Holland opens investment office in Dubai

Dubai: The Netherlands has announced the opening of a Dutch Investment Office in Dubai to promote trade and investment between itself and the GCC region.

Dutch officials say the government-run office, which offers its services free of charge, will sustain bilateral relations between the Netherlands and the UAE, as well as promote Dutch products and investment opportunities.

The announcement comes on the heels of a mutual agreement between the Netherlands and the UAE to avoid double taxation.

"The main mission of the new office will be to encourage direct and joint investments in both countries," Frank Heemskerk, Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade, told the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) yesterday, without specifying targets for the value of investment.

"It will explore and take advantage of available opportunities for investment in the Netherlands and the UAE and strengthen bilateral trade ties."

Dutch trade officials said they hope to attract GCC investment into the Netherlands from a variety of sectors ranging from oil and gas to healthcare, as well as exporting the country's technological know-how to the GCC.

Energy

Jochum Haakma, director of the Netherlands Foreign Investment Authority (NFIA), said the country is keenly targeting co-operation in renewable and sustainable energy, as well as the oil and gas sector in general.

Other sectors include healthcare, water treatment, financial services, food safety and packaging and the transport supply chain. Interest has also been raised by port authorities in Dubai about possible investment in the major Dutch port city of Rotterdam and visa versa, said Heemskerk.

Haakma said the Netherlands is a potential gateway for GCC countries into the EU market, which includes 27 countries and an estimated 480 million consumers.

"We are talking about the biggest advanced consumer market in the world," he said.

"When you set up a distribution centre or make use of the supply chain management in the Netherlands you also make use of the traders who know the European market inside out - that gives an enormous advantage to companies."

Non-oil trade between the Netherlands and Dubai alone reached Dh3.2 billion in 2006, helped by organisations including the Dutch Business Council and the DCCI.

"One of Dubai's attractive incentives to investors is that it does not impose and taxes on investors, in addition to government support and other facilities available for foreign investors," said Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, chairman of DCCI.

Key figures forUAE-Dutch trade

• 3%annual rate of GDP growth in the Netherlands.
• $880mDubai's direct non-oil trade with the Netherlands in 2006.
• $2.4bDutch exports to the UAE in 2006, an increase of 15 per cent.
• $812mDutch imports from the UAE in 2006.
• Royal Dutch Shell, Philips, UnileverMost prestigious Dutch firms.