APPENDICES
APPENDIX A: Organogram Ministry of Foreign affairs
APPENDIX B: Promotional article in newsletter Koninklijke Metaalunie
APPENDIX C: Questionnaire needs and expectations of potential customers
APPENDIX D: Interview questions network actors
APPENDIX E: List of interviewees
APPENDIX A: Organogram Ministry of Foreign affairs
APPENDIX B: Promotional article in newsletter Koninklijke Metaalunie
Op naar België met hulp van de Nederlandse ambassade
Dutch
Er zijn vele boeken, tijdschriften en internetsites gewijd aan de verschillen tussen Nederlanders en Belgen. En niet te vergeten de bekende moppen over Belgen en Nederlanders, ze zijn bij iedereen bekend.
Maar wist u ook dat België na Duitsland de tweede grootste handelspartner van Nederland is?
België nam in 2003, 11,9% van de Nederlandse export af. Wij zijn voor onze export dus in grote mate afhankelijk van onze zuiderburen, maar zij ook van ons. Ook wij staan in de top-3 van exportlanden van België.
Maar ondanks dat we zo afhankelijk van elkaar zijn komen we op handelsgebied nog wel eens onbeslagen ten ijs. Dezelfde taal spreken en een overbrugbare afstand blijken geen garanties voor succes op handelsgebied te zijn. U zult niet de eerste zijn die een offerte misloopt, omdat u te weinig tijd geïnvesteerd hebt in het opbouwen van een relatie met uw Belgische handelspartner.
De Nederlandse ambassade in Brussel is daarom benieuwd naar uw verwachtingen van en behoeften aan informatie bij het drijven van handel met België. Om u zo als ambassade in de toekomst nog beter van dienst te kunnen zijn.
Door middel van het aanklikken van de volgende link kunt u de enquête invullen:
www.koninklijkemetaalunie.nl
Het invullen van deze enquête kost u maar 5 minuten en wij vragen u de enquête ook in te vullen als u op dit moment nog geen handel doet met België. Na afloop van het onderzoek kunt u ook inzicht krijgen in de resultaten.
Let er bij het invullen wel op: het is geen quiz en foute antwoorden bestaan niet. Uw eigen
mening is voor de ambassade van groot belang!
English
A lot of books, magazines and internet sites have been dedicated to the differences between Dutch and Belgians. And the jokes concerning Belgians and Dutch are well-known by everyone.
But did you know also that Belgium is after Germany the second largest trade partner of the Netherlands? Belgium took 11.9% from the Dutch export in 2003. So for our export we largely depend on Belgium, but Belgium also depends on us for their export. The Netherlands is in the top-3 of export countries of Belgium.
But although we are highly dependent on each other, when it comes to trade we often start unprepared. Speaking the same language and a bridgeable distance between the countries do not appear to be guarantees for successful trade. You will not be the first who misses a tender, because you have invested too little time in building a relation with your Belgian trade partner.
The Dutch embassy in Brussels wonders for this reason what your expectation are of doing business with Belgium and what information needs you have. In order to serve you as embassy better in future.
By means of clicking on the link below, you can fill in the enquiry:
www.koninklijkemetaalunie.nl
Filling in this enquiry costs about 5 minutes. You can also fill in the enquiry if you are not doing business with Belgium at the moment. After the research you can get also get insight in the results.
Pay attention when filling in the enquiry: it is no quiz and wrong answers do not exist. Your
own opinion is very important for the embassy!
APPENDIX C: Questionnaire needs and expectations of potential customers
Inleiding
Deze enquête bestaat uit 18 meerkeuzevragen. Onder elke vraag staan een aantal antwoordmogelijkheden. U kunt uw antwoord aangeven door het desbetreffende vakje aan te kruisen. Soms is er de mogelijkheid meerdere antwoorden in te vullen, dit staat dan in de vraag vermeld.
Staat uw antwoord er niet tussen, kies dan het antwoord dat het dichtst bij uw antwoord ligt of vul op de stippellijntjes uw antwoord in.
Introduction
This enquiry consist of 18 multiple choice question. Each question contain a number of answers. You can answer the question by clicking on the answer you prefer. Sometimes it is possible to fill in more answers, if this is the case it is mentioned in the question.
If you think the right answer cannot be filled in, choose best answer of the options or fill in your answer on the dotted line.
1 How many employees does your enterprise have?
□ 1 tot 5 employees
□ 5 tot 10 employees
□ 10 tot 50 employees
□ 50 tot 100 employees
2 What is the size of the export share of your sales?
□ 1 - 10 %
□ 10 – 20%
□ 20 – 40%
□ 40 – 60%
General questions
□ 60 – 80%
□ 80 – 100%
3 Is your enterprises already international active in Belgium?
□ Yes
□ No
4 Belgium is for Dutch enterprises and important trade country. Could you indicate till how far you agree with the following statements? (scale 1 till 5. 1= totally agree, 2=
agree, 3= neutral, 4= disagree, 5= totally disagree)
1 2 3 4 5
¾ Belgium is easy accessible for international
trade . . .
¾ No culture barrier exist between the
Netherlands and Belgium . . . .
¾ Belgium is a good country to start with
international trade . . .
¾ Belgium has the same rules and
legislations as the Netherlands . . .
¾ When I want to do business in Belgium
I do not need information
. . . . .1 When your enterprise wants to do business with Belgium, different organizations can provide you with information. Have you looked for information about dong business in Belgium before?
□ Yes (go to question 6)
□ No (go to question 7)
Expectations of Belgium as trade country
Expectations of export supportive information
6 Till what extent has your enterprise made use of the following sources/organizations when looking for information about Belgium?
Often Mean Hardly
¾ The internet . . .
¾ Colleagues . . .
¾ Chamber of commerce . . .
¾ The Royal Dutch Metal Union . . .
¾ MKB-Nederland . . .
¾ A bank . . .
¾ Agency for International Business and
Cooperation (EVD) . . .
¾ The Dutch embassy in Belgium . . .
¾ De Belgian embassy in the Netherlands . . .
¾ FENEDEX (Federation for Dutch Export) . . .
¾ NCH (Dutch Center for trade support) . . .
¾ NEC (Dutch Export Combination) . . .
¾ Otherwise,
namely………
……….
(go to question 8)
7 Till what extent do you expect the following organizations to supply you of information about doing business in Belgium?
Often Mean Hardly
¾ The internet . . .
¾ Colleagues . . .
¾ Chamber of commerce . . .
¾ The Royal Dutch Metal Union . . .
¾ MKB-Nederland . . .
¾ A bank . . .
¾ Agency for International Business and
Cooperation (EVD) . . .
¾ The Dutch embassy in Belgium . . .
¾ De Belgian embassy in the Netherlands . . .
¾ FENEDEX (Federation for Dutch Export) . . .
¾ NCH (Dutch Center for trade support) . . .
¾ NEC (Dutch Export Combination) . . .
¾ Otherwise,
namely……….
.………
8 How familiar are you with the services of the Dutch embassy in Brussels?
□ Very much familiar
□ Familiar
□ Neutral
□ Less familiar
□ Unfamiliar
9 For whom do you think the services of the Dutch embassy in Brussels are meant? You can choose more options here.
□ The Dutch government
□ European institutions
□ Private persons
□ Small enterprises, less than 50 employees
□ Middle size enterprises, between 50 and 100 employees
□ Large size enterprises, more than 100 employees
10 The Dutch embassy in Brussels can serve you in different ways. Which of the below services do you expect to be offered by the Dutch embassy in Brussels? You can choose more options here.
□ Offering help with passport and visa
□ Offering help with Belgian rules and legislation Expectations of the Dutch embassy in Brussels
□ Promotion of the Netherlands as trade country
□ Offering help with trade problems in/with Belgium
□ Checking the reliability of relations
□ Searching for possibilities for Dutch enterprises
□ Spreading of a newsletter with economic information about trade between Belgium and the Netherlands
□ Intervene between enterprises and the government
□ Answering individual questions of enterprises
11 Did your enterprises use the services of an embassy in a foreign country before?
□ Ja
□ Nee (go to question 13)
12 Did your enterprise use the services of the Dutch embassy in Brussels before?
□ Ja
□ Nee
13 What is the reason that your enterprise did not make use of the services of the Dutch embassy in Brussels? You can choose more options here.
□ Unfamiliarity with the services of the embassy
□ Bad experiences with the services of embassies
□ No need for services of an embassy
□ No need for information about doing business with Belgium
□ Use of other organisations (for example: EVD, Fenedex, chamber of commerce or Koninklijke Metaalunie)
□ Otherwise,
namely...………
………...
14 The Dutch embassy in Brussels offer economic service to Dutch enterprises. Could you indicate how important you consider these services (on a scale from 1 till 5. 1=
important, 2= important, 3= neutral, 4= not important 5= totally not important)?
1 2 3 4 5
¾ Newsletter with information about Dutch
and Belgian trade developments . . .
¾ Specific information about export possibilities
in specific sectors . . .
¾ Answering individual question and help
with individual problems . . .
¾ General information provisioning through
The website . . .
15 The Dutch embassy in Brussels inform you about different subjects. Could you indicate how important these different subjects are for you (on a scale from 1 till 5. 1=
important, 2= important, 3= neutral, 4= not important 5= totally not important)? You can choose more options here.
Information about: 1 2 3 4 5
¾ Culture differences between Belgium and the
Netherlands . . .
¾ The Belgian economy . . .
¾ The law and regulations in Belgium . . . . .
¾ Fiscal aspects of doing business in Belgium . . . . .
¾ Market entrance . . .
¾ A specific sector . . .
¾ Making contacts with parties in Belgium . . . . .
¾ Otherwise
namely,………
………
………
Need for economic services of the Dutch embassy in Brussels
