During the WaterProof 2024 event, organized by Partners for Water, it becomes clear once again that water plays a major role in the challenges of our time. “In this regard, the Netherlands has much to offer, and we must strive to achieve it in collaboration with local partners, says Harro Brons, Manager Business Development at Water Alliance”.
How do we accelerate Dutch innovations abroad
Hein Molenkamp Managing Director of Water Alliance spoke during the plenary morning session about the theme of Water Technology and the importance of Dutch water technology and innovations. Molenkamp stated, “Together with Michiel Staatsen and under the guidance of moderator Tracy Metz, we had an interesting conversation about Dutch water tech innovations in the context of Dutch challenges in surface water quality compared to global opportunities for Dutch companies. How do we accelerate Dutch innovations abroad?” Michiel Staatsen emphasized the importance of full-scale demonstration projects in the domestic market.
Throughout the afternoon, a series of insightful deep dive sessions delved into various crucial topics within the water sector, sparking inspiring and meaningful conversations.
WTEX10 EU strategy
Harro Brons gave two presentations during the session ‘A big challenge as well as a great opportunity: water quality in Europe.’ “I explained the opportunities arising from EU directives such as the Water Framework Directive and the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive. In the second presentation, I highlighted that, through the WTEX10 program, we aim to create a WTEX10 EU strategy to enable the Dutch water tech sector to capitalize on these opportunities. European funding for the realization of European plans was explained by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, (export) financing for Dutch entrepreneurs by Atradius and Invest International.
Water Alliance is actively involved in the WTEX10 program (financed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management) and was featured multiple times during the event. This includes the session on the theme ‘Aid & Trade,’ led by Carlijn Mol, where the opportunities for Dutch water technology companies in the Aid & Trade program were discussed. Hein Molenkamp of Water Alliance gave an overview of the Netherlands Water Tech sector. Representing the business sector, Willem Buis from Hatenboer Water, Yousef Yousef from LG Sonic, and Arjen de Vries from Acacia Water spoke. All these companies are involved in programs in Africa.
A highlight of the event was the presentation of the Partners for Water Award, which was claimed by Water Alliance member FieldFactors for the proven viability of their innovative solution and its potential for international scaling.
Waterproof 2024: Valuable event
For Water Alliance, as the Dutch branch and network organization for water technology, Waterproof has been a valuable event where we have met many people from the broad water sector, NGOs, and governments. One of the goals of Water Alliance during Waterproof included providing Dutch water technology companies with the opportunity to seize the opportunities from European laws and regulations, especially considering the availability of EU financing for implementation. Additionally, we want to make water technology entrepreneurs aware of the services provided by Atradius and Invest International for financing or guaranteeing the export of their water technology projects.
Thanks to Partners for Water for giving us the opportunity to contribute to Waterproof 2024!
