We're proudly announcing that a new business club SDBP-Benelux has been established. It was registered on June 12th in Zwijndrecht (Holland). SDBP Benelux Club is deriving from SDPB – The International Business Platform of Slovenia.
The SDBP-Benelux' mission is to deepen the economic cooperation between Slovenia, The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg. Supporting small and medium enterprises to expand their activity on (for them) new markets is the Club's top priority. SDBP-Benelux also supports companies to acquire new direct foreign investment partners. SDBP-Benelux promotes Slovene companies in Benelux, but also Slovenia (and broader Adria region) as an excellent direct investment destination.
SDBP-Benelux' ambition is to assist at least 30 Slovene SMEs in 2011 to break through in the Benelux markets. An additional trade exchange of €300m per year is planned by the end of the next decade.
Dutch, Belgian, Luxembourgian en Slovene businesspeople involved in trade between these countries are invited to join the Club. SDBP-Benelux is managed by the Executive Committee of six founders and their consortia in consulting business. Each of them is a specialist in his own market sector and able to provide services in their particular sectors. The SDBP-Benelux President is Brussels based Jernej Šmalc.
The idea was initiated by the Ambassador of Slovenia in The Hague Leon Marc end 2009. SDBP-Benelux works closely together with the two Slovene Embassies (Brussels and The Hague), logistically supporting its activities. The cooperation between the Embassy and the Club is regarded as ideal way how to implement the initiatives of economic diplomacy in real life. SDBP-Benelux is primarily financed by membership fees and donations of interested enterprises.
As an important initiator, the Slovene JAPTI Public Agency for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investments) has been actively supporting creation of the Club in Zwijndrecht.
For 2011, SDBP-Benelux is planning one major event, as well as a visit of Slovene business delegation to Eindhoven. This meeting is organised together with the Rotterdam Chamber of Commerce.