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10.03.2023

Slovak-Dutch Business Forum The Future is Now

On 8 March 2023, the Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency (SARIO) in cooperation with the Office of the President of the Slovak Republic, the Embassy of the Netherlands in Slovakia, and PricewaterhouseCoopers organized a Slovak-Dutch Business Forum entitled "The Future is Now" in Bratislava. This business forum was held as an accompanying event to the official visit of His Majesty King Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty Queen Maxima in Bratislava.

The official part of The Future is Now Forum was opened by the President of the Slovak Republic, Zuzana Čaputová, and His Majesty King Willem-Alexander. In their speeches, both emphasized the importance of the fight against climate change and the transition to a circular economy. The aim of the business forum was to seek concrete tools to reconcile environmental protection with preserving the competitiveness of the economy and to create space for cooperation for companies from both countries, especially in the field of green technologies. Subsequently, Madame President and the Royal Couple engaged in a roundtable discussion on various topics between Slovak and Dutch entrepreneurs.

This was one of the largest business forums, with over 230 participants, including over 80 Slovak and 30 Dutch companies from the fields of green economy and circular economy, recycling, environmental innovation, soil remediation, construction, and digitalization. Under the auspices of the SARIO agency and co-organizers, 160 pre-planned B2B meetings of the participating companies and institutions took place.  The event was a successful follow-up to last year's Dutch trade mission to Slovakia. Six Memoranda of Understanding were also signed during the event at the institutional level in the fields of education and health and between companies in the field of the circular economy and construction.
During the business forum, Slovak companies obtained relevant contacts for building mutual business relations, which the SARIO agency will subsequently follow up to evaluate.