EVD - Agency for International Business and Cooperation

The Agency for International Business and Cooperation (EVD) is part of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. Its mission is to promote and encourage international business and international cooperation. As a State agency and a partner to businesses and public-sector organisations, the EVD aims to help them achieve success in their international operations. A growing network of organisations, government institutions and companies have come to rely on the EVD for information about foreign markets, governments and trade and industry. With its wide-ranging knowledge, the EVD is able to develop products and services that meet the needs of its customers and clients. It obtains its information from its network of Dutch and international organisations, which include international financing organisations, the European Commission, embassies, Chambers of Commerce, local business support offices, trade representative associations and, needless to say, trade and industry.
Thanks in part to its merger with Senter International on 1 April, the EVD can provide an even broader spectrum of services than before. It will of course continue to dedicate itself fully to its core task: to support Dutch businesses operating in foreign markets. However, it will be expanding - and enhancing - this traditional role by also administering the financial programmes previously run by Senter International. In addition, the EVD will devote more attention to the private sector in emerging markets and developing countries and will administer special programmes to assist the public sector in emerging markets. Combining these different tasks into a single organisation will improve the services offered to its various target groups.

Target groups
Its enhanced position in the world of international business and cooperation brings the EVD into contact with four different target groups:

Dutch businesses (those that operate internationally or have the potential to do so)
The EVD combines tailor-made information, personal guidance and financial support to improve Dutch companies' prospects in foreign markets.

Foreign businesses in emerging markets and developing countries
The EVD administers programmes focusing specifically on cooperation with companies in emerging markets and developing countries.

Public-sector organisations in emerging markets
The EVD administers programmes aimed at assisting the public sector in emerging markets, for example with respect to corporate governance, legislation and enforcement.

The Dutch government
The EVD administers programmes intended to encourage government-to-government and business-to-government cooperation and collaboration in the field of education.

Clients
The EVD is a government agency and consequently works for various governmental authorities on projects and programmes that involve international business and international cooperation. Its most important clients are the Ministry of Economic Affairs (for which it carries out public duties in the field of trade promotion), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. The EVD also administers European projects on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (PHARE twinning). Its performance in each of these areas is measured against targets that have been agreed in advance.

EVD Advisory Board
The members of the EVD Advisory Board represent the agency's clients and trade and industry. The Board is chaired by Mr Arie Kraaijeveld (the chairman of the FME/CWM, the largest employers' and business association in the Netherlands). It advises the EVD on relevant trends in trade and industry, business, cooperation and its role in these areas.

Domestic network
The EVD aims to offer Dutch businesses and government institutions a comprehensive package of services. Dutch companies that want to do business abroad must be capable of making a smooth transition from regional marketplace to foreign market. Even veterans in international business can benefit from the EVD's network, which consists of employers' associations, Chambers of Commerce, educational institutions, trade representative associations and various other organisations involved in international cooperation. The EVD is a coordinator within this domestic network.

Foreign network (embassies, trade consulates, NBSOs)
In accordance with an agreement concluded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the EVD is the centre of operations for all international business and cooperation matters dealt with at the Netherlands' embassies and consulates abroad. The EVD helps the Dutch diplomatic missions to carry out their economic and trade duties as efficiently as possible and supervises their work in this area. Projects and programmes aimed at assisting the public sector also involve close contact with foreign ministries, in particular in Central and Eastern Europe. In addition, the EVD is in close touch with foreign "sister organisations" that pursue aims similar to its own.

What can we expect of the new EVD?
After it merges with Senter International, the EVD will devote itself to upgrading and expanding its products and services so as to anticipate the needs of its various target groups more effectively.

The merger will concentrate the knowledge and expertise of two agencies specialising in international business and cooperation into a single point of contact for Dutch companies and government institutions. By making more effective use of its contacts in the business community and in government institutions active in international cooperation, the new EVD will become an expertise centre in a very broad field of operation, with its focus expanding beyond international business to include projects carried out abroad in the fields of education, environmental management and health care. By matching the know-how and experience of businesses and public institutions in the various areas, the EVD will improve its services to both.

In brief:

Tailor-made products and services
An extensive range of products and services related to international business and cooperation.

Experience and expertise
By joining forces with Senter International, the EVD is gaining a broad knowledge of international business and international cooperation and years of experience in these fields.

Access to worldwide networks
The EVD has a worldwide network of embassies and Netherlands Business Support Offices abroad and Chambers of Commerce in the Netherlands. Its network gives it quick and easy access to business contacts and up-to-date information on international business. The EVD also has direct access to foreign governments.

Services

EVD Information: Relevant data
EVD Information provides data on promising sectors abroad, foreign markets, legislation and regulations, and so on. Much of this information is published in the monthly journal Buitenlandse Markten or on the EVD's website (www.evd.nl). For more specific topics, companies are invited to subscribe to an electronic newsletter or to make an appointment for an introductory interview.

EVD Business Promotion: Personal guidance
EVD Business Promotion is a matchmaking service that brings Dutch businesses into contact with interesting business partners and organisations in relevant markets or sectors. Businesses that need practical help can ask EVD Business Promotion for personal guidance. For example, the EVD organises trade missions abroad and helps businesses gain a foothold in foreign markets by participating in trade fairs, seminars, and so on.

EVD Programmes: Project-based, financial support
This particular service, largely administered by Senter International before 1 April, consists of a number of schemes and programmes supporting specified sectors and businesses on a project-by-project basis. The programmes also involve international cooperation in emerging economies. EVD Programmes is not limited to financing; it also contributes the expertise that businesses, public and private-sector institutions and potential trade partners need to succeed.