Company Profile

About us

Who are we?
The CBI is the Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries. We are the agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

What do we do?

The CBI's mission is to contribute to sustainable economic development in developing countries through the expansion of exports from these countries.

Over the last 40 years, we have opened the doors of European trade to thousands of exporters in developing countries. Our role as a knowledge broker is characterised by us working closely with our network and our integrated approach to sustainable economic development. Furthermore, CSR is a guiding principle for all CBI activities. The focus of the CBI is on an important link in the export value chain. We offer a needs-driven approach to both exporters as well as their business support organisations (BSOs) and governmental authorities. We focus on the link between producing exporters and European buyers. We contribute to strengthening the competitive position of exporters sustainably, assisting them in trading on the European markets.

Competencies:

In order to accomplish its mission CBI concentrates on five core competencies. These are:

Market knowledge

CBI has an intimate knowledge of the structures, characteristics, developments and requirements of markets in the European Union.

Product and production improvement

CBI is able to provide technical assistance in improving products and production processes that contribute to the competitiveness on the EU markets.

Quality control

Quality is of main concern to the consumers and end users in the European Union. There are multiple rules, regulations and standards on quality (originating from) stipulated by the European Union, national governments, trade & industry, non-governmental organisations, etc. CBI is able to coach exporters and business support organisations in meeting the requirements in this regard.

Export marketing and management

CBI is able to provide technical assistance and training on improving export marketing and management knowledge and skills within companies and business support organisations.

Market entry

Through its knowledge of the markets and its long year experience CBI is able to provide guidance and market entry services to companies in gaining access to, maintaining and expanding market share on the EU markets.

Partnership:

Many hands make light work, so to assure you of the most efficient assistance, we cooperate closely with similarly motivated organisations and institutions that offer complementary services such as USAID, International Trade Centre (ITC), Netherlands embassies, Agentschap NL and other bilateral partners. This is what makes the CBI THE expert in export development and export promotion from developing countries.

Contact us:

To get in touch with one of our staff members you can visit the contact section of our website www.cbi.eu/contact.