Mark van Deudekom on the trade mission to Denmark and Sweden

During a trade mission, companies, organisations, and government agencies travel to another country to establish business contacts and trade. Our CEO, Marieke Kessels, and our Manager International Business, Mark van Deudekom, join a trade mission to Denmark and Sweden as part of the Task Force Health Care (TFHC) delegation.

We’d like to know more about that, so we talked to Mark van Deudekom.

What does this trade mission entail?

The TFHC is a large group of Dutch companies operating in the healthcare sector. These organisations already operate internationally or want to become internationally active. The TFHC has a lot of market knowledge and regularly produces market reports and surveys. In addition, they have an extensive network with companies and embassies. We have been a member for about a year and get much knowledge from this networking organisation.

During this trade mission, we will join a group of Dutch companies travelling to Denmark and Sweden to establish contacts with organisations and institutions in the Life Science and Health (LSH) sector.
 

Making business contacts and trading – is that our ultimate goal?

The primary goal is to expand our network in Denmark and Sweden, learn more about healthcare in these countries and discover how we can contribute to improving healthcare with our software solutions.

We also look forward to sharing experiences with the other participants. Networking meetings, including two at the embassies, are part of the programme. We hope to speak to many organisations from the LSH sector and hear what is happening in Denmark and Sweden. We would also like to take insights from these network meetings back to the Netherlands to share with our existing customers. Who knows, maybe they can benefit from them too!
 

Mark, by the way: How good is your Swedish?

Hah! Well… Unfortunately, I don’t speak Danish or Swedish, but fortunately, many Danes and Swedes speak good English, so that won’t be a problem. Ordering coffee and a snack is already going pretty well, so who knows, that might come in handy!
 

You like to work with local partners; what can you tell us about that?

Our primary goal in Sweden and Denmark is to achieve far-reaching cooperation with several local partners. We really believe in this local approach. That way, future Zenya users are served from A to Z in their own language, and we ensure that all relevant, country-specific knowledge is present. Furthermore, we aim to provide our international customers with the same high quality as those in our home markets.

We are already doing this in Sweden with our partner Frontwalker, who will play a significant role in both the commercial and support routes.

In Denmark, we are just beginning the search for a partner to help us market Zenya. That’s why, we have declared Denmark a target country to the Oranje Handelsmissiefonds and will attend the International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare in Copenhagen later this year in May.

P.S: Is your organisation open to becoming a reseller? Read more about working with Infoland.

If Danish or Swedish organisations want to speak to you during this trade mission, is that possible?

There are networking meetings at the embassies in Denmark and Sweden, where some spots are still available for interested parties. Still, the programme is generally quite full with site visits and other meetings.

However, we will be in Denmark and Sweden again in May. We will participate in the following two fairs:

What has this mission to do with the Oranje Handelsmissiefonds?

Winning the Oranje Handelsmissiefonds allows us to participate in a trade mission free of charge, but that’s not this mission. The TFHC’s trade mission is a private mission. The Oranje Handelsmissiefonds trade mission is set up in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is a public trade mission.

The Oranje Handelsmissiefonds was established for entrepreneurs looking for a large sales market. The ten yearly winners receive support from the fund to build an international network faster. So the great news is that we may soon participate in yet another trade mission. More about that in the next couple of months…