New energy for Groningen economy
Chief of the Economic Agenda, Mr Jakob Klompien, presented the Economic Agenda today. This agenda ensures broad prosperity in the Groningen and North Drenthe region over the next 30 years. Our CEO, Marieke Abbink-Pellenbarg, was at the presentation of the plan in Stadskanaal, which offers great starting points to strengthen the economy in the region with new energy.
For months, the presentation of the Economic Agenda to ensure a ‘Nij Begun‘ for the inhabitants of Groningen and North Drenthe has been eagerly awaited. Mr. Klompien has compiled all the wishes and ideas, filtered them and converted them into a solid framework in which we can work together in the coming decades.
“As a born and raised resident of Groningen, I am pleased that in 2023 the Dutch Government came up with a comprehensive package to compensate those affected by the earthquake damage and restore residents’ confidence,” said Marieke. In addition to the damage settlement, reinforcement task and the Social Agenda, the Economic Agenda should give a boost to the prosperity of Groningen and North Drenthe. “In this, fortunately, there are also many great starting points for the role of new energy,” she continues.
For example, the agenda puts a firm focus on lifelong development and campuses to retain talent in the region. This links directly to the expansion of new energy knowledge through training, research and facilities on which we are working with our partners. There is also specific attention to the opportunities of sustainable energy among regional SMEs, such as the ‘IndustrieCluster Oost-Groningen’. “These are important developments for which we and many public and private partners have done the necessary preliminary work in the widely supported report ‘Nieuwe Energie voor Groningen‘. The Economic Agenda provides a great framework for this and good opportunities to build on. We are therefore ready to further shape this with our coalition.”
What is New Energy for Groningen?
Nearly thirty government agencies, knowledge institutions and companies in the Northern Netherlands have made substantive contributions to the report Nieuwe Energie voor Groningen. This has formulated six key points for energy transition to make a structural contribution to strengthen the region’s broad prosperity, employment and image. This has been submitted as input for Economic Agenda, as the parties involved consider it important to invest in a future-proof and energetic region.
