International approach

For the last ten years, Holland High Tech has successfully canvassed for the international positioning of the Dutch high-tech sector. With our ecosystem and effective branding, we have put the Netherlands on the map as an important trading partner. The focus lies not only on the strengthening of the profile, but also on promoting the international cooperation for innovation. With specific plans and participation in strategic trade exhibitions and missions, we continue to promote and strengthen our sector around the world, with the objective of creating sustainable international commerce and autonomy.

State of affairs

Ambition

Action points

State of affaits

For more than ten years, the Holland High Tech Top Team has fought to establish a stronger profile for Dutch high tech outside the Netherlands. Successfully. The target nations recognise Dutch high tech and see our sector as an important trading partner. The branding employed by Holland High Tech has appeared so successful that we do not just use the brand abroad but in the Netherlands too. We have a unique ecosystem of combined competences and this is a strong selling point for the Netherlands. This allows us to explore foreign markets as well as international companies, institutes, and attract talent. We continue to reinforce, connect and empower this ecosystem.

We did not just create a strong profile in recent years. We also focused our attention on international cooperation for innovation. From ‘Exhibitions and branding’ the emphasis shifted to ‘business and jobs’, and we plan to continue this. Dutch innovations have reached every corner of the world for decades, especially as part of the global approach of major companies. But for medium-size and small companies it is more difficult to acquire an international position in innovation. That has to change, because these parties are also important control points in the creation of international value chains.

For the high-tech sector’s international playing field it remains important that we continue to participate in international trade exhibitions and missions abroad. These are ways in which to realise the ambitions of our top sector, especially for the many innovative SME companies. As Holland High Tech, we work actively with the international network of innovation attachés to expand the worldwide network for the Netherlands.

The Netherlands and our sector are beneficiaries of further international cooperation and strategic international partnerships in and outside Europe. This facilitates the strengthening of vital economic processes and developing new ones, to create key position control points, control points in international value chains, to work on digital sovereignty and protect critical infrastructure and institutes from cybercrime, sabotage and espionage, etc. (TNO analysis paper: 'The value of Dutch industry').

The Dutch high-tech sector has a global market, to which we adapt in our actions. In recent years, we have successfully invested in a plan for Germany and one for France. Our focus here is specifically on energy, sustainability and digitalisation in the auto and aerospace sector. In addition, the global positioning of our smart industry is a successful example. New plans for specific industries and areas of focus are in development.

The joint Dutch contribution of knowledge institutes, research institutes and private parties offers our sector opportunities for retaining our (often) leading position in the field of innovation, to strengthen it and to develop new value chains and control points in these value chains. At Holland High Tech, we continue to focus on international cooperation in knowledge and innovation development, digitalisation and (cyber) security.

As a top sector, we participate with our industry and knowledge partners at various strategic trade exhibitions abroad. Furthermore, under the supervision of central government, high-tech representatives accompany missions regularly. As part of the defence and safety sector, we position the high-tech sector internationally via partner organisations like the Nederlandse Industrie voor Defensie en Veiligheid (NIDV, the Dutch Industry for Defence and Safety) and via Partner for International Business programmes (PIBs). In place are, for instance, PIBs with South Korea, Greece, Malaysia and the United States.

Dutch knowledge institutes and companies have been striving for some time now to jointly participate in European R&D projects. In comparison to other countries, they make a lot of use of the opportunities within the EU. With the sliding panels on the world stage, we expect that attention for European R&D projects will only increase. After all, the EU wants to continue to play a role on the high-tech world stage. Opportunities for our sector to work European-wide include the Horizon programme, the EU Chips Act and the Chips Joint Undertaking (JU).

The joint Dutch contribution to knowledge institutions, research institutes and private parties offers our sector opportunities to retain our (often) leading position in the innovation field, strengthen it and develop new value chains and control points in these value chains. At Holland High Tech, we continue to focus on international cooperation in knowledge and innovation development, digitalization and (cyber)security. Allowing us to reduce the dependence of one or several industrial powers, develop complementary industrial activities at a European level and, in doing so, make Europe and the Netherlands less sensitive to interruptions in global value chains.

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Ambition

Dutch commerce strengthens its grip on unique control points in international value chains. In doing so, we create sustainable international commerce and autonomy for the Dutch high-tech sector. The basis for this lies in a leading knowledge position and continuous innovation.

We continue to draw attention to the Netherlands and the uniqueness of the Dutch high-tech systems and materials sector (HTSM sector) nationally and internationally. To retain and reinforce the strength of the sector, internationally too, participation in international research and cooperation programmes remains an important theme.

Action points

Prioritizing and programming

It continues to be important to jointly participate in international trade exhibitions, to draw international attention to the Dutch high-tech sector. But also to publicise this participation in the Netherlands. We encourage and facilitate participation in international trade exhibitions. International missions to initiate and strengthen cooperation also remain important for the Netherlands and to demonstrate the strength of our ecosystem and our innovation capabilities. We will continue to support this.

We continually draw attention to the Netherlands as a high-tech nation in countries that are of importance to our sector. We want to show here how we can construct control points in new value chains, which occur as a result of transitions. We dominate the control points thanks to our innovative capacity, that we then manifest in valorisation in public-private marketing.

We reinforce current international pacts, national and theme plans and, together with our partners and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, we work on new plans for target countries. In addition, we chart new opportunities for international activities and programmes. Are they focused on transitions, and will they allow us to establish control points for our ecosystem? Then we are more than happy to assist our sector in grasping these opportunities.