Toespraak van minister Kamp bij de Crossborder Conference ‘Matching for new materials’

Toespraak | 15-02-2016

Frau Ministerin Schulze,

Meine Damen und Herren, verehrte Freunde, liebe Nachbarn!

Ich freue mich, hier zu sein! Wir Niederländer kommen gern hierher. Das sehen Sie auch daran, dass heute so viele niederländische Unternehmen und Wissenszentren hier vertreten sind. Das ist kein Zufall. Deutschland ist für uns die Nummer eins, wenn es um Exporte, Importe, Investitionen und Standorte geht. Und wenn es nach uns geht, ist noch viel mehr möglich. Vor allem mit Ihrem Bundesland. Deshalb danke ich der Taskforce Innovation Niederlande/Nordrhein-Westfalen, Zenit und der Niederländischen Serviceagentur für Unternehmen RVO für die Ausrichtung dieser Konferenz.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The similarities between North Rhine-Westphalia and the Netherlands are striking. We have roughly the same land area. And roughly the same size population. Our economies are growing at a similar speed. And we have the same ambitions. We both encourage businesses and knowledge institutions to work together in the sectors where we excel. In the Netherlands we call these our 'top sectors'. You call them Spitzencluster. We both want to earn by developing solutions for global challenges like climate change and sustainable energy. That’s why we’re focusing on tomorrow’s markets. And on making ourselves more competitive internationally.

Our combined strength isn't determined by what we have in common, but by the sum of our differences. The Dutch greatly respect your country's engineering mentality and technical brilliance. Most of Europe’s inventions come from Germany. We admire your precision, Gründlichkeit and long-term vision. And envy your enormous manufacturing power.

In return we offer our trading spirit, our ability to improvise and our creativity. The Netherlands is flat, and so are our social structures. We’re quick to mobilise knowledge and expertise. We're inventive and know how to get products to market. And we’re successful in niche markets and have efficient supply chains.

Our flexibility and your vision and expertise make a golden combination. And that’s very important at a time when production is becoming splintered and innovation no longer follows a straight line from research − to innovation − to application − to market. Along the way, new innovations with different uses are emerging all the time. And these can be made anywhere in the world. So we need to draw on each other’s strengths and go from doing it alone to doing it together.

In the past ten years we've seen where that can lead: to greater cooperation between the Netherlands and North Rhine-Westphalia in transport, logistics, medical research and energy, including geothermal energy. It has led to new research centres on both sides of the border and collaboration between Dutch and German companies − the result of dozens of jointly organised cross-border meetings and seminars. Like the energy conference in Heerlen in 2012, which was attended by more than 300 people from North Rhine-Westphalia, the Netherlands and other EU countries.

Today we're focusing again on a topic that fits in with our common ambitions − new materials. We’ll be talking about conventional materials: biobased rather than fossil-based. About new, lightweight materials, like composites. And about new ways of making and using these materials.

There are plenty of inspiring examples to draw from. Like the joint venture between Germany’s BASF and Dutch company Corbion. They were the first to produce commercial quantities of biobased succinic acid – a key building block in biopolymers, coatings and life science products. A great example that combines the know-how of BASF – the largest global producer of chemical intermediates − with the know-how of Corbion, a leading provider of biobased food ingredients and biochemicals.

When it comes to lightweight materials, the Netherlands leads the field. Applying this knowledge for product development generates enormous returns. Like when Dutch company DSM joined forces with other companies, including Germany’s Siemens, to produce a totally new sustainable composite system for wind turbine blades. Thanks to this, it’s now possible to keep turbines turning day after day at low cost.

Additive manufacturing is no longer a new concept. But last year, Dutch startup Additive Industries took it to a new level by developing a 3D metal printer that can print several products simultaneously. It uses lasers to melt metal powders. Many of the patents for this technology belong to EOS. This German family business has granted a licence to the Dutch machinery firm that makes it possible to bring 3D metal printing from the lab to the factory. The factory of the future. An excellent example of cutting edge technology pushing back the boundaries of knowledge. As well as the boundaries between our countries.

The Netherlands wants to stimulate this kind of innovation with its Smart Industry field labs, which are like the German Testlaboren.

To save each other from reinventing the wheel, I encourage collaboration in and between these labs. Take Siemens and Airborne Composites. They’re working together in a brand-new Digital Factory to digitise and automate the composite manufacturing industry and stay competitive.

Of course, we also foster cooperation beyond the labs. With government on both sides of the border leading a helping hand where necessary. And that includes finance. Funding is available from European research programmes and structural funds. What's more, during its EU Presidency, the Netherlands will press for a stronger internal market – especially the market for digital services – and better regulation. This is essential if companies are to work together and grow to a European scale. Before taking on the rest of the world.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Last month I held a meeting for all 28 EU ministers responsible for competitiveness. And they all brought a leading entrepreneur from their own country with them. There's 1 thing we agreed on straight away: if Europe wants to remain an economic powerhouse that can compete with Asia and North America, we must act together and we must act now. And thát’s exactly why we are here today.

Thank you.