Week of Regional Entrepreneurship – Ministry of Economic affairs visits Beursplein 5

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• published: 19 Aug 2016
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From 19 to 26 August, the gong ceremony at Beursplein 5 focuses on the activity and entrepreneurship in the various regions in the Netherlands. Euronext has invited the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Regional Development Companies to put their work in the spotlight during the Week of Regional Entrepreneurship. The Ministry of Economic Affairs kicks off the Week of Regional Entrepreneurship with the sounding of the gong by Norbert van den Hove, deputy director of the Enterprise Department. He opens trading in the presence of all those involved from the Ministry with the Dutch Regional Development Companies (RDCs). The Ministry, along with regional governments (mostly provinces), is a shareholder and grant provider of five RDCs (NOM, Oost NV, LIOF, BOM and IQ). The RDCs connect national innovation and top sector policy with regional economic policy, and are important for the (regional) services to innovative SMEs. RDCs support and finance innovations of SMEs and contribute to the economic growth and employment of their region. The RDCs have three important tasks in this regard. In the Netherlands the RDCs play an important role in providing risk- capital to new companies and financing young companies. Apart from the additional funds made available by the provinces, the capital of the joint RDCs amounts to almost €300 million. The RDCs are therefore one of the largest providers of risk capital for these type of companies in the Netherlands. Furthermore, RDCs connect start-ups, SMEs and large companies, building on joint ventures, new clusters, programmes and business consortia. Lastly, RDC’s attract foreign companies, which results in additional employment and innovation and leads the way to international markets for SMEs. Hans Leufkens, Head of Client Coverage EnterNext: ''The Regional Economic Development Agencies are extremely important for the growth of the Dutch economy and the acceleration of innovation.'' The exchange and entrepreneurship have gone hand in hand for over 400 years. Euronext plays an important role in financing the real economy. With its subsidiary EnterNext it supports entrepreneurs in their growth - along with industry partners - to develop funding initiatives in the form of loans and bonds to increase visibility of listed, medium-sized enterprises.