Séverine Blok, directorNV BrIM, to leave office

Newsletter for international
business accounts
Internetversion
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Volume 28
Q4/2015
Séverine Blok,
directorNV BrIM,
to leave office
In this issue Page 1 Séverine Blok, directorNV
BrIM, to leave office • Energetic Breda Page 2
BBU, working visit to Yangzhou in China Page 3
DHL Express first company at Rithmeesterpark
Breda • LIQAL wins first Breda Start-up Award
Page 4 ExpoReal Munich Page 5 Successful
Career Event • Sinterklaasmiddag International
School Breda • Facebook page Economic
Barometer Breda Page 6 Opportunities for
medical technology in China! Page 7 Closing
Van Gogh 2015 • Cultuurnacht Breda •
Rithmeesterpark Breda
Prior to my employment by the city, I worked
on project and building developments in the
private sector. This year I have learnt that my
present job is very interesting and exciting, but
that my heart is with property project development and building. So I have decided to accept
the offer I was made to become vice-director of
project development at NBU in Etten-Leur.
Since early 2009 I have enormously enjoyed
working for the City of Breda. The first few
years as senior project manager of Property
Developments and this year as director of
NV BrIM, a full subsidiary of the City of
Breda. I have experienced how interesting
it is to work on our beautiful City of Breda
in an exciting political environment. It is
nice to witness so much involvement and
responsibility on the part of my colleagues
and how creatively they have done their
work to arrive at development despite the
troublesome past few economic years.
Energetic
Breda
Maya van den Heuvel, manager Centre of
Expertise for Sustainable Innovation, and
Nies Rijnders, manager Centre of Expertise
for Sustainable Business, of Avans
Professional University are both members
of Energetic Breda, a team which is
facilitated by the City of Breda to support
a wide fan of sustainability initiatives.
BrIM Breda and Social Media
Apart from finding updates in Breda
Business Update newsletter, you can
read about the latest of all of Breda’s
developments on our 'BrIM Breda'
LinkedIn Group and on Twitter.
This year I enjoyed the pleasant collaboration
with Marcelle and Marleen, the BrIM team I am
certainly going to miss, but of course also the
collaboration with you as our partner. Mid-January 2016 I will leave office and in the meantime replacement will be acquired. Meanwhile,
Marcelle den Hooglander will be the contact for
new developments.
I would like to thank you very much for our
collaboration and maybe we will meet again.
Séverine Blok
The team’s role is to stimulate Breda projects
contributing to the realisation of the climate
targets of the City of Breda: climate neutral in
2044. These initiatives have been submitted by
citizens of Breda and by companies. The
initiatives cover a broad range and are all
aimed at saving energy: stimulating electric
driving, stimulating building energy-efficient
houses, encouraging companies to work on
ways to save energy and to use alternative
sources of energy.
An example of this is BEI: Breda Energy Initiative. Its aim is to get 300 Breda companies to
sign a covenant in the next few years in which
they agree to save at least 10% of energy in
the following year. Avans Professional University is discussing with the initiators how it can
support the initiative by mobilizing students to
help entrepreneurs realise the 10% target, for
example.
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BBU, working visit to
Yangzhou in China
<Mr. Xu Lijun of the Chinese company Milton BV located in Breda visits a
3 TTO class of Mencia de Mendoza during a lesson on China
Breda / South West Netherlands has had a sister city relationship
with the Chinese City of Yangzhou (population: 4.5 million) in the
province of Jiangsu since 2009. This city bond is the result of the
official bond of the province of North Brabant with the Chinese
province of Jiangsu. Other cities in Brabant like Eindhoven,
Tilburg and Den Bosch maintain similar sister city relationships in
this province.
Breda has an active city bond and good relations with the City of Yangzhou; this bond is actively maintained not just by Breda but also by the
region of West Brabant / South West Netherlands. A courtesy visit is
combined with a theme-related trade delegation almost every year. The
latest trade mission of June 2014 centred on the themes of logistics and
care. In addition, the Brabant Delta Waterboard has some projects with
Yangzhou via the city bond and we also receive Chinese delegations in
Breda that are the result of trade mission contacts.
Mayor Zhu Minyang’s invitation to mayor Paul Depla to attend the celebration of the 2,500th anniversary of the foundation of sister city Yangzhou in September 2015 was a reason to combine our presence with a
working visit.
The targets of this working visit:
> Strengthening our sister-city relationship
> Making our city bond more concrete
> Exploring the possibilities for a trade mission in 2016
Some results:
The fact that Breda’s new mayor soon came over was clearly appreciated
on the part of Yangzhou. By having attended the celebration of their
2,500th anniversary, Breda added to showing its respect for this important event for the city. By its presence, Breda has shown that it wants to
invest in its relationship with Yangzhou.
During the visit it has become clear in what fields the collaboration with
Yangzhou can be strengthened. A memorandum was signed to this pur-
pose. The first field is that of the economy. In this respect, it is especially
logistics, tourism and agrofood that are interesting themes.
Furthermore, Yangzhou and Breda can make their collaboration more
concrete by focusing on the exchange of knowledge and experience
regarding sustainability. In nearly all of the presentations by the Chinese
this subject came up for discussion, water being the key theme. In the
case of the water issue for that matter it is also clear that the city bond
with Yangzhou need not only lead to an exclusive collaboration between
Breda and Yangzhou. For, in the field of water there is also an intensive relation with Nanjing / province of Jiangsu. Via its city bond Breda
want to contribute by getting the right partners around the table, even
though these partners are sometimes outside Yangzhou and Breda’s city
limits.
Strengthening the bonds with the next generation has been established
by making a first step in the collaboration between Shuren Middle
School and Mencia de Mendoza Lyceum. However, here too, there are
interesting initiatives in Nanjing that could be put to further use. Just
think of the summer school which is being started from Breda by the
Chinese Milton BV. Also consider this school’s / company’s possibilities to
stir the interest of Chinese students in a study at Avans, for example.
With regard to exploring whether a logistics trade mission 2016 is desirable, the first talks with the consulate showed that organising a logistics
mission seems useful. The consul did emphasize the need for a clear
business cluster, though. A prerequisite is to have a clear-cut mission
theme. In this respect we should not be hampered by city limits but we
should join our Brabant forces.
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Q4/2015
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DHL Express first company at
Rithmeesterpark Breda
DHL Express will be the first company to
establish at the new Rithmeesterpark
Breda on the A16 in Breda. A contract to
this purpose was signed by Michiel
Greeven, managing director of DHL
Express in the Netherlands, and mayor
Paul Depla on Wednesday 7th October
2015. The new site comprises a lot of more
than 12,000 m² in extent in a total
planning zone of 13.5 hectares.
From its site DHL Express has excellent access
to the A16 via Princenhagelaan and Graaf
Engelbertlaan, which is an important reason
to establish at Rithmeesterpark Breda. Michiel
Greeven, Managing Director of DHL Express
Netherlands, about the new site: “In its location this site is a perfect match for our international network, which connects businesses
in the region to the most important business
centres in the world within 24 hours”.
New site
DHL’s new site accommodates its express division which is now established in Roosendaal.
Its approximately 100 employees will be transferred to the new site in Breda. Other DHL divi-
sions will stay in Roosendaal. The new Service
Center covers an area of more than 2,500 m²
of shed and office space. It will have an automatic sorting machine and will be fitted with
energy saving and environmentally friendly
equipment. It will be a garage for some 50
vans, lorries and a Parcycle (special tricycle for
the inner city) to serve West Brabant. The City
of Breda will prepare the site for DHL Express’
new-build before the end of this year. A temporary construction road will also be built. This
will allow DHL to start its building activities in
January 2016.
DHL Express investment
programme
DHL Express’ new site is part of an investment
programme which aims to expand and renovate the Dutch branch of the concern’s international express network. It is DHL Express’
largest investment programme since it started
in the Netherlands forty years ago. All ten sites
are up for change. Three sites will be rebuilt
and extended and there will be new build for
seven. The investments are necessary to facilitate the company’s current growth.
LIQAL wins first Breda
Start-up Award
The house was crowded at The NAC
stadium on Friday 2nd October last when
the innovative start-up LIQAL was elected
Breda’s start-up of 2015. The jury praised
the young company’s ambition, distinctive
power and potency.
LIQAL develops innovative total solutions and
systems for LNG stations. LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) is an emerging fuel used in shipping
and road transport. Meanwhile, the first few
stations are being built. The company has the
power to grow into a formidable player on the
world market in the next few years.
Jury
Breda Community Award
The jury consisted of Breda top entrepreneurs
Joris Toonders of Yonego, Janneke Niessen of
Improve Digital and Jeroen van Glabbeek of
CM Payments. They had a private interview
with each finalist individually and selected the
final winner based on their assessment and the
pitch before the audience. They were impressed
by the level of all the finalists and the accompanying potency for Breda’s economy.
De Nieuwe Winkel (The New Shop) won the
Breda Community Award with a very narrow
majority of votes by the public. They managed
to obtain the public’s preference with a very
strong pitch. The Breda Community Award is
a prize for Breda start-ups who create a local
connection by means of a distinctive concept
and an entrepreneurial approach. Other nominees beside De Nieuwe Winkel were Sport 76,
HUB88, Mad Molly’s Irish Pub and Kids’ Time.
Selection round
At an earlier stage the five finalists for Breda’s
start-up were chosen by Mayor Depla and a
selection committee consisting of Cees Meeuwis, Aad Ouborg and Jochem de Graaf. LIQAL,
Route42, Ceres Legal, Sesam Solutions and LED
Driven were selected from among 15 nominees
based on distinctive power, vision, ambition and
market potency. Three out of five finalists are
Starterslift participants.
About the Breda Start-up award
The election is an initiative of Starterslift,
Business Coach Breda and the City of Breda.
Together they look for Breda’s start-up of the
year. The election was held at the NAC stadium
during the Business Coach Breda event entitled
“Enterprising is a top sport – the way
to success”.
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Q4/2015
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ExpoReal Munich
The annual international real estate fair ExpoReal was held in
Munich from 5th to 7th October last. Developers, builders,
investors, financiers and consultants from all over Europe
man their own booth at this fair or are visitors. European
municipalities or regions also present themselves here.
In previous years BrIM Breda has visited the fair twice but never showed its
presence at a booth. This year a choice was made to rent some space at
the Holland Property Plaza (HPP) stand, which was also done by the City of
Tilburg. This stand is a meeting point, where Dutch companies and authorities present themselves. The City of Tilburg has used the fair in this way
for eight years.
HPP participation means presence at dinners, an advertisement in a brochure and a possibility to take part in theme-related meetings in the Netherlands during the year.
Fair participation contributes to Breda’s profile as an interesting living and
working location, specifically with regard to the sale of business sites and
the increased strength of area developments for living, shopping and leisure.
Mayor Depla was also here for two days and talked with CEOs of 12 Dutch
and international investors. There was a presentation to give them further
information about Breda’s possibilities and qualities. All the parties present
wish to follow up on this by making a tour of Breda and zooming in on
the possibilities. For the time being, these are mainly offered for the home
building industry, but contacts have been made for business, too.
Attempts have been made to draw attention to Brabant’s coordinating
activities. There were contacts about this with the provincial authorities,
who very much wanted to cooperate. However, with the limited number
of possibilities to advertise at the HPP booths it proved hard to give visible
expression to this, given the total stand’s uniformity.
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Successful
Career Event
On 5 November a Career Event took place at Avans University
of Applied Sciences. During 400 speed dates, some 100 students met with 90 companies for a work placement vacancy
starting in February 2016. Participating students from the
Netherlands and abroad study the programmes
Bedrijfseconomie, Commerciële Economie,
HRM, Bedrijfskunde MER, Accountancy or International Business and Management Studies.
Monday 11 April 2016 another Career Event
will be organized for work placement and/or
graduation assignments starting September
2016. Would you like to participate or would
you like to receive more information? Then
please send an email to [email protected].
Sinterklaasmiddag
International School
Breda
Speed Dates at Avans University of Applied Sciences
The International School of Breda
is delighted each year to be invited
by the gemeente Breda to a very
special Meet & Greet with
Sinterklaas and his team of Piets.
For our children, many of whom are
far from home and have quickly had to
adapt not only to a new school but a
totally different culture, it is a wonderful opportunity to experience this very
fine Dutch tradition first hand and to
learn something of the culture of their
host country. Like their Dutch counterparts, our international children are
just as excited by Sinterklaas’ arrival
and the promise of good things to
come, which they have already learned
about in their Dutch classes at school. It is something equally valued by our
parents, who are also learning to
adjust to their new home away from
Facebook page Economic
Barometer Breda
https://www.facebook.com/EconomischeBarometerBreda
To the Economic Barometer Breda is next to a website now also a
Facebook page.
New channel to communicate with entrepreneurs making more messages possible
than just during the annual presentation (next time on 1st February at the municipality). Like the page. Then, you can stay updated on new figures, invitations, etc.
family and friends as well as having to
deal with the unfamiliar which a new
life in a new country inevitably brings. The warm hand of friendship extended
by the gemeente Breda in its annual
invitation to the ISB is much appreciated by our parents and the exposure to
this tradition helps to a certain extent
with their and their family’s integration
into their new Dutch environment.
We would like to thank all of those at
the Gemeente Breda who are involved
in organising this wonderful event, for
their time and patience -particularly
with our younger children - and above
all, for the gezelligheid!
Thank you!
Louise Everson
Head of ISB Primary
Q4/2015
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Opportunities
for medical
technology in
China!
HEILONGJIANG
JILIN
XINJIANG
LIAONING
INNER MONGOLIA
GANSU
Beijing
HEBEI
NINGXIA
SHANXI
QUINGHAI
SHAANXI
TIBET
CHINA
SHANDONG
HENAN
HUBEI
GUIZHOU CHONGOING
JIANGSU
ANHUI
SHANGHAI
ZHEJIANG
HUNAN JIANGXI
Trade mission Shanghai/
Jiangsu·April 2016·Theme:
Medical technology
Is your company active in medical
technology? Would you like to get a better
insight into the opportunities offered to
you by the Chinese market and would you
like to extend your network in China? Join
the trade mission in April 2016! Show your
interest via [email protected] and provide
your contact details.
Since 1994 the province of North Brabant has
had a good relationship with the province of
Jiangsu, which is technologically far advanced
and has China’s highest provincial gross domestic product. This province is the direct hinterland of the metropolis of Shanghai.
Impressive figures
China’s medical technology figures are impressive. Within Chinese healthcare, which is going
through an enormous growth, medical technology is one of the fastest growing sectors. The
sale of medical equipment in 2014 amounted
to as much as 36 billion euros: more than double the amount of 2010. And this is only the
beginning. With the growth of the Chinese
middle class and an ageing population (the
number of people over 65 in 2020 will have risen to 230 million!) the export market will grow
from 500 billion dollars in 2013 to 900 billion
dollars in 2018.
Europe is the biggest exporter to China (39 per
cent of the export market) and the Netherlands
is among the top 5 of European exporters. The
most imported product groups for 2014 were
diagnostic equipment, rehabilitation equipment
and equipment for X ray tomography and endoscopy.
There are plenty of
opportunities
The opportunities for Dutch business are mainly
in the second-tier cities: large cities surrounding the metropolises of Beijing, Shanghai and
Guangzhou. In the province of Jiangsu (population: 80 million) more than half the people live in
the cities e.g. Nanjing (8 million), Wuxi (6 million)
and Suzhou (5 million). These cities offer business opportunities because they are technologically advanced, are open to foreign companies
and products and serve an extensive market.
protection and a clear individual aim. So joining
this mission is more than spending just another week in China. Indeed, as a participating
member you are expected to show your commitment e.g. by attending the preparation and
follow-up meetings.
This is the programme
A one-week mission to China will cost around
3,000 euro for flight, stay and local transport.
Extra costs will be charged for the matchmaking programme and the organisation of the
mission. These will also depend on your wishes.
The long-standing relationship between Jiangsu
and Brabant will help you gain a foothold in
China or expand your existing activities. During
the mission you will visit some second-tier cities
in Jiangsu. Aimed items on the programme are
•
A personalised matchmaking programme
•
Contacts with experts and the Dutch authorities (consulate general in Shanghai and the
NBSO office in Nanjing)
•
A programme centring on the China Medical
Equipment Fair in Shanghai
•
Visits to relevant organisations in Jiangsu
that can help you with their expertise and
network
The final programme will be geared to the
needs and profile of registered participants.
Indication of costs
Are you interested?
Are you interested in the trade mission to China? Or do you wish to attend the information
meeting? Please let us know by sending a mail
to [email protected] and we will soon get in
touch with you. You can also contact us yourself via:
Floris Jan Donders Province of North Brabant
at [email protected] or 06 5278 3623
More than “just another week
in China”
A mission to China cannot be successful unless
you prepare thoroughly and make sure there is
a good follow-up. Indeed, the mission is part
of our offer of a complete programme which
takes about one year. In the preparatory phase
we pay attention to the conditions for success
in China such as knowledge of cultural differences, characteristics of networking in China, IP
Karin Jansen Brabantse Development Agency
at [email protected] or 06 4699 6019
Naomie Verstraeten Brainport Development
at [email protected]
or 06 1190 3946
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Q4/2015
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Laat je meeslepen
door winters breda
tot en met 30 december 2015
zie programma: www.wintersbreda.nl
Closing
Van Gogh
2015
CHRISTMAS AT VINCENT VAN GOGH’S HOME
For weeks on end the parlour of the rectory of Vincent’s father resounds with
readings from the Bible, Christmas carols and tinkling coffee cups when members of the small parish gather around the decorated fireplace. Gifts for all the
children, not just the minister’s. No feast is complete without giving each other
homemade presents. In the hearth’s radiant warmth in the backroom each
Christmas is concluded with a story by Dickens.
Source: Vincent van Gogh, the biography, Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith - Design & Illustration: Renie Lamers Illustrations.
VAN GOGH IN BRABANT AND THE WEST BRABANT REGION
For more information about Van Gogh in:
ETTEN – LEUR click here à http://vangoghkerk.nl/
The beginning of a career
Etten was the village where Vincent van Gogh had himself registered as a
painting artist for the first time (in 1881). It was a turning point in the life of
Vincent who was 28 years old then. The beginning of a career! Vincent van
Gogh’s time in Etten is to be considered a phase in which Vincent sows the
seeds of his later artistry. This story is fascinatingly shown in and around the
Van Gogh Church in Etten-Leur.
WINTRY BREDA
Allow yourself to be carried along by Wintry Breda! To add to Breda’s
already warm atmosphere in the winter months, there will be different
activities in and around the city centre. Several of these will focus on
Vincent van Gogh. In the attachment you will find the programme and
all the activities during Wintry Breda, which will conclude the festivities
around “Van Gogh 2015”. For more info click http://winters-breda.nl/
ZUNDERT click here à http://www.vangoghhuis.com/
Vincent van Gogh’s House is a house of memories and perception. Vincent
himself will take you with him in a radio play full of fun to watch. On this master’s home ground attention is also paid to his fellow artists, past and present.
This is one of his dreams come true: a venue for the art of the future.
BRABANT click here à http://www.vangoghbrabant.com/nl
This is where Vincent was born and painted his first masterpiece, the Potato
Eaters. Discover the places in Brabant where you can still trace him.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzFhcYkxGPI&feature=youtu.be
With this short impression you
get a good overview of the access
Rithmeesterpark Breda
http://www.cultuurnachtbreda.nl/contact
©2015 copyright BrIM Breda / Breda Business Update is an activity of NV BrIM Breda, part of municipality of Breda.
P.O. Box 2522, 4800 CM Breda / T + 31 (0)76 529 41 09 / www.brimbreda.nl