No more China, but instead various European destinations. Eindhoven city administrators have made all sorts of business trips in recent years. The reasons for these international trips are diverse.
In the past 4.5 years, Eindhoven mayors and alderpersons made fourteen foreign trips, according to information requested by Studio040 from the municipality. Except for one, all of these business trips were in Europe. In addition, there was one trip that did not take place, but for which Eindhoven had to pay the costs.
Reasons
The European destinations were Scotland, Germany, France, Finland, England, Sweden, Belgium and Switzerland. The reasons for a foreign trip are different. For example, it can be a trade mission, in the interest of Eindhoven and the high-tech Brainport region. Networking can also be the goal, strengthening a city bond or acquiring a good position on the international real estate market.
Former alderpersons Monique Esselbrugge and Stijn Steenbakkers have been away the most in recent years. For example, Esselbrugge went to Sweden with the trade association of project developers and she was in Switzerland with Brabantstad, a partnership of Brabant cities. She also went to Bayeux, the French municipality with which Eindhoven has close ties around celebrating and commemorating the liberation in 1944. Steenbakkers also went to Bayeux once and went to Munich twice for an international real estate conference.
Rwanda
The most exotic trip was made by former alderman Marcel Oosterveer in 2020. He went to Rwanda with a delegation from the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG). VNG has a project running in the African country, among other things, in which Rwanda is helped to involve residents more in local government.
China
It is striking that in the past 4.5 years, apart from Rwanda, there have been no more business trips from Eindhoven outside Europe. Previously, former mayors Rob van Gijzel and John Jorritsma went to China in the interest of Eindhoven and Brainport. Rob van Gijzel regularly visited East Asia to strengthen ties with the government and the business community. He attended a major conference in Shanghai and Nanjing, with which Eindhoven had a city partnership until recently. That city partnership was terminated more than a year and a half ago due to the political situation in China, at the insistence of the municipal council. Jorritsma was still in Taiwan in 2018. There he made agreements with his counterpart in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, about cooperation in the field of startups.
The municipality has announced that all formal ties with China have been terminated.
Source: Studio040
For Eindhoven News: Lila Mehrez
