Alberta shipped $229.6 million worth of goods to the Netherlands in the first half of 2010 — an 85 per cent improvement over the same period last year.
Henk ten Wolde, an Edmonton-based trade commissioner for the consulate of the Netherlands, thinks these numbers reflect a trend.
“I’m quite sure it’ll be steadily growing,” he said during a presentation in Red Deer on Thursday.
Alberta’s fifth biggest export market over last five years, the Netherlands was already an important trading partner. It has 16.6 million people squeezed into an area one-16th the size of Alberta, but is also the gateway to more than a half billion consumers in the European Union.
“It’s a big market,” said ten Wolde. “It’s much bigger than the United States.”
The Netherlands is already a key trading location, he said, with 57 per cent of Europe’s distribution centres located there. It has a favourable tax structure, a well-educated and multi-lingual population and high-tech infrastructure.
Reducing Alberta’s reliance on the U.S. would lessen the risk of trade disruptions, like the one that accompanied the BSE crisis, said ten Wolde. And with a free-trade agreement between Canada and the EU a possibility, the opportunities could be huge.
“I’m working my butt off to get Alberta beef into the European Union,” he said.
Dutch companies could help in this regard by sharing their product and marketing expertise with Canadians.
“The investment from the Dutch industry will be the intelligence about how to raise (cattle), how to slaughter them and — very important — how the cuts must be.”
Different beef cuts could be marketed in the regions where they’re in greatest demand, said ten Wolde, with the Dutch partners helping in this regard.
“Nobody knows Alberta beef or Canadian beef in Holland, in the European Union,” he pointed out. “So it must be branded.”
The Netherlands might even serve as a bridge to markets like China, suggested ten Wolde, noting that his country is the second largest food exporter in the world.
“What we do is we import goods, add value to it, and ship it.”
Canadian natural gas could be liquefied and shipped to Europe via the Netherlands, which already has the infrastructure to transport it.
“Natural gas is a commodity that I think would be very interesting to bring through the Netherlands.”
Dutch companies might also be called upon to help with oilsands reclamation and bioenergy development, said ten Wolde, explaining that his country has a strong background in these areas.
Another possibility might be the use of Dutch technology to transfer waste heat from industrial operations to greenhouses.
What’s needed is increased awareness of what each country has to offer the other, he said. For example, a Dutch company ten Wolde spoke with that manufactures plastic fence didn’t realize there was a market for snow fences in Canada.
“They don’t know what’s going on here, and you don’t know what’s going on there.”
Working with the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency, ten Wolde said he can provide Canadian business people with background information, arrange in-person meetings and provide other services.
“One of my dreams is which way can I connect the commodity markets here in Alberta with the trade mentality in the Netherlands. Then you have a big winner.”
About 25 people, many of whom represented local businesses, attended ten Wolde’s presentation at the Finning Centre of Excellence. The event was organized by Red Deer Regional Economic Development and Central Alberta Economic Partnership, which have been working together to attract foreign direct investment to the region.
hrichards@www.reddeeradvocate.com