TNT Express, MKB-Nederland present export award to healthcare start-up

March 7, 2014 - TNT Express and MKB-Nederland, the Dutch federation of small and medium-sized companies, yesterday presented the MKB Export Award to Dovideq Medical, a manufacturer of testing devices for rigid endoscopes. Endoscopes are medical instruments used for examining the interior of hollow organs, such as the colon, bladder, or stomach.

The MKB Export Award recognises small Dutch companies with outstanding export plans and results. Although it is but three years old, the 4 employee-strong Dovideq not only provides equipment to Dutch hospitals, it has expanded in Great Britain and Germany. Bert Dommerholt, the company’s founder, is now looking at the US and Australia markets.

The MKB Award is one of several joint initiatives undertaken by MKB-Nederland and TNT Express to support the export efforts of SMEs. The recovery of the Dutch economy relies largely on exports, according to the CPB (Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis).

The number of exporting Dutch SMEs has increased, but they have yet to fully leverage their export potential, particularly to countries outside Europe. Three quarters (74%) of Dutch exports are geared towards EU members. Germany is the first destination in export value (6.1% in 2012), compared with 1.6% for China.