Explore doing business in the Netherlands

If you are you interested in venturing into the Dutch market, then you should not miss the 1st edition of a new NRCC event aimed for Romanian companies interested to connect with potential clients / partners in The Netherlands.

Doing business internationally expands a company’s horizon and offers unique opportunities for growth, development and profit building. The Netherlands is one of the most open economies in the world. It offers an outstanding infrastructure – including Europe’s largest port – a competitive business climate and a strong treaty network.

The Dutch tax system features several tax incentives to stimulate innovation and business activities. And as an internationally oriented country, the Netherlands is home to more than one million – most of them highly educated - foreign workers. In a world that is rapidly changing, whether it is from an economic or political point of view, the Netherlands has proven to be a stable country.

 

The event will provide an overview about they key aspects of doing business and investing in The Netherlands, offering as well a perfect set-up for networking and matchmarking.

By means of practical presentations, with case studies and statistics, the guests speakers will offer valuable answers to questions that every foreign businesses and / or entrepreneurs have when targeting the Dutch market.
 

1) Registration & Welcome Drink
 

2) Presentations 

SLOT 1

• Macroeconomic overview on the Dutch market - Wijnand Marchal, Economic & Commercial counsellor, Netherlands Embassy in Romania
   
• Taxation system in NL - Edwin Warmerdam, Partner - Head of Tax Advisory Services, Mazars Romania
   
• Export: prepare before you start, research the market first - Eric Meijer, Director Export Market Research
  
  Break of 20 minutes
   

SLOT 2

• Best practices and business opportunities for Romanian companies in NL – Cristian Mateescu, Trade counsellor, Embassy of Romania – The Hague 
   
• Legal system & employment law in NL - Brindusa Gritu, Attorney at Law & Consultant, Founder BG & Partners
   
• Matchmaking & building connections in NL – Natasja Hart, Dutch Romanian Network
   

3) Networking Reception (buffet included)


Each presentation lasts 20 minutes and is followed by a 10 minutes Q&A session.
The agenda is still open, so other relevant topics and speakers might be included.
 

Brindusa Gritu, Attorney at Law & Consultant, Founder BG & Partners
Brindusa is the first Romanian lawyer registered in the Dutch Bar Association. After practicing law for 10 years in Romania, she set up the first Romanian – Dutch law firm in the NL in order to come closer to the western European entrepreneurs. In this way she learned about the Dutch culture and acquired valuable insights into working in a different cultural environment. Currently, Brindusa operates under both jurisdictions of law, offering legal assistance for investors on emerging Eastern European markets. Brindusa is a keen attorney-at-law with a background in Romanian law, enriched by extensive knowledge of European and International law. Her areas of expertise include: cross border transactions, with extensive experience in assisting multinationals in their establishment onto emerging markets.
 

Eric Meijer, Director, Export Market Research
Eric is the director of Export Market Research, an international market research company. Export Market Research assist exporting companies in identifying opportunities and risks in foreign markets. Prior to setting up Export Market Research he worked in a number of different (international) positions. Among others he worked as an export and investment researcher/advisor to SME’s for the Dutch government. He also had a senior finance position in an international NGO that operates in private sector development and higher education in a number of regions (Eastern-Europe, Africa and Middle-East). He holds a MSc degree in Business Economics from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
 

Wijnand Marchal, Economic & Commercial counselor, Netherlands Embassy in Romania
As a diplomat in the Dutch foreign service, Wijnand was previously posted in Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) focusing on private sector development, agriculture and food security and at the economic section of the Dutch embassy in Washington DC. Also he served at the embassy in Addis Ababa, and in the office of the Secretary General at the Dutch Foreign ministry. He started his career as an assistant to a Dutch member of the European Parliament in Brussels. He has a degree in Political Science and American Studies from the University of Amsterdam. Marchal lives in Bucharest with his wife and three children.

Natasja Hart, Treasurer, Dutch Romanian Network
With a solid background in sales, marketing, innovation management, (public) policy develoment, business development and entrepreneurship, Natasja is for over 4 years part of the DRN Dutch Romanian Network, being the main contact person of the association.

Edwin Warmerdam, Partner - Head of Tax Advisory Services, Mazars Romania
Edwin boasts over 25 years of professional experience in finance and taxation, of which 18 years as a tax and financial advisor in Romania (since 1998). His field of expertise spans corporate income tax, individual income tax, mergers and acquisitions, due diligence and international taxation. Edwin’s industry exposure mainly includes Real Estate, Financial Services and Energy. Before joining Mazars, Edwin worked for 15 years at PwC in The Netherlands and Romania as Tax Partner (1991 - 2006). Afterwards, he was active in the Real Estate industry as CFO and Executive Board Member. He successfully completed several Institutional Real Estate Projects on the Romanian market from land acquisition to the retail and office sale projects.

Cristian Mateescu, Trade counsellor, Embassy of Romania – The Hague
Since 2017, Cristian is Head of the Economic & Trade Promotion Office of Romania – Embassy of Romania, The Hague. In this capacity he is coordinating the development of the economic relations between Romania and The Netherlands, with main focus on match making the RO and NL SME’s business interests. Prior to that, he was Director/coordinator of the Department for bilateral economic relations development EU Member States and Desk officer for Germany, within the Ministry of Economy, Bucharest and Trade counsellor in Munich-Germany.
 

BG & Partners
The first Dutch Romanian law firm in The Netherlands that offers legal and consultancy services to investors worldwide. We offer customer-orientated assistance with a specific focus on emerging Eastern European markets. The firm benefits from a unique strategic position on the European market. Having three office locations across Europe – in The Hague (The Netherlands), Bucharest (Romania), and Sibiu (Transylvania Region), BG & Partners is a boutique law firm with simultaneous access to both the Dutch and the Romanian markets and jurisdictions. The team is composed of in-house Romanian and Dutch legal experts, committed to creating a platform of business development for Dutch investors and Romanian businesses to work together and expand their vision across borders.

Dutch Romanian Network
Dutch Romanian Network (DRN) is a business platform for Dutch entrepreneurs who maintain business contacts in Romania. Viceversa, DRN offers their platform also to Romanian entrepreneurs with a business interest in The Netherlands. In 2007 the Dutch Romanian Network was established. Since then, the membership has grown and the network events are visited with great interest. International operating companies often find that operating individually often leads to fragmentation, higher costs and loss of competitiveness. Therefore DRN offers entrepreneurs a platform for partnerships with a cross-sectorial nature. Also with governments, where an individual entrepreneur barely stands a chance, DRN uses its network to make the first contact and help to start the dialogue.

Export Market Research
EMR is an international research company that helps entrepreneurs to be more successful in foreign markets and reduce the risks associated with it. EMR provides support for taking good decisions about exports. The goal is to determine if a market is attractive for exports in an informed way. What are the possible risks that should be taken into account. This is done by making an export market analysis focused on your product and foreign market. The analysis can be fully customized based on clients’ information needs, as well as three standard reports: Export market briefing, Country selection report, Customer or partner selection

The Netherlands Embassy in Romania
 The Netherlands Embassy in Romania is responsible to maintain and enhance the diverse relations between Romania and the Netherlands, specifically political, economic and cultural relations. The Embassy supports Dutch citizens living or visiting Romania with consular services, and issues travel documents to the Netherlands. The economic section provides assistance to Dutch companies interested in doing business in Romania and promotes Dutch solutions, industries and techniques, with special attention for the agri-food sector
 

The event will take place at InterContinental Hotel Bucharest, Hora Room, 21st floor. 

Access only by registering at info@nrcc.ro, no later than 14th of February.

Fee for NRCC members - 150 lei / person 
Fee for external companies - 250 lei / person