The Netherlands to be Partner Country at Hannover Messe 2014

Country's innovation, energy technology praised

August 28, 2013

The Netherlands have been named the Partner Country for Hannover Messe 2014. The high-tech, export-savvy nation will use the world’s leading industrial exhibition to promote its first-class trading credentials.

“The Netherlands and Germany—this is a tandem which stands for close and successful economic relations, which are going to get a further boost at Hannover Messe 2014,” stated Dr. Jochen Köckler, member of the Deutsche Messe managing board. “The Netherlands are a perennial innovator in the fields of mechanical and plant engineering as well as energy technology. They are also extremely dynamic exporters and one of German industry’s key trading partners—in short, the ideal partner country for the world’s leading industrial tradeshow.”

“The characteristics of the Netherlands, like its size and density, along with its ingenious and pragmatic entrepreneurs, enable Dutch companies to expand and export technological innovations rapidly,” said Ineke Dezentjé Hamming-Bluemink, Chairman of FME-CWM, the association of technology industry enterprises in the Netherlands. “Germany is our most important trading partner and Hannover Messe is the biggest and most important industrial trade fair in the world. This combination forms a top match. For that reason I am very pleased and honored that the Netherlands will be the Partner Country for Hannover Messe in 2014. This offers a great opportunity to show the German and international public the highly advanced and innovative solutions Dutch companies have to offer.”

Dutch Economics Minister Henk Kamp and Lilianne Ploumen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, announcing they will team up to ensure the success of the Netherlands’ involvement at Hannover Messe. Their motto: “Foreign trade creates domestic jobs.”

Given the country’s small domestic market, exports represent the Dutch economy’s driving force. From January to November 2012 exports amounted to some EUR 470 billion, a gain of 17% year on year. The country’s fastest growing sector consists of mechanical and electrical engineering, with forecasts envisioning annual growth of 4.5% in exports of mechanical engineering products and services through 2020.