Dutch Creative Network Event

On 26 October 2011 the first Dutch Creative Business Network Event took place at Canton Tower in Guangzhou. The event, generously hosted by the Chamber of Commerce of Amsterdam and organized together with the Benelux Chamber of Commerce PRD (BenCham) and the Dutch Design Desk, included the award ceremony for the DutchDFA Weibo VANMOOF Photo Competition. The event was held in conjunction with the delegation of Dutch design studios visiting the Canton Fair and it’s Product Design Centre. This delegation, organized by BNO, Syntens and the Dutch Design Desk took part in all 3 phases of Canton Fair and promoted Dutch product and fashion design.

In her opening speech the guest of honor, Consul-General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Guangzhou, Ms. Anneke Luwema, expressed her enthusiasm and support for entrepreneurs from the Dutch creative sector wanting to set foot in China. Mr. Richard Hoving (Chamber of Commerce of Amsterdam) and Mr. Remco Böhre (Benelux Chamber of Commerce) both explained how their organizations together with the Dutch Design Desk could help entrepreneurs start in China. Both expressed their intention to organize more events, like the Dutch Creative Business Network Event, in Guangzhou in the future. Mr. Teun Hompe (Dutch Design Desk) acted as master of ceremony. 

With some 120 people attending, the Dutch Creative Business Network Event was an overwhelming and record-breaking success. Apart from the design studios participating in the delegation, the event attracted many members of BenCham, Chinese business partners or potential partners of the design studios and many representatives of the creative industries from Guangzhou and even Hong Kong. The enormous attention for this event shown by the Chinese and Hong Kong business community highlights the potential for entrepreneurs from the Dutch creative sector in the southern region of China.

DUTCHDFA WEIBO PHOTO COMPETITION PRIZE GIVING

In line with the Dutch participation in this year’s Beijing Design Week with its exhibit “Smart Cities, Healthy Cites”, DutchDFA launched an online Weibo photo competition on 23 September to inspire consumers on the need to improve our urban environment through design. 

To participate in the competition consumers were required to use their mobile phone to take photo’s with the subject of “The Dutch in Beijing” and upload the image to their personal Weibo account with the hash tags “Win a VANMOOF bicycle” in Chinese. 72 participants entered the competition with over 120 photo’s submitted. In the end Zhang Xinwei from Guangzhou was the winner and he received his prize during a special ceremony at the Dutch Creative Network Event on October.