Toespraak bij de opening van het Danone R&D Centre

Toespraak | 30-09-2013

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you all for being here today. The opening of this cutting-edge R&D centre is a joyous moment for Danone and the Netherlands. To the company’s leadership and employees I say congratulations and all the best in the future.

It is also an important day for society and our economy. This centre touches upon a question that concerns us all: how do we solve the key challenges of our time?

The answer will profoundly impact our world.

Key challenges and open innovation

This generation has inherited – and contributed to – a number of major challenges. Two of these are particularly relevant to us today: producing healthy food in a sustainable way and providing affordable health care for growing and ageing populations.

Internationally leading companies like Danone are at the forefront of these challenges. Their goal is to create socially valuable and economically viable solutions, in this case in the area of baby and medical nutrition.

Danone produces amazing products at the cutting edge of our knowledge and abilities, with the help of Utrecht University and other local partners.

We need to push these boundaries if we are to feed and care for billions more people. We need research and development to generate new knowledge, new insights, and new technologies.

The geniuses of the past often worked in isolation, but today’s challenges are too large and complex for that. Companies like Danone can only succeed if they work closely with partners in academia and the government on open innovation that brings together the best minds and the best resources under the best circumstances.

I am proud to say that the Netherlands excels at open innovation. It is deeply imbedded in our culture, our business life and research community.

Boosting the economy by investing in top sectors

Which is not to say we cannot do better. We can and we will, and the Dutch government is committed to boosting our economy, for example by investing in our nine most excellent industries, and by increasing the attractiveness of our investment climate.

Our strategy is to attract first-time investors and to safeguard or expand existing ones. This is effective. In the first half of this year, investments secured by the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency were worth €822 million and generated 4,322 jobs. This compares to €378 million and 1,973 jobs in the first half of last year.

Danone operates in two of our strongest industries, agrifood and life sciences and health. The Netherlands is the world’s second-largest food exporter and has the second-highest level of food R&D investments in Europe. Twelve of the world’s 40 largest agrifood companies, including Danone, have a major office or R&D centre in the Netherlands. And the University of Wageningen is world-renowned for its food research.

Life sciences and health is similarly strong. There are some 400 life science companies in a 120 mile radius, making it the world’s most concentrated region. The industry invests a quarter of its added value in R&D and the Netherlands accounts for more than 6% of the world’s life sciences and health exports. And we have strong universities in medical sciences, including Utrecht University.

Danone is a valued and significant contributor to both the agrifood and life sciences and health industries.

For example, Professor Wim van Gelder, Senior Vice President Scientific Affairs at Danone, is a key figure in pushing forward research on specialized nutrition in relation to health and disease.

Danone and the Netherlands: natural fit

Danone and the Netherlands truly are a natural fit.

We both believe in open innovation, co-operation and public-private partnerships. And we both strive for economic and social value through investment and discovery. Danone has invested a substantial amount in this R&D centre, where 450 highly-skilled professionals work on advances in baby and medical nutrition.

Danone and Utrecht are also logical partners.

Danone has chosen to construct its R&D centre in the Utrecht Science Park, because it can work closely with

the university and medical centre. And Utrecht itself is a strategically located and attractive city. In fact, according to the EU’s Regional Competitiveness Index, it is Europe’s most competitive region, for the second time in a row.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am grateful that Danone has made this substantial investment. I am also thankful to all the people who contributed to the realization of the R&D centre.

My Ministry and the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency worked closely with Danone, the Utrecht municipality and province, Utrecht University, the Utrecht Science Park and our embassy in Paris.

We worked together, shared resources and strived for a result that benefited all. And we worked in the spirit of open innovation, in an atmosphere of transparency and trust. It is this spirit that will help us solve the great challenges of our time.

Thank you.