RI-the Netherlands maintain strong, active business ties

RI-the Netherlands maintain strong, active business ties

Trade and investment relations between Indonesia and the Netherlands are more than 400 years old. This long history explains the strong economic ties between both countries. Bilateral trade amounts to US$1.3 billion per year.

Indonesian exports to the Netherlands are $1 billion, partially reflecting the important distribution function that the Netherlands has for the European market. Dutch imports from Indonesia grew by almost 20 percent in 1998.

The Netherlands is the seventh largest foreign investor in Indonesia, with a total invested amount of over $11.5 billion.

For companies in the Netherlands that want to start a business in Asia, Indonesia is very often one of the first countries they look at. At least 5 percent of the population in the Netherlands has family relations with Indonesia. Despite the current economic situation, the number of Dutch companies interested in entering the market is not yet significantly different from previous years. They are, however, looking more into local production than before.

Both the presence and the interests of Dutch business in Indonesia reflect the structure of the Dutch economy: a large agribusiness sector with deep specializations and supplying industries in a wide range of subsectors, a strong cluster of chemicals and energy-related industries and a strong construction sector, focused mainly on water infrastructure, a highly developed financial sector and some specialized environmental technology companies.

Indonesian-Netherlands Association (INA)

INA, the Indonesian-Netherlands Chamber of Commerce, supports the development of economic ties between Indonesia and the Netherlands. Information on virtually every company and on many markets in the Netherlands is available at INA. The Netherlands is an attractive market in itself, because of the rapidly rising wealth of its 15 million people and its dynamic and internationally very open business environment. In 1998 the Dutch economy grew by 2 percent, and private consumption by almost 4 percent. The Netherlands is also an important starting point and distribution center for Asian companies entering the European market. More than 200 million consumers in Europe can be reached within 24 hours after goods have arrived in the Port of Rotterdam, the world's busiest port with an annual turnover of about 300 million metric tons, or Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Europe's fourth largest airport. The Port of Rotterdam handles all kinds of cargo and food. INA helps about 200 Indonesian companies each year to do business in the Netherlands. A lot of information is available at the INA and INA helps establish contacts in the Netherlands.

INA has a number of support facilities for Indonesian-Dutch cooperation. The two most important of these are:

* Through the Indonestec facility, joint technological research of Indonesia and Dutch companies is strongly subsidized. In 1997, some successful cooperation projects were started between Indonesian and Dutch companies. Production facilities were modernized with the help of the Indonestec scheme. In another project, a technology was developed to make vegetable crops more resistant against diseases.

* The NMCP-program makes experienced (retired) Dutch managers available at very low cost to Indonesian companies, to assist them in developing and implementing new production systems, or other kinds of companies throughout Indonesia to provide a very broad range of support. Currently, an export from the Netherlands is in the INA office to advise Indonesian companies in their exports to Europe.

And there are many other subsidized facilities available to support almost all aspects of Indonesian-Netherlands business, ranging from company-matching and feasibility studies to even- equity capital.