Expert meeting
Opportunities for Dutch agribusiness in Romania
Program Expert Meeting
15:00
Reception with coffee, tea, soft drinks and a Limburg flan
15:30
Opening and welcoming remarks by Robert Rekkers on behalf of the DRN board
15:45
The opportunities for agribusiness in Romania by
Reinder Schaap, former agricultural council Romania and Mircea Borza, trade council Romanian embassy in The Hague
16:00
The importance of Romania for Greenport Venlo and FoodNL by
Bob Vostermans, mayor of Beesel and member of FoodNL steering committee
16:15
Economic climate Romania and financial-legal aspects Dutch agribusiness in Romania by
Edwin Warmerdam, partner at Mazars:
16:30
Panel of entrepreneurs in Romania and introduction workshops by
Pieter Helfferich, Agriprogress and Robert Rekkers.
16.45
Start of workshops from dairy, pigs, fruit and biobased chains
17.45
Wrap-up workshops and closing by Kees Kuijken, DRN president
18.00
Networking opportunity over drinks.
Walking dinner.
19:30
End
Notes plenary panel discussion and workshops
Panelists: Joris van Rooi(Van Rooi Group), Jan de Boer(DN Agrar), Heinz Derksen(Pig farms),Pascal Cazemier(dairy farm Frylapte) and Sjaak Walraven(Fleuren, tree nurseries), Edwin Warmerdam( Mazars Romania)
Workshop Opportunities and experiences in the biobased chain in Romania
Mark Reinders
Mark Reinders is managing director and co-owner of the HempFlax Group.
HempFlax is a grower and processor of industrial fiber hemp. With factories in the Netherlands, Romania and Germany, HempFlax is one of the bigger players in Europe in fiber hemp. The entire chain from land to premises is carried out in-house, thus standing at the base of the upcoming Biobased building materials revolution. Since 2012, HempFlax has been active in Romania where hemp and flax are grown on their own farm and then processed into high-quality products in a modern factory.
Eppo Timmer is chain director for Building Balance in Limburg. Building Balance is a nationwide transition program with the goal of accelerating the use of bio-resources in construction. Strongly focused on developing new chains.
Workshop Opportunities and experiences in the pig farming chain in Romania
Heinz Derksen
Heinz Derksen has sows and fattening pigs at various locations in the Netherlands and Germany and, since 2015, a pig farm in Romania (Ialomita). In Romania, the plan is to start converting the existing barns to house sows around June. It is also planned to build a feed mill to produce its own feed.
Sven van Genugten
Sven van Genugten (Van Genugten Agri). Van Genugten Agri builds barns for livestock farms in the Netherlands and abroad. They have already realized many projects in Hungary and Romania. Among other things, they build the stables at Van Rooi.
Joris van Rooi
Joris van Rooi is responsible within the Van Rooi Group for operations in Hungary and Romania. Van Rooi is a household name in the Dutch pig farming industry and also supply high-quality beef products. They have businesses throughout the chain sows, fattening pigs, trade, transportation, slaughterhouse and meat processing. In addition to production in Hungary, it also has its own slaughterhouse.
About opportunities in Romania: Pigs – News and backgrounds about pig farming – Farm.com
Workshop Opportunities and experiences in Romanian dairy and dairy farming
Jan de Boer of DN Agrar
Jan de Boer is the owner/operatormer of several agricultural businesses in Romania. Working in Romania for 15 years, started from scratch in 2008. DN Agrar is now the largest dairy farm in Romania, listed with 11,000 dairy cows.
Pascal Cazemier
Pascal Cazemier, along with two associates, bought an aging dairy farm near Cluj. The old attachment barns have been converted into a cubicle, potting shed and milking parlor. In two years they are already at a production of 5,000 liters per day, with the goal of doubling in the future.
Workshop Opportunities and experiences in the Romanian fruit sector
Sjaak Walraven of Fleuren
Sjaak Walraven is Fleuren’s export manager and cultivation technical supervisor. Fleuren has a fruit tree nursery in Koningslust and has years of experience in Romania.
Fred Evers of Evers International/Holland Fruit House
Fred Evers facilitates market development for groups of companies in the fruit growing industry. Assisted a cluster of companies Holland Fruit House, among others, to develop the market in Romania.
Fred Douven of ABB Growers
Fred Douven is the CEO of ABB Growers. They grow asparagus and blueberries and sort and package them. Are also firmly active with growers in particularly Serbia (neighboring Romania) and also in Romania (now to a lesser extent) itself.
Practicalities
The meeting will take place at the Brightlands Campus in Venlo, specifically in the Villaflora building. The address is Villafloraweg 1. The Campus is easily accessible from the A73. Ample parking is available on the property (former Floriade site).
For participants wishing to stay overnight, we recommend the Hotel Van Der Valk on Nijmeegseweg 90 in Venlo which is a short distance (7.4 km) away. Of course, this is at your own expense.
We kindly but urge you to send us your application via the enclosed registration form as soon as possible. Without timely registration, it is not possible to participate as we expect a large crowd. In addition, please indicate on the form which workshop you would like to participate in.
Moderators: Robert Rekkers and Kees Kuijken
Organization and Publicity: Pieter Helfferich and Ben Jager
If you would like to attend this Expert Meeting, please fill out the form below