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The Netherlands Launches Technology Matchmaking Service

6/2/2004

The Netherlands Launches Technology Matchmaking Service
The Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA) has announced establishment of the Technology Matchmaking Service (TMS), an effort designed to assist foreign technology companies identify appropriate business partners in the Netherlands.
The free, confidential service will help companies involved in information and communications technology, life sciences, nanotechnology, polymers and water treatment find partners for research and development programs; technical cooperation; and joint venture, manufacturing, or licensing agreements.

Among other things, the TMS enables participants to:
Save time and effort selecting a potential technology partner
Get a leg up on the competition in reaching growing European Union markets
Accelerate the marketing of products in Europe
Obtain possible technology innovation grants
Acquire specialized expertise in a technology area
Access unique research without expanding the in-house staff

The matchmaking service provides foreign companies with a reliable tool to tap into the Netherlands' sizeable information technology, chemical, biotechnology and pharmaceutical communities, as well as its world-class research institutes and skilled labor pool, according to Robert Schipper, NFIA's Executive Director. "We think this program will help participants develop better products and services faster, while significantly reducing the time it takes to bring these products and services to the global marketplace," he said.

Added incentives to join the program, according to Schipper, are the Netherlands' innovative business environment; its English-speaking, multilingual and highly educated workforce; ample availability of venture capital; subsidies for joint research; and tax deductions for R&D wage costs.

Information on and application forms for the new Technology Matchmaking Service for North American companies are posted on NFIA's web site� www.nfia.com/technologymatchmaking.

With offices in New York City, Boston, Chicago, Austin, San Mateo and Atlanta, NFIA has helped hundreds of North American companies initiate or expand operations in the Netherlands. They have contributed to more than $37 billion in cumulative North American direct investment in the Netherlands, representing the direct creation of 140,000 jobs. In all, more than 1,850 of more than 5,000 foreign companies in the Netherlands are from North America. In 2003, the NFIA was involved in 104 new investment projects for foreign companies, 54 of which came from North America.