National plan accelerates Limburg value chains in Agrotech, Medtech, and Green Chemistry
The Netherlands scores highly on technology, but misses opportunities to convert that technology into economic growth. To break through this 'innovation paradox', the Regional Development Agencies, including LIOF, set up a Regional Reinforcement Plan for National Technology Strategy (RV-NTS) in 2025. The plan was presented on 29 January to Erwin Nijsse, Director-General for Business and Innovation (Ministry of Economic Affairs), and Meindert Stolk (on behalf of the Interprovincial Consultation - IPO).
The regional reinforcement plan ties in seamlessly with the action agendas of the Knowledge and Innovation Agendas (KIAs) presented on Monday 26 January. In doing so, it links the technology of the National Technology Strategy to specific growth markets. The aim is to strengthen the Netherlands' competitive position and enable technological start-ups and scale-ups to grow into the market leaders of tomorrow.
Response to the Wennink report
The plan directly responds to the recent call in Wennink's report ('The route to future prosperity', December 2025). Wennink advocates strong regional clusters and a focus on strategic niches in order to make the national strategy pay off.
The RV-NTS is not a policy document. It is an implementation plan. Over the past year, the ROMs have conducted interviews with more than 750 innovative companies. Their input on specific bottlenecks in financing, regulation and the labour market forms the basis of this implementation plan.
"The analysis has been done, the strategy is in place. Now it's time to accelerate these technologies together in Limburg," says Robbert Koldenhof, managing director of LIOF. "Our province has everything it needs to convert technology into economic activity and growth: strong campuses, an international network in the Euregio and powerful industrial value chains. With this reinforcement plan, we will bring entrepreneurs, knowledge and capital together more quickly and focus on building scale-ups and production in areas where Limburg makes a difference: Agrotech, Medtech and Green Chemistry."
Erwin Nijsse, Director-General for Business & Innovation, Department of Economic Affairs: “I think it’s an appealing example of how the joint ROMs have cleverly combined their expertise and qualities based on their 3 Is (innovate, internationalise, invest) into a single national plan. And in doing so, they have also specified how they want to contribute collectively to a number of important value chains in the Netherlands. It fits in well with Wennink's message. And our cooperation is crucial to Wennink's success.”
5 Strategic priorities for supra-regional cooperation
To prevent fragmentation and immediately generate mass, the ROMs have opted for a sharp focus in their supra-regional cooperation. Partly in the context of the new industrial policy with a focus on six strategic growth markets, the ROMs have decided to fully combine their strengths and resources over the next two years on five absolute priorities where the Netherlands makes a difference internationally:
- Deep tech: Semicon, Quantum and Photonics
- Life Sciences & Health (LSH): Medtech and regenerative medicine
- Autonomous production: robotisation and smart factories
- Green chemistry: circular materials and making the chemical industry more sustainable
- Protein transition (Future Food): from precision fermentation to field beans.
Promising areas in Limburg
For Limburg, the Regional Strengthening Plan ties in directly with the promising areas in which the region already has a strong starting position. Examples include the further development of Life Sciences & Health towards Medtech and Biotech, the further upscaling of circular chemistry and sustainable materials (with Chemelot as the driving force), and the transformation from Agrofood to Agrotech through the use of technology, robotics and data-driven solutions. Strategic autonomy is also taking concrete shape at the regional level through defence-related (dual-use) applications and system integration. This allows Limburg to seamlessly connect to the value chains from the National Technology Strategy, such as Green Chemistry, Medtech, Protein Transition and Defence Hardware—resulting in more innovation, more chain formation and high-quality employment in the region.
Call to entrepreneurs
The handover marks the start of implementation. This spring, the project teams for each value chain will seek cooperation with companies in the regions to flesh out the plans. To kick-start the discussion, the ROMs have translated the policy plans into clear market propositions for each sector. This is not a fixed plan, but a concrete offer that serves as a starting point for cooperation.
Entrepreneurs can register via the ROM-Nederland website. They will then receive this proposal for their market and will be approached to help develop plans for the coming years. In addition, entrepreneurs in Limburg can contact LIOF if they would like to know more or have questions about this national plan via www.liof.nl
Check out the FAQ for entrepreneurs
In the photo, from left to right: Robbert Koldenhof (Director of LIOF), Martijn van Gruijthuijsen (Deputy for Economy, Talent Development & Finance at the Province of North Brabant – on behalf of IPO), Meindert Stolk (Deputy for the Province of South Holland – on behalf of IPO), Erwin Nijsse (Director-General for Business & Innovation, Ministry of Economic Affairs), Wendy de Jong (Director of Oost NL and Chair of ROM-Nederland), Erwin Hoogland (Deputy for Overijssel – on behalf of IPO) and Sandor Gaastra (Secretary-General of the Ministry of Economic Affairs).
Photo: Irene Vijfvinkel
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