Strong Netherlands SME Interest in UAE

Amsterdam, Netherlands, December 06, 2015 --(PR.com)-- A recent survey indicates that one in four new small and medium sized Dutch businesses is planning to enter the international marketplace with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) being a strong favourite.

The study, conducted by Netherlands based consulting firm Emirates Expertise Bureau (EEB), asked 1.537 businesses to rank countries that they considered had the best “emerging market” potential out of a 10-point maximum. The UAE came first with 7.4 points, followed successively by Turkey, Singapore, China and South Korea.

The survey shows reasons for the UAE’s popularity are its limited effort of localizing offerings, ease of doing business, lower tax levels, availability of flight routes between the two countries and a demand for Dutch-produced goods and services.

Companies that chose the UAE indicated they plan to expand to that market within 2.2 years compared to 3.6 years for expansion to China. These same companies forecast an annual average turnover in the UAE of €1.8 million and a profit margin of 27%, compared to 9.5% in the domestic market. Khalid Imzeran, chief consultant at EEB said, “The higher profit margin is most likely due to the difference in tax rates between the two countries.” Salman AlAmeri added, “The UAE open market has not gone unnoticed in the SME sphere in The Netherlands.”

A total of 22 emerging countries were available to choose from with highest interest of expanding business to the UAE indicated by the industries of health care, social entrepreneurship, training and education, human capital management and development, innovation, insurance, food and beverage. “There’s also excellent potential for creative industries and entertainment related businesses,” Imzeran said.

The criteria for businesses to take part in the survey were to be operating in the Netherlands for no more than 10 years and employ between 10 – 200 workers.