Breda, unique operating base for international business!

UNITED KINGDOM
Amsterdam
Rotterdam
London
Breda
GERMANY
Bruxelles
Lille
Frankfurt
Luxembourg
FRANCE
Breda, unique
operating base for
international business!
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 1
Paris
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 2
Index
Foreword 5
01) BREDA IN A NUTSHELL
Top position 8
Haven for
international
business 10
Studying
and working
in Breda 14
Breda, a great
city to live in 16
6
Space: both
literally and
figuratively 12
Leisure in Breda 18
International
dynamics 20
22
02) BREDA, NETWORKING CITY PUR SANG
00118_09_v1
Complementary
by nature 26
Cradle of logistic
knowledge 28
Unlimited
networking 30
24
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 4
Breda, unique operating base for international business!
For anyone from the United States or Asia looking for
the ideal European base for opening up new markets
or serving European customers there is no better
place to set up business than in Breda, West-Brabant.
The City of Breda is strategically located between the
European mainports of Rotterdam and Antwerp;
it is close to the airports of Amsterdam, Rotterdam,
Eindhoven, Antwerp, Brussels and Aken; railways,
waterways and motorways and pipelines connect the
city with markets of hundreds of millions of consumers.
All the European business centres are brought within
hand’s reach by Breda’s good and fast accessibility,
particularly by its position as a hub in the European
grid of high speed raillinks and motorways.
Breda, from West-Brabant the gateway to Europe!
Apart from its favourable location and good accessibility, Breda has an active professional
workforce with an over-average high level of education. We are proud of our beautiful historic
city centre and the attractive supply of stores. It is a fine residential city with a rich variety of living
environments. Breda’s culture comes as a surprise to many. The supply of care facilities for city and
region more than suffices and fits Breda’s caring nature, which advertises it as a city of excellent
social cohesion. A safe city, where it is good to stay.
Finally, Breda is rich in sports facilities, and residents and visitors can enjoy the wonderful green
surroundings to their hearts’ content. Once you get to know Breda, you get to love it
Breda is characterised by an international slant and is actively dedicated to strengthening and
extending national and international networks. Many multinationals choose to set up business in
Breda to carry out activities related to sales and distribution. These newcomers soon find their
way into Breda circles. Our basic attitude tends to be one of “friends among friends”.
The binding element in all these networks is the pride we take in our city. We gladly invite others
to feel our love of Breda. We work hard to achieve our successes and are only too glad to share
them. I would like to welcome you to Breda to join its way of life.
P.A.C.M. (Peter) van der Velden
Mayor of Breda
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 5
Furthermore, Breda plays a key role in the city network called BrabantStad, a metropolis of
1.6 million inhabitants. A strong link in the province of Noord-Brabant with a population of
over 2.4 million. The province known for its innovative clout, its interrelationships and its labour
ethos, contributing a share of 20% to the Dutch Gross National Product.
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 6
01) BREDA
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 7
IN A NUTSHELL
Top position
Geographically, Breda holds a top position, being located between the world ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp and
Randstad and Flemish Diamond conurbations. It has gained Breda its status of Gateway to Brabant. The West-Brabant
region is known as the Golden Delta and was recently proclaimed the logistic hotspot of the Netherlands by trade
press and logistics branch.
The inland waters and harbours are part of the navigation
network extending towards Belgium, France, Germany
and Luxemburg.
Pipelines crisscross the region and a dense network of
glass fibre lines enables fast and safe traffic on the digital
highway.
In short, taking a look at this region means seeing a merging
of all modes of traffic. A company establishing a distribution
centre in Breda (West-Brabant) may serve a market of 140
million consumers within a 4-hours’drive, for example.
Breda high-speed train
Amsterdam Centraal
Schiphol
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 8
Den Haag Centraal
A shuttle service links Breda with the European grid of
high speed raillinks. As of 2009 business centres like
Amsterdam and Brussels can be reached from Breda in
less than an hour. Antwerp and Rotterdam in less than
30 minutes.
From Breda, international travellers can get to Eindhoven,
Rotterdam and Schiphol airports as well as Maatsricht/
Aken, Antwerp and Brussels airports by rail as if by flight.
These airports can just as easily be included in door-todoor concepts of freight transport. The freight rail to
Venlo is used intensively.
Rotterdam Centraal
Breda
Brecht
Antwerpen Centraal
Mechelen
Brussel Centraal
Brussel Zuid
Eurostar naarr
London
Parijs
8 trains per day
8 trains per day
The recent widening of the A16 motorway increases the
accessibility by road. The A58 and A59 motorways link
Breda with large European markets. Plans to improve the
A27 motorway are making steady progress and will offer
Breda an even better accessibility and better connections
with its hinterland With this grid of motorways the city is
strategically located on both major trade and logistic axes
and what is often termed the axis of knowledge
At Moerdijk, West-Brabant itself has a seaport while the
cooperation with Zeeland –“Pieken in de Delta”– offers
more seaport links with Flushing and Terneuzen.
16 trains per day
16 trains per day
>32 trains per day
>32 trains per day
Travelling time
High speed train *
Amsterdam CS - Breda
Schiphol - Breda
Breda - Brussel Zuid
0u59m
0u42m
(* High Speed Alliance maart 2005) www.highspeedalliance.nl
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 9
In short, taking a look at this region means seeing a merging of
all modes of traffic. A company establishing a distribution centre
in Breda (West-Brabant) may serve a market of 140 million
consumers within a 4-hours’drive, for example.
Haven for international business
For years, its location, accessibility and mentality have made Breda attractive for business. Breda binds people
together, cooperation is “business as usual” just like a joint search for improvement, innovation etcetera.
Globalisation brought many changes in the fields of trade and distribution, enabling Breda to further develop
its international linkage.
By highlighting the pros of city and region, Breda managed
to unite numerous “Beneluxans” during the last few
decades. More than 20 years ago, Esso set the trend by
locating its Benelux head office here. In the meantime
dozens of companies have discovered the advantages of
one central location for the Benelux in Breda. They save on
housing, cost of labour, are generally able to use a more
inexpensive – at any rate unambiguous – tax regime and
efficiency and innovation are gainful.
On average, a Benelux location in Breda offers annual
savings of 3 to 4 million euros.
Proportionally, Breda counts the largest percentage of
American companies, when compared with other Dutch
cities. The good contacts with Asia lead to more companies
from China and Korea showing their preference for Breda.
It is especially the European trade and distribution centres
that are set up in Breda by international business.
However, these are activities and processes that are
continually subject to change. Breda has therefore gathered
quite some specific know-how, which benefits the entire
industry and which is constantly being developed by good
interaction between business and education.
Recente Beneluxeerders
Alfa Laval Benelux
CAT Logistics
Chevrolet Nederland BV
Delonghi Nederland b.v.
Dockwise
Euroflow
Hatenboer Electro BV
GE Global Business Services
Labori International B.V.
Leo Pharma
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 10
Opel Nederland BV
Saab
Scania
Siematic
Take 2 Interactive Benelux BV
Texaco Delec
Toshiba
Taking a wider global view, multinationals have discovered
the advantages of Breda when it comes to finding a
location central to the whole of Europe. Location and
accessibility warrant success. There is a similar guarantee
for the right tie-up with education and labour market as
well as the city’s unique character. In the meantime
companies like Abbott, Amgen, Samsung, Chevrolet,
Skania and Sang Yyong have had Breda printed on their
business cards.
In welcoming these larger global players, Breda also has an
appeal for other business sectors. In turn, the wide range
of suppliers means specific demands for the labour market.
Enterprising colleges of further education like Avans
University and NHTV University of Applied Sciences, but
also ROC West-Brabant - institute of vocational secondary
education - are putting this to a clever use . They, too,
enlarge their sphere of influence through this interaction
and manage to attract ever-increasing numbers of foreign
students, even from China and Africa.
This is how there is a growing potential of the West-Brabant
region. By viewing beyond city and regional limits, Breda
constantly manages to avail itself of new opportunities.
Thus, within the framework of the national government
policy plan entitled “Pieken in de Delta”, there is a close
cooperation with the province of Zeeland and initiatives
like “World Class Maintenance” (Maintenance Valley) are
taking firm shape. Breda plays a representative role for the
maintenance industry, which can serve the entire playing
field from aircraft construction to process industry. In this
respect, too, logistics are obviously a success factor and
an ever stronger appeal is made for the knowledge and
ability of those who are capable of developing innovative
concepts saving time, money and the environment.
The logistics sector is well-represented in Breda and
West-Brabant
Economic impulse
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 11
In addition to the common West-Brabant challenges, Breda
makes a strong case for spearheads that are meant to strengthen
the economy of the city itself. In its Economic Impulse Paper,
Breda has taken a firm stand on active cooperation with the
market. In years to come this cooperation targets the favourable
sectors of “international trade and logistics”, “knowledge and
creative industries”, and “hospitality”. Sectors for which the
interaction with the field of education is a particularly favourable
condition for setting up business and for which Breda arranges
perfect accommodation.
Space: both literally
and figuratively
In its present city masterplan of business sites, Breda has guaranteed the conditions which offer space to
business in the city, literally and figuratively. Literally, by preparing in the next few years some 120 hectares
of new business sites for newcomers and for expansion of existing companies. There will be a further
addition of 50 hectares, which become available by revitalising existing sites. These are plans following the
allocation of business space realised earlier in the 160-hectare railzone area, Via Breda.
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 12
On these business sites, companies are given ample
opportunity of putting their own stamp on matters like
park management, security, sustainable purchasing and
marketing.
With its theme business sites Breda intends to have more
interaction between companies themselves on the one
hand and entrepreneurs, education and local authority on
the other. Together with Dutch and Belgian associations of
entrepreneurs, local authorities and European involvement,
over € 5m was recently invested to improve accessibility,
infrastructure and management of Hazeldonk, a logistics
business site on either side of the Dutch – Belgian frontier.
For the creative industry, the Triple O campus has been
developed around a former fire station, which also houses
the Game Academy of NHTV professional university of
applied sciences.
In the transformation of the Breda Railzone, Via Breda,
companies are also given a clear field. There are plans
for 5,000 houses, 10,000 work places and hundreds of
thousands of square metres of facilities in a surface area
of 160 hectares where the station quarter with its new
public transport terminal is the so-called fly wheel. About
one million square metres of commercial property to be
sector wise phase-developed. This adds a top segment
to the city. Study has shown that the development of a
World Trade Centre on this spot would stand out well.
The recent WTC licence will enable entrepreneurs in Breda
to enter this international network.
More space in a regional perspective
Together, eighteen municipalities in West-Brabant and
Tholen in Zeeland are the West-Brabant Assembly. Breda is
one of the leading partners in this network. In accordance
with the strategic agenda, work is being done to come to
a common vision of town and country planning. This is the
way to make an even better use of regionally available
space for national and international business and to allow
economic growth to run parallel with maintaining the
quality of life. Company brokers have long been used to
looking beyond city limits; also local authorities are aware
of this need. There is a joint effort to have a well-balanced
development of the whole region and to carry out a
tailor-made job for companies in order to create the most
favourable conditions for establishment. The master plan
for De Randstad conurbation 2040 plays a role in the
background. It indicates that there is an expectation of
overspill to West-Brabant to ensure a balanced distribution
of space available for business, residence and leisure. By
cooperating within the region itself and with parties in de
Randstad conurbation and at the level of national
government, West-Brabant can still be the director and
there will be plenty of propects for business.
It is all about keeping stocks up and making them
cost-effective. That is why the cooperation with acquisition
companies like Rewin West-Brabant, Zeeland Impuls,
N.V. BrIM and BOM (Brabant Development Agency) is
an invaluable asset.
Best Practices
The City of Breda has made an effort to cooperate with business and to derive financial support from Europe
to realise a Consumer Goods Consolidation Centre during the revitalisation of Hazeldonk. Its development
partly coincided with a transfer of Hero’s activities in Breda. By bringing parties together at an early stage
and making use of contacts within Europe, Breda has been able to strike a good deal in bringing about
cooperation between competitors. A clear case of a win-win situation for partners and society alike. Hero,
SCA and Hak have reduced the number of truck rides by a percentage running into dozens. There are
500,000 fewer kilometres per year and the annual CO2 reduction amounts to 350 tons. Obviously, companies
have made a cost-cutting operation. Meanwhile, they have also realised 100% growth.
With activities like these, Breda emphasises that city and region are the number one logistic hotspot of the
Netherlands in more ways than one.
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 13
Studying and
working in Breda
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 14
With well over 20,000 university students Breda gains the allure of a student city. Professional universities like
Avans and NHTV offer a wide range of studies, serving a super-regional area. The exclusive studies, including
a state-of-the-art game academy, attract students from all over the country. The same goes for the KMA,
Royal Military Academy.
Trade and logistics are at the core of numerous study courses.
The various master courses attract international students.
For example, ASIS, Avans School of International Studies,
which also offers a course of Chinese language and trade
with Asia. The professional universities cooperate closely
with the universities in Brabant and are making a special
effort to obtain university status for their (sub)courses.
One out of three students at the professional universities
moves on to university.
The institutes of education stimulate entrepreneurship
among their students by means of companies offering
traineeships and by adopting specific tasks of development
together with business. The cooperation between education
and business is getting more and more shape especially
on the spearheads of “knowledge-intensive and creative
industries” and “hospitality”. Take the game education at
the Triple O campus, for example, and the plans to start
a special course of “leisure and area development”at the
Bavelse Berg Park, an event location.
ROC West-Brabant, college of secondary vocational education,
ranks among the top institutes of the Netherlands as far as
secondary vocational courses are concerned. There is a close
cooperation with business at all professional levels.
The region offers a very wide range of educational courses.
Some of these, like the one for maintenance, especially
aircraft maintenance, have a nationwide reach. Students
leaving school prematurely are relatively rare. There is a
growing number of students moving on to professional
universities.
With its Economic Impulse Paper, Breda makes education
work, meaning that it pays attention to an even better
harmony between Colleges of secondary vocational
education, professional universities and business. Breda
does its utmost to bind the many students to the city even
after their graduation. Hence, the city’s keen interest in
cooperation with several universities in Brabant and the
Randstad conurbation and in obtaining university status
for specific study courses of its own. Accrediting routes for
several master courses are under way.
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 15
Breda, a great city to live in
Breda provides excellent service to city dwellers: the existing supply is extended by a large number of houses
– built on-site and as apartments – in different locations, varying in design and different price ranges. In short,
Breda is quite something as a residential city.
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 16
The new Wagemakerspark, Nieuw Wolfslaar, Chassé Park
and Nieuwe Mark housing locations are characteristic of
the Breda quality. Also in Via Breda, Teteringen and the
planned expansion at Bavel, attempts are being made to
create distinctive living environments.
It is quite possible to live in comfort and style in and
around Breda in different price ranges. There are good
possibilities for moving up, so a living career can go hand
in hand with a favourable career development. For those
who literally want to realise their own dream house there
are plenty of possibilities for privately controlled building.
For a more temporary stay, the rental market offers
convenient solutions.
All the current housing developments provide for houses
both to be let and sold and include a fixed percentage
(30%) of achievable building. There will soon be a
possibility to rent or purchase a residence in the new
public transport terminal building, designed by Koen van
Velsen. Speaking of door-to-door concepts: you can get
from your living-room to the heart of Rotterdam or
Antwerp in less than half an hour!
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 17
Leisure in Breda
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 18
It is quite obvious why “hospitality” is considered a sector of opportunities. The Burgundian part of Europe
starts in Breda. Hospitality is proverbial. Shopping while having a good time at one of the many pubs and
restaurants. Enjoying a day’s shopping in Breda has been at the top of the tourist charts for many years.
People especially appreciate the choice selection of shops in the historic city centre – including the Nieuwe
Mark zone – as well as the furniture heaven, meanwhile ranking among the five largest and most attractive
ones in the Netherlands.
The Chassé theatre, the third theatre in the Netherlands,
has an attraction for a super-regional audience with its
programming, which includes many try-outs of performances
and shows touring nationally. A former convent houses
Holland Casino’s largest branch. The Breda Museum has
regular exhibitions in the Grote Kerk while its own exchange
exhibitions also reach a national public. The number of
cinemas is a perfect match for that of cities like Rotterdam
and Tilburg. Many visitors are drawn by Breda’s annual
events, including the Jazz Festival, the Harley Day, Breda
Hippique, the Havenement and the Balloon Fiesta. Since
May 2008, Breda has had another major tourist attraction
with the Beyerd Graphic Design Museum.
Bavelse Berg Leisure Park will be realised in the near future.
An indoor and outdoor event location, combined with
retail according to the “try and buy” principle coupled
with the themes of sport and nature. Sport, recreation
and culture throughout the year. Well over 65 hectares for
equestrian sport, golf, an artificial ski piste and a fair and
congress centre for company activities, fairs and concerts.
Breda increasingly serves as the backdrop for television
shows and multimedia events. Programmes which are
proof of the city’s positive image and contribute to a
stronger appeal for visitors from at home and abroad.
Sports in Breda
Lovers of top and general sport can really let themselves go
in and around Breda. NAC Breda usually figures among the
top football clubs of the premier league: Baronie is often
found in the finals of the first division; Jeka guarantees
sporty football entertainment for young and old. As for
hockey density, Breda is at the head of all the lists, with
three top clubs – Breda, Push and Zwart-Wit – and some
smaller clubs in the former villages. Sprint, beautifully
situated in the Mastbos, is for those who choose to do
athletics. Rowing is possible in and around the city. There
are plenty of possibilities to play tennis and golf. Skaters
are familiar with the indoor skating-rink and those who
prefer swimming will find indoor and outdoor swimming
pools.
The woods and the scenery around Breda are an invitation
to go cycling, rowing and canoeing. Breda itself has a small
marina, but elsewhere in West-Brabant there are countless
possibilities for various water sports.
With its annual Singel Run, Breda ranks among the
Dutch and international (half) marathon cities.
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 19
International dynamics
Breda’s international slant dates back to a distant past in our national history. After the Fall of Antwerp
(1585) the town was a centre for dignitaries, freethinkers and cultural elite. Among them were the ancestors
of our own monarchy. This period did not only bring the town its tangible memories, like the Grote Kerk;
it had at least as much influence on the popular mentality. From time immemorial Breda has switched
between worlds, countries and cultures.
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 20
Education has an international approach. Business arrives
from all four corners of the earth and core business and
company management usually stretch beyond borders.
The direct link with the HSL web simplifies maintaining
international relations. Even without this fast rail link Breda
and Europe know where to find each other. The cooperation
between Breda and other European cities has regularly
found expression in Interreg projects, in which the city is cut
out to play the role of lead partner e.g. in the Water in
Historic City Centres project.
Breda’s contacts with cities and counties like Lille, Chester,
Kent, Mechelen, Ghent, Antwerp, Paris and its relations
with Poland, South Africa, the United States and China
are not just one-off meetings. Breda maintains permanent
relations with fellow public administrators and civil servants
and also allows business and education to have a full share
in these networks. Add to that the increasing number of
tourists visiting the city and the many foreign relations
welcomed by business each year, and Breda has all
ingredients for a dynamic, international allure.
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 21
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 22
What gives Breda its special character is its variation.
Town and country; historic city centre and urban areas
of outstanding contemporary architecture; culture in its
widest sense; ranging from theatres and concert halls,
museums with a religious heritage and a more general
orientation on the world of design, including a unique
museum for graphic design and platforms for pop music
and experimental theatre; residential environments
suiting any phase of life and any budget; everything in
the field of sports; a particularly wide range of educational
institutes, including international possibilities, and Brabant
and Randstad universities within easy reach. Plus the
people themselves, who are a key factor in making up
the colour and taste of life in Breda. They stand for their
city and for each other. They are all important in achieving
social success: the many volunteers in all kinds of clubs,
the amateur artists and those who are active in city areas
social network. Another piece of evidence of a city that
unites rather than excludes.
Breda, “best of both worlds”; the village aspect for those
who are attracted by it, or for the moments when one
feels the need to and at the same time all of the city
amenities close at hand.
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 23
and neighbourhoods. Breda has a strikingly fine-mesh
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 24
02) BREDA
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 25
NETWORKING
CITY PUR SANG
Complementary by nature
Networking comes naturally to Breda, as it were. Is this the logical outcome of its favourable geographic
location? Or was this location made into a success for city and region by the very qualities that bind successive
generations of Breda people and the many national and international newcomers whom they gave a warm
welcome? One thing is absolutely certain: the strength of the “golden delta” is for a large part supported by
popular mentality. The will to discover things, to widen the scope and to keep on making new connections.
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 26
Breda has been called Sunday’s child among the large cities.
The city is doing relatively well. A reason for complacency?
Certainly not! Breda is aware of its privileged position and
wants to keep it and extend it to strengthen the length
and breadth of the region from a national and European
perspective. Keen competition is not in its nature.
The city forces alliances, seeks reinforcement, binds
parties and distinguishes itself from its competitors by
being complementary.
Breda shows itself to be a “pur sang” networker as the
strong link between European Mainports; conurbations in
the Netherlands, Belgium and the North of France; as
director of cooperation in the field of public administration;
as an inspiring force for business and education partners;
as a partner in European forms of cooperation; and in
exchange projects with South Africa, for example.
Obviously, Breda maintains good contacts with Rotterdam
and Antwerp when it comes to tuning (business) activities
which are the result of port-related developments.
Within the framework of “Pieken in de Delta”, Breda takes
part in several projects that are aimed at strengthening the
process industry, logistics and tourism. Process industry and
tourism are closely interwoven, which is plainly visible in
the West-Brabant region and Zeeland. As a member of the
“Pieken Zuid-West” programme commission, Breda
maintains close contact with the “Pieken Zuidvleugel”
programme commission.
The theme of logistics binds both these programmes and
the cities and regions involved. In this connection Breda
acts upon its philosophy of being complementary and
being dedicated to the best possible synergy.
There is a very special relation between Breda and Poland.
It is a bond which has gained significance since more
Eastern-European countries have become member states
of the European Union. Breda operates in the so-called
“Orange Cities” network.
In this context the special relation between Breda and
America deserves to be mentioned. In a historic perspective
this bond dates from the time when New York was
founded. Adriaen van der Donck – grandson to Jan van
Bergen, the well-known Breda captain of a peat barge
–contributed to the development of the public administration model. The American city of Yonckers was named
after him. This Breda name will be repeatedly mentioned
at the celebration of Manhattan’s fourth centenary.
Since time immemorial Breda houses a strikingly large
number of American companies, proportionally speaking.
They occupy a special position in the city’s various
networks. The annual American Breakfast is an absolute
must for these companies and their relations.
The City of Breda and the region of West-Brabant maintain
close contacts with local authorities and
entrepreneurs in China, especially in the Yanghzou region.
Location, connections, accessibility, presence of
international business, a well-organised column of
education and those distinctive network qualities
have made Breda and the region into one of the
most dynamic areas of the south of the Netherlands.
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 27
Cradle of logistic knowledge
Its location, its accessibility and its age-long tradition of maintaining contacts with people and companies
from all four corners of the earth have yielded Breda a wealth of knowledge of trade and transport planning.
From time immemorial the city has been home to high-quality study courses of traffic and logistics e.g. the
Royal Military Academy (Dutch Defence Academy), which ranks internationally as cradle of logistic knowledge.
In the field of (military) logistics The Faculty of Military
Sciences cooperates with several technical universities,
particularly Eindhoven Technical University and Twente
Technical University, and Erasmus University in Rotterdam.
The Faculty of Military Sciences takes part in several
research programmes including Transumo.
The City of Breda stimulates cooperation among the
various educational institutes of the Royal Dutch Military
Academy, NHTV Professional University of Applied
Sciences, West-Brabant College of secondary vocational
education on the one hand and business on the other.
Thus creating a climate which allows education, science
and business to thrive. A basis for cooperation with
universities above and below the great rivers of Holland,
nationally and internationally. A perfect starting position
to participate in international networks of knowledge.
Logistics at professional university level
NHTV Breda, International Professional University of
Applied Sciences, offers two study courses for the logistics
sector: logistics & economics and logistics & transport
management. The educational programmes are put
together in close cooperation with business and frequent
use is made of visiting lecturers from the world of
business. Excursions and company visits are part of the
curriculum to optimise the link with the world of practice.
Traineeships – 30% regionally, nationally with a focus on
Zuid-Holland and Zeeland and increasingly internationally
– also enhance the direct link with the world of practice.
The number of foreign NHTV students shows an annual
increase and is currently at 10%. There is also a growing
number of (visiting) foreign lecturers. Students increasingly
find themselves a spot at a foreign company or institute of
education for their traineeships or terminal projects.
By stimulating, maintaining and sharing these networks,
NHTV and Breda are gaining international status and allure.
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 28
Best Practices:
It becomes clear from the West-Brabant Strategic Agenda and the “Joint investment in West-Brabant”
agreement of intent that municipalities in this region set aside some hundreds of millions of euros to
realise a large number of projects which improve accessibility, extend the possibilities for business and
offer more employment for graduates of secondary vocation education and professional universities.
Maintenance and logistics are spearheads. The West-Brabant ambition is as follows: “In 2015 West-Brabant
is the worldwide place-to-be for maintenance.”
To be able to make the greatest use of available talent in the region and to permanently stimulate the
innovative strength of small-sized and medium-sized companies, West-Brabant is dedicated to establishing
a Top Institute for Maintenance. The business plan for this institute is supported by an education
consortium of NHTV professional university of applied sciences, Avans professional university, Royal
Military Academy and West-Brabant College of secondary vocational education.
Initiatives in the field of “World Class Maintenance” are supported by Economic Impulse Zeeland, REWIN,
the Brabant Development Agency and the recently established World Class Maintenance Program Office,
which is housed in Breda.
In the new term of office of public administration 1,000 hectares of existing business sites will be subject
to extra revitalisation or redevelopment. For 2010, the need for new (super-) regional business sites will be
charted to be able to jointly create favourable conditions for economic growth and employment.
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 29
Avans School of International Studies
With a new programme, Avans University offers students a
possibility to get more familiar with China, South Korea and
Japan during one semester. For the length of their stay in
these three countries, students follow programmes of certain
universities and gain inside knowledge of companies like
Samsung and LG. Each year, the cooperation with the SouthKorean Kyung Pook University, the university in Beppu in Japan
and the Yanbia University of Science and Technology in Yanji
in China, enables 20 Avans students to add considerably to
their market value for international logistics companies.
Preparations are being made to realise an exchange for
students from Asian countries along the same lines.
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 30
Best Practice: relations with China
The City of Breda and the region of West-Brabant maintain close contacts with local authorities and
entrepreneurs in China, especially in the Yanghzou region.
Form some years now, partners have paid several visits to each other. Brabant delegation members are
impressed with the way they are welcomed to China and in turn Chinese entrepreneurs and public
administrators enjoy the Brabant hospitality. In the meantime, the increasing mutual understanding has
led to more Chinese companies setting up business in West-Brabant. These include the China Trade Centre
in Roosendaal, which may serve as a foothold for Chinese companies with a wish to serve the European
market. The centre offers them offices, showrooms, warehouses, rooms for recreation, pastime and
conference as well as a facility centre.
The friendship between West-Brabant and Yanghzou, officially confirmed in 2008 with a cooperation
covenant, is becoming more and more firm and offers increasingly good prospects for business and
institutes of education. By opening the China Yanghzou Business Office and starting the China Business
Club in Breda, local authorities, education and business have structured their joint Chinese network.
Since then, 8 new companies have set up business in West-Brabant.
The cooperation between West-Brabant and the Chinese City of Yanghzou (4.5 million inhabitants) is
part of a large-scale cooperation between the five Cities of Brabant and the Province of Noord-Brabant
and the Chinese Province of Jiangsu, which borders on the Shanghai region and has a 25% per cent share
in China’s exports. In this context Breda, together with partners in West-Brabant, steadily moves to
strengthen friendly relations with China, for the next few years coupling it with its aim to welcome
approximately 15 new Chinese companies and offer active support to business and education.
Unlimited networking
The many ways in which local authorities, education
and business apply their networking skills with
national and international partners are at least as
dynamic as the actual core business of all these
partners. They have one thing in common: striving
for more knowledge and insight, intending to
reach the summit.
No doubt that all these networking activities
contribute to the international image of Breda.
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 31
It’s more than just the image, it’s reality:
Breda connects people, businesses and cultures.
Join Breda and get the benefits of our unlimited
networks.
Breda, unique operating base for international business I 32
Colofon
Copyright: BrIM Breda, Edition: 50 copies, April 2009.
Photography: NINE The Netherlands, A2 Studio’s Rotterdam, Gemeente Breda Wessel Keizer,
Avans Hogeschool, NHTV Internationaal Hoger Onderwijs Breda.
BrIM Breda, PO Box 2522, 4800 CM Breda, The Netherlands