During the fifth edition of The New Horizon we welcomed a special keynote speaker: the president of the Eurogroup and former minister of Finance Jeroen Dijsselbloem. Both his speech as the speech of the mayor of the city of Eindhoven and the president of the Brainport Foundation John Jorritsma, addressed the flourishing economy in Brainport Eindhoven, the expected economic growth of 3.6% in 2018 (ING), receiving the Mainport status and the frequent mention of Brainport Eindhoven in the coalition agreement. “The next couple of weeks will prove if this will also be translated into cash.”

Both men especially mentioned talent, because although a continuously growing number of children choose a technical study the demand for tech and IT talent in Brainport Eindhoven remains enormous. Estimations of companies in the region are that they will need 10,000 employees in this year alone. Therefore it is of utmost importance to keep educating the right talent, to retrain people and to pay extra attention to lifelong learning. Besides this, we need to keep on attracting talent from abroad.

In order to be attractive to international talent and international companies, it is essential to be able to offer them a good quality of life, a high-quality business climate and great facilities in the field of culture, sports and education and that requires attracting investments. Despite these challenges, positivism prevails. “It has been a long time ago that we have entered the new year with such great optimism,” said the former minister. Brainport’s economy flourishes and this among others is caused by a unique form of collaboration between industry, knowledge institutes and government in this region.” John Jorritsma ended his contribution by toasting with Jeroen Dijsselbloem and by wishing everyone present a sparkling year with the motto: full speed ahead!!

We hope to see you next year during The New Horizon!