Receptie High Tech Connections forum
Short speech given by Frank Heemskerk, the Minister for Foreign Trade, at the cocktail party/dinner to be held on Sunday evening 23 September 2007 as an informal launch to the 2007 High Tech Connections Forum in San Francisco, United States.
Introduction
Welcome, everybody. First of all, I want to thank Mr and Mrs Engmann – Doug and Barbara – for hosting this reception. The location is splendid, and the view is sensational.
This is the third High Tech Connections Forum. The first one took place in San José, California, back in 2004. And the second one in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2005. This year, the Forum returns to the Golden State.
And with good reason: Silicon Valley is still an inspirational environment, a model of technological innovation. In short, a great place to do business.
I myself spent some time studying in America – as a teenager at a high school in Wichita, Kansas. A somewhat less high-tech environment than Silicon Valley, of course. But even then, I was impressed with the American business mentality. What is more, I feel honoured to be heading the Dutch delegation in this inspiring environment.
With some one hundred and forty Dutch participants – from business, government, and research – as well as one hundred and thirty participants from the United States, the forum has every chance of achieving great things.
Mission and goals HTC
I think it would be a good idea right now to reflect on the mission and goals of the HTC.
The HTC's mission is to help create opportunities for new business, to serve as a matchmaker, and to promote knowledge exchange between American and Dutch companies and research institutes active in high technology.
The HTC’s goals are as follows:
- to develop strong sectors such as nanotechnology, preventive health care, and security;
- to encourage a higher level of innovation by using digital technology in these sectors;
- and to promote the Netherlands among foreign companies and research institutes as a premier location for doing business and conducting knowledge-intensive R&D.
Expectations
Of course, the third HTC Forum’s success depends on you, the delegates.
I am assuming that you are all keen to contribute to its success. You can start tomorrow by taking part in the matchmaking session and presenting your elevator pitch.
You will all have a chance to find new opportunities for your business or institute as well as making a more general contribution to technological progress, economic growth, and even solutions for social problems.
That said, the show kicks off this evening, of course, because more than anything, HTC is a networking event!
Thanks
Your very presence here this evening shows that you want to play an active part. Thank you for coming. I would urge you to use this opportunity to get to know your fellow HTC participants personally. I will be pleased to do the same!
I especially want to thank the anchor companies: ASML, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, and Philips. They have helped enormously with the preparations for this third HTC Forum.
Enjoy the rest of the reception and the dinner, and let me wish you all a successful forum over the next few days.
Let’s toast to that right now. Ladies and gentlemen, please raise your glasses... To a successful forum!