As Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte is heading to Bengaluru on 25th May, Netherland government is looking forward to deepening the innovation system between the two countries. The initiative called as “Startup Link” will be launched in collaboration of Government of India’s Startup India programme which will focus on helping Dutch startup explore Indian market.
Netherlands business trade delegation accompanying the Prime Minister will be visiting Indian cities like Delhi and Mumbai promote technology and Innovations at all levels universities to SMEs and Corporates. The visit will focus on strengthening bilateral trade relationships in areas such as life sciences, healthcare, waste management, cybersecurity.
Meanwhile, Netherland has also expanded its Bengaluru, South India office that will now operate Consulate General while integrating Ministerial departments under one roof.
While, Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency is helping Indian startups to expand their base to Netherland, under the new initiative Consulate General will also help Dutch startups soft launch in Indian territory as informed by Meenakshi P.R., Senior Deputy Representative Consulate General Of Netherlands.
Talking about current scenario, there are currently over 200 Netherlands companies operational in India which is almost same as the strength of Indian companies in Netherland. Netherlands has also invested heavily in the Indian state of Karnataka and many large Dutch companies have their offices in Bengaluru including Philips, Akzo-Nobel, Koeleman, TNT and Florence Flora among others.
Interestingly, Netherlands marks the highest number of patents per capita and with a new collaboration “Startup Link” we can expect a further boost in trade relations between the two countries.