Representatives of the fund, which is financed by the Dutch government, will arrive in Israel next week - in preparation for the week of the 2013 Israel Expo - to examine the possibilities of cooperation and investment in Israeli life sciences companies and will offer assistance in establishing a subsidiary in the Netherlands and in locating investors
Representatives of the Brabant Development Authority (BOM), which is funded by the Dutch government, will arrive in Israel next week, ahead of the IATI-Biomed Israel 2013 week, which will open in June 2013 in Tel Aviv, to examine cooperation and investment options in Israeli technology and biomede companies.
"We want to encourage and invest in the cooperation between the technology and life sciences industries in Israel and between those in the Netherlands," says Jan Pelle, director of BOM, who will head the Dutch delegation to Israel. "Through BOM Capital, our venture capital fund, which has 120 million euros at its disposal, we are ready to invest in companies that will start operations in the Brabant region and meet our investment criteria. BOM representatives have already visited Israel in the past for a close examination of the country's advanced technological industry, and there is definitely a lot of compatibility between it and the Dutch high-tech and biomed clusters. We definitely support the formation of such a cooperation", says Pele. According to him, these days a cooperation agreement is being formed between BOM Capital and the Van Leer Xenia company (in which the public investment company Xenia, the Jerusalem Development Authority and the Ducor-Ven Leer Fund, the investment company in Israel of the Dutch Van Leer Group, are partners).
During the expected visit, BOM will even offer Israeli entities and companies that decide to expand their activities to the region, investment support and loans of up to 2.5 million euros. The BOM Foreign Investments arm will offer companies assistance in locating foreign investors, assistance in contacting the local and regional authorities and exposure to the activities currently carried out in its territory, in places such as High Tech Campus Eindhoven (a unique R&D center for companies and institutions, which hosts over 100 high-tech companies), Pivot Park ( Eshkol and a global center of attraction for pharmaceutical and life sciences companies) and Holst Center, an independent R&D center specializing in innovation in the fields of technology and electronics.
The delegation, which includes senior representatives representing the high-tech and life sciences "cluster" in Brabant, the Netherlands, will arrive in Israel on May 28, 2013, to take part in a seminar and networking event, the purpose of which is to allow Israeli companies to closely examine the possibilities of cooperation with the region, which is considered one One of the largest and leading high-tech and life sciences concentrations in Europe. The delegation will present to the participants the variety of benefits and options open to the respective companies.
2012 was a record year in the volume of mutual trade between the Netherlands and Israel, which reached more than 5 billion dollars. The export from the Netherlands to Israel was 2.84 billion dollars, compared to 2.76 billion dollars in 2011. The volume of exports from Israel to the Netherlands was 2.3 billion dollars, compared to 2.16 billion dollars in 2011.
The meeting, organized by Kurtz Marketing&management, under the management of the Israeli Kobi Kurtz, will be attended by Casper Waldkamp, the Dutch ambassador to Israel, Ben Engel, who is responsible for investments at BOM, Guido Pardo Roccoas, CEO of Philips Israel and Philips Healthcare Israel, Dr. Avraham Gross, Deputy Chief Scientist, Marenix van Warbergen, Director of the Dutch Investment Agency, Zvi Kotler, Director of New Technologies of the Israeli Orbotech, (whose company has a successful cooperation with the region) and representatives of the parks and technology and life sciences centers in the Brabant region.
The Brabant region, located in the south of the Netherlands (between Rotterdam and the port of Antwerp and very close to the German Rhine Valley), currently hosts over 1400 foreign companies that have established an activity base there, from marketing and sales offices and bases for European activity, through pan-European logistics centers to successful R&D systems. The place, which exhibits a rare combination of forces from the government sector and the business/industrial sector, attracts leading high-tech companies from around the world, among the names that can be found there: ASML, Philips, Apple, IBM, FEI, Dell, Intel, Texas Instruments, Synopsis, Ericsson, GE , Tyco, LG, Sony, Bosch, Siemens, Heineken, Unilever and Orbotech. The areas in which the region stands out are clean technology, semiconductors, medical devices, transportation and ICT and about 100 thousand employees work there, which will export during the year 2012 in over 70 billion dollars with revenues of over 30 billion dollars. Brabant, spread over an area of 5000 km, offers access to over 170 million consumers within a 300 km radius and over 300 million consumers within a 500 km distance.
The companies in the region benefit from tax incentive packages and bilateral tax agreements, and government business support, which helps in a variety of services, from real estate to assistance in recruiting quality personnel. As a central point in Europe, the area close to Germany, Great Britain and France is a gateway to Europe, connected to the rest of the continent by a network of trains, highways and an international airport.
The Brabant Development Authority (BOM), is funded by the Dutch government and the Brabant region. It is currently responsible for providing - free of charge - support to organizations and companies that decide to operate in the region, with required information and ongoing assistance. BOM Venture Capital, the dedicated investment fund, which, as mentioned, has 120 million euros to invest, is currently prepared to support companies and startups with investments and loans of up to 2.5 million euros. In addition, the BOM Foreign Investments arm offers assistance in locating foreign investors, as it finances tours of potential investors to the region, takes care of meetings with investors abroad and assists in contact with the local and regional authorities.
BOM representatives accompany the companies that choose to establish an activity base there in a variety of issues and processes, such as providing information on the local and regional business environment, taxation, office locations, residential options, employment licenses, etc. At the same time, the team is responsible for connecting to a variety of contact factors relevant to the start of the activity, such as suppliers, industry, government, consultants, education and training, real estate and development. Another task the Authority is responsible for is supporting R&D programs, while connecting the relevant business community in Europe, research centers and financial institutions, as it is prepared to provide financial support to projects and companies in need of financial investment.
Today, many multinational entities are moving their R&D centers to Europe and especially to the Brabant region. The reasons: proximity to the production centers, shortening the time to market for a variety of products, access to the technological innovations of today's carriers, and access to European scholarship and investment budgets. Brabant currently employs over 16 researchers and has some of the world's leading development centers, as well as research, science and academic institutions such as the Holst Center, Technical University Eindhoven and the Design Academy.
(http://www.bom.nl www.foreigninvestments.eu)
High Tech Campus Eindhoven (HTC)
The Brabant area is the base for the activity of one of the most well-known technological bodies in the world: High Tech Campus Eindhoven - a unique R&D center for companies and institutions, which hosts over 100 high-tech companies working in collaboration with 2000 scientists from Philips and other companies such as ASML (which defines the geometry of the semiconductor world), FEI (the giant of electron microscopes), IBM and Intel, in the development of new and ground-breaking technologies. HTC provides access to some of the most advanced high-tech facilities in the world and to 8000 researchers, developers and entrepreneurs, all of whom have one common mission: developing products, technologies and breakthrough innovation in areas such as microsystems, life sciences, high-tech, infotainment and embedded systems. In place of over 45 thousand square meters of research laboratories as well as over 6000 square meters dedicated to promising startup companies.
(www.hightechcampus.com)
Holst Centre
Holst Center, located in HTC, is an independent open-innovation R&D center that develops generic technologies in two key areas: for wireless sensor systems with extremely low power consumption and electronic components designed for large flexible areas. In the first part, the basis for what is now known as the internet of things is developed there - the development of micro-system sensors that will add intelligence to almost every object around us, work independently with minimal electricity and provide valuable information about the environment in which we operate. In the second part, they develop electronic components that can be printed on extremely thin metal and plastic surfaces, as a basis for wearable computing, lighting systems, sensors and solar systems, food packaging for quality and freshness control, and up to smart dressings that know when the wound has healed.
The fact that the Holst Centre, supported, in part, by the Dutch government, allows it to demonstrate continuous growth and business partners from around the world, who come there to share ideas and above all to share development efforts, costs and the risks involved in R&D, while reducing the time to market for generations New and promising products.
For example, the center recently developed the world's first GPS solution on a single chip intended for navigation inside buildings, or the first ink injection procedure of its kind in the world to produce environmentally friendly photovoltaic-organic cells that can be planted in building materials, for example.
(www.holstcentre.com)
Pivot Park
The Pivot Park Life Sciences Park was founded in collaboration with MSD, the municipality of Oss, the region of North Brabant, the Dutch Ministries of Trade, Innovation and Agriculture and BOM. The place, which was officially launched at the end of 2012, is currently used by 22 life science companies advocating open innovation, an idea that allows businesses that develop, manufacture and sell products and services to benefit from the knowledge and infrastructure of the other partners in the place. For pharmaceutical and biotech companies, open innovation is extremely important to increase the efficiency and creativity of R&D, with all those involved sharing knowledge and facilities. The companies are active in what used to be MSD's research facilities, which are particularly suitable for advanced research in the life sciences.
(www.pivotpark.nl)
Kurtz Marketing&Management – KMM
Kurtz Marketing&Management, managed by Kobi Kurtz, is a business development group located in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, with activities in several other countries. The company provides strategic consulting services to high-tech companies and serves as a bridge between Israel and the Netherlands. The company is particularly active in the fields of life sciences, electronics, ICT and energy. KMM has served and serves hundreds of clients, both innovative startup companies and multinational hi-tech corporations, helping them enter new markets, establish strategic partnerships, position them and help them market new technologies.
(www.kurtzmarketing.com)
2012 - a record year in the volume of mutual trade between the Netherlands and Israel
Mutual trade reached more than 5 billion dollars. The export from the Netherlands to Israel was 2.84 billion dollars, compared to 2.76 billion dollars in 2011. The volume of exports from Israel to the Netherlands was 2.3 billion dollars, compared to 2.16 billion dollars in 2011
In 2012 there was a record in the volume of mutual trade between the Netherlands and Israel and it reached more than five billion dollars. According to the Dutch Ambassador to Israel Kasper Waldkamp, Israel is the third largest Dutch export destination in Europe, after Germany and Italy.
"We live in a globally competitive world and are challenged by the need to deal with the economic problems. Israel is an important economic factor for us. And the Netherlands is a good place to start business in Europe," said Waldkamp. In 2012, the export from the Netherlands to Israel amounted to 2.84 billion dollars, compared to 2.76 billion dollars in 2011, a figure that shows that in terms of Dutch exports, Israel is in third place in Europe, after Germany and Italy.
The volume of exports from Israel to the Netherlands in 2012 amounted to 2.3 billion dollars, compared to 2.16 billion dollars in 2011. The Netherlands is the second largest Israeli export destination in Europe, after England.
The main export industries of the Netherlands to Israel are mainly machinery, fuels, oils, minerals and chemical products and the Netherlands imports from Israel mainly machinery, mineral fuels and various goods.
The Netherlands is the sixth largest economy in the European Union and its unemployment rate is one of the lowest in Europe (less than 5 percent). Thanks to its central location and the largest port in Europe (Rotterdam), the Netherlands is considered a major factor in the economy of the Union and a "gateway to Europe" for the countries of the world.
