Maritime Delta – Dutch advanced industry teams up in global strategy

Any maritime product or service one can think of, be it a yard, equipment manufacturer, naval architects, communications equipment providers, crewing agents, offshore services and ship owners, can be found within a two hour drive from anywhere in the Netherlands. The Dutch have gained a good reputation around the world for the industry’s high level of perfection and technological development by constantly striving for more innovation. In recent years the industry wide co-operation has increased: companies act less as competitors and more as complementary providers of vessels, hardware and services.

Associations representing the different markets within the maritime industry help affiliated companies with numerous instruments to attract clients internationally. ”The classic methods of reaching out to clients from abroad are of course trade missions and taking part in trade shows all over the world”, says export manager CIS & MEA Michael Roerade of Holland Marine Equipment (HME). Roerade also acts as secretary of the Trade Council of Maritime by Holland – the Dutch maritime network organisation. ”Still, these classic methods of contacting clients prove to be the most successful, as we can conclude from the feedback we get from the sales representatives of the companies that take part in these activities. In countries and regions that offer chances for ongoing multiple orders for our members, we also establish more permanent representations. During the last decade we have established ‘Holland Marine Houses’ in four different regions. Local agents in these offices act as intermediates between the companies from the Netherlands and their clients in the region. Recently, the Maritime by Holland Trade Council has initiated ‘Maritime Hotspots’ where industry representatives from the Netherlands promote the Dutch industry collectively. The focus is not so much on getting orders directly, but the goal of these ‘hotspots’ is to strengthen the reputation of the Netherlands as the preferred partner in maritime projects. Companies from all segments in the industry have identified ten target regions in which we wish to be recognised as THE country where advanced and innovative maritime solutions are developed, that could best serve the interests of maritime companies in the selected regions. Pilot projects have already started in St. Petersburg, Rio de Janeiro and Istanbul. Learning from experiences in these three pilot hotspots, we can further develop the concept of collective branding of the Dutch maritime industry and use these experiences for the next seven hotspots we want to establish. In the South-East Asian maritime hub of Singapore, HME already has its own foreign office where Marjan Lacet is permanently promoting products and services the Dutch can offer but she also acts as an intermediate for these companies and the Singapore network of clients and prospective clients.”

Royals

“Our clients are situated in countries all over the world, also in countries with a shortage of training, experience and equipment to establish high-standard oil mining and other offshore operations,” says managing director Sander Vergroesen of IRO – the association of Dutch suppliers in the oil and gas industry. “Countries that start exploiting their national oil and gas reserves, usually do this through state-owned companies. There are often strong demands for local content: the countries’ own workforce should be engaged, as well as equipment that can be manufactured by national companies. But ‘easy oil’ is over. Nowadays it takes a lot of knowledge to win oil or gas from the recently discovered reserves as they lay deeper, are further offshore and require complicated drillingprocesses. Our members can deliverthat know-how and the required equipment, but also need to be aware of the local content demands and other legal issues. We organise seminars focussing on these issues for companies that want to acquire orders from foreign countries. Then we organise collective trade show attendance and trade missions. When minsters and royals join such missions doors are often opened that would otherwise stay closed for a long time. Their presence has proven to be very valuable and really make trade missions more effective and efficient.” Vergroesen expresses the need for companies to be prepared when approaching foreign clients: ”When taking part in a trade mission, make sure you know beforehand who and which companies you want to visit. And be aware that every country and region has its own cultural environment in which business is done. One big advantage we all have is the strong Dutch reputation. We are known to deliver trustworthy products, provide good service and offer a solution to operating needs, rather than just the product we happen to manufacture.”

Prestige

”As chairman at Maritime by Holland, the Dutch maritime network organisation, I try to serve the interests of our affiliated companies by seeking entrance at a high level”, says Arie Kraaijeveld. ‘‘Having conversations with secretaries of state and diplomats in foreign countries about the overall outlines of new developments abroad is an excellent way to introduce the companies that can execute these developments.” Kraaijeveld recalls a visit to Panama some eight years ago. “When we had heard about plans to enlarge the Panama Canal, the vice secretary general of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and myself decided to go there. We managed to get in touch with representatives at the appropriate level. Soon, we were able to invite an incoming trade mission to the Netherlands, so the decision makers from Panama could see the capabilities of the companies we had mentioned. Being in the right place at the right moment and especially at the right level really helps secure orders for prestigious projects like enlarging the Panama Canal.”

“We are constantly monitoring maritime developments around the world, paying special attention to upcoming economies”, Kraaijeveld adds. “In Africa, especially in the countries south of the Equator, we notice that plans are being prepared for the construction of a lot of new harbours. Dutch companies can build them and we can also deliver the towing vessels needed in these harbours. Of course, we will present the capabilities of the Dutch maritime industry there.”

Continuous output

The Holland Yachting Group reaches out to clients at yacht shows in Monaco and Fort Lauderdale, but also does the opposite by inviting press, purchasing managers and clients to visit their associates in the Netherlands. In between yard visits and social events during the Yacht Valley Press Tour, an annual boat testing and yard inspection tour with journalists from the world’s leading yachting magazines, director Farouk Nefzi of HISWA Multimedia finds the time to explain about the collective promotion for the Dutch superyacht industry. ”What we try to do is generate a continuous flow of publicity, social events, demonstrations, social media messages and even a six episode documentary series about Dutch superyacht building on Discovery Channel. We use traditional as well as modern media and channels, we have a true multimedia approach. What we do is more than business introduction, it is Holland Branding. At the Yacht Valley Press Tour, we welcome twenty journalists from Show Boats, The Yacht Report, Boat International and also reporters from magazines from upcoming markets like China, India and Brazil. When we have the project and purchasing managers’ tour, we make sure the prospect clients from yards and suppliers get picked up from Schiphol airport by a private driver and are literally dropped them off at the entrance of the company that wants to close a deal.” Continuity in the message is crucial for collective branding. ‘Think Yachts, Think Holland’ is the pay-off in the international campaign by Holland Yachting Group. This group represents companies from the specialised industry for large yachts and is part of the Dutch Boat builders association HISWA, where Nefzi leads the promotional division.

Infrastructure

As roughly half of the Netherlands is below sea level and protected by dykes with pumps to keep the low lands dry, civil construction at waterfronts is another highly developed skill for the Dutch. “We help national and local governments at an early stage to establish planning for urban development of city waterfronts and formulate a vision on yachting and nautical development”, urban and coastal waterfront planner Frank de Graaf of Royal HaskoningDHV explains. “The presence ofwater adds value to urban areas. This might be a river running through a city or a former industrial harbour in a city centre at the shore. When the heavy industry relocates away from city centres in developing regions, the waterfront opens opportunities for recreation and yachting. In a lot of emerging economies, there is not yet a yachting culture or infrastructure. But as overall wealth is increasing, after the people have good housing, a car and more leisure time, they start looking for means of recreation. We investigate long-term perspectives for boating, yachting and other waterside sport and leisure and incorporate facilities in the plans we present. We try to be realistic and notice that in China for instance, people are reluctant to get out on the water. We were involved in the new Olympic Marina and the reconstruction of the city waterfront at Qingdao. There is a 40 kilometre waterfront for walking, shopping, roller skating and some boating facilities as well. Since the Olympic sailing event, yachting is starting to develop. Some open boat manufacturers are active there as well.”

‘‘Yachting needs an infrastructure”, managing director Reinier Steensma of WA Yachting Consultants adds. Steensma and De Graaf work together at the platform Waterfronts NL. ”One marina is no marina. People that have a boat, want the opportunity to go somewhere. A promising example is the suburban quarter of Kiev in Ukraine. It is along the river Dnjepr, and urban planners wanted to make sure every house in this quarter would be connected to the water. This way, the inhabitants could go to the city centre by boat. Such waterfront planning opens up opportunities for yachting and marina development. In the Middle East yachting is booming. Royal HaskoningDHV and partners from Waterfronts NL were asked to develop a yachting and maritime tourism development plan for Abu Dhabi as a city and Emirate, and even the United Arab Emirates as a whole, to become a centre for yachting and maritime tourism. The overall master plan study provided state-of-the-art information on waterfront and yachting development opportunities within the United Arab Emirates, including specific project site locations and programmes. We are involved in making the plans and provide the infrastructure so our colleagues from Holland can sell boats.”

Investment

Government support for associations and companies to acquire foreign orders is decreasing. Now that financial incentives that help offering competitive pricing are cut, the industry is reaching out even more actively. ”We have to compete in an international market in which companies and associations from Norway, Denmark, Germany, Japan and Korea are also working hard to conquer their market share”, Roerade underlines. ”It takes a lot of confidence from participating companies to fund a collective office overseas that promotes them in the regional industry. Still we believe having permanent promotional activities and branding in outlying regions, is the way to establish long lasting relationships. The concept of Holland Marine Houses and Maritime Hotspots has come from the notion that trade missions and maritime trade show attendance are somewhat of a ‘hit and run’ strategy.” Vergroesen adds: ”Sometimes it is up to a company to decide if a business deal should be closed in spite of low revenue from that – first – deal itself. Establishing a lasting relationship could be considered a valuable investment.”

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