The new partnership with Nanjing Tech University (NTU) has enabled Holst Centre to enter a new market in China. A joint research programme will lead to new innovations that fit in the Chinese context and give access to a network of the largest players in the market for sensors and smart displays. A few large Chinese companies have already shown serious interest in the cooperation between Holst and NTU. This gives confidence that the cooperation will also be a commercial success.”
BOM regularly organizes meetings that can offer insight into doing business in the international market. The next meeting around International Enterprises is Wednesday 6 December 2017 at the provinciehuis in Den Bosch. View the program here.
