Enterprise Minister Announces New Deal in the Netherlands for TotalMobile
Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster has announced that TotalMobile in Belfast has won new export business in the Netherlands.
Minister Foster, speaking at the annual Northern Ireland – Netherlands Trade and Export Society dinner in Belfast, said TotalMobile has signed a deal with Aenova BV, a leading software company based in Delft.
The Minister said: “This is a significant export development for TotalMobile in the Netherlands and will strengthen further the strong and impressive business collaborations now developing between companies, particularly small and medium sized enterprises. here and similar enterprises in one of Europe’s most important markets.
“This is another success from Invest NI’s excellent ‘Going Dutch’ programme which has enabled many SMEs here to expand sales in the Netherlands and will enable TotalMobile, among our most successful export-led IT companies, to benefit from Aenova’s knowledge and contacts there and further afield.
“Going Dutch and the contacts that it has fostered through associated initiatives including the NI-NL Trade and Export Society have led to a 20 per cent growth on our exports to the Netherlands and have also helped Dutch companies to build business relationships here. Such mutually beneficial trade initiatives will help us to achieve the 15 per cent growth in exports set as one of the key targets in our draft Programme for Government.”
Colin Reid, TotalMobile CEO, commenting on the company’s latest export contract, said: “The agreement with Aenova is the outcome of research by us to identify a suitable partner in a market that we believe offers substantial potential for our specialist software for businesses and public sector bodies that use mobile technology. Our software helps industry, government, and their agencies, to streamline workflow, maximize productivity and reduce their operational costs.
“Aenova is an ideal fit for us because of the company’s vast experience in time management software and its excellent customer base in local government bodies and utilities such as water companies. Aenova will integrate our software within its solutions and also market it as a standalone product and market it
to existing and new customers. The company also sees significant opportunities for TotalMobile in healthcare and will be targeting this market.
“Invest NI’s Going Dutch programme was extremely important in terms of the advice and guidance about doing business in the Netherlands and in helping us to find the right partner there in our business sector,” he added.
Hans van der Last, Aenova Managing Director, said: “We are looking forwards to working with TotalMobile, our new technology partner in Northern Ireland, to develop business throughout the Netherlands. The agreement enables us to extend our own portfolio and to offer existing and potential customer a wider software solution that will enable them to increase productivity and competitiveness.”
More than 100 business people from Northern Ireland and the Netherlands attended the dinner in the Great Hall at Queen’s University Belfast. The guests included Pim Waldeck, Ambassador to the United Kingdom from the Netherlands.
Among the 45 business people from the Netherlands was a delegation from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation.
NI-NL, organised by Northern Ireland Trade Consultants in Amsterdam with support from Ulster Bank, is a not for profit platform supporting partnerships in trade, enterprise and investment between the two countries. More than 250 companies participated in NI-NL events in 2011.
Invest NI, the Netherlands Embassy in and Lisburn City Council are working together in researching and matchmaking business opportunities.
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