On Wednesday January 24 entrepreneursfrom the agri & food chain met in the provincial home of North Holland totalk about opportunities and challenges in India. The initiative for thismeeting came collectively from Province North Holland, GreenPort Noord-HollandNoord and Amsterdam Trade.
Entrepreneurs with andwithout trade experience in India entered conversation and discussed governmentinstitutions. Both the opportunities and limitations were discussed. It was avaluable and inspiring night for all concerned.
Matching supply and demand
India is on its way to become the 3rd globaleconomy. This huge economic and demographic growth offers a wide variety ofopportunities for entrepreneurs from our region. Around 40% of the fresh foodin India is lost because the storage, processing and logistics are still intheir infancy. This is where there are opportunities for entrepreneurs fromNorth Holland, including in the area of cultivation techniques, cold chain andfood processing, extending the shelf life in the distribution chain and wasteand water management. But also in consultancy, seed and plant breeding,floriculture and processing fruit and vegetables. The challenge is to match theneed/demand from India with the supply and expertise of North Hollandentrepreneurs.
Trade with India: from 0 to 1.5 million
Deputy Jaap Bond of the Province of North Holland opened the evening and spokeabout his own India experience and about the ambition to organise an outgoingmission to India for North Holland entrepreneurs from the agri & foodchain. Fons Stoelinga, Dutch Ambassador in India and Freek Vossenaar, AgroBusiness Developer of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality,gave insight into the opportunities and chances in India and how they can playa role in any trade limitations. For instance, they helped Dutch exporters ofapple trees. At first there was little to no reception towards the Dutch treesfrom the Indian side. But when trials showed that the yield was larger andfaster, an order for 1.5 million trees was placed. From zero to 1.5 million. Itcan be done in India. It's a country of extremes. As an entrepreneur you haveto have a long breath but also be ready to supply big orders. Everything standsor falls with the right preparation.
Entrepreneurs from the region also spoke and shared their experiences. To be able to trade in India, it is important to have a reliable Indian partner and to invest in sustainable relationships. It can also be handy to spend time with fellow business people, for instance by forming a consortium. This is the case for fruit and vegetable distribution centres.
More information and continuation
A second information meeting will be organised on this theme before the summer. If there is enough support a business trip to India will be organised in November 2018. We call all entrepreneurs to look in their own network and to think how this business trip might be interesting for.
Want to know more about the International agenda of GreenPort Noord-Holland Noord? Click here.
source: Greenport NHN