After a short dip at the end of 2022, the economy may slowly pick up again in 2023.
As is customary every year, affiliated members from the Healthcare Transport and Taxi, Bus Transport Netherlands, Public Transport and the MaaS-Lab sectors met each other in De Nieuwe or Littéraire Sociëteit De Witte on the Plein in The Hague. On that day, the club has been open to KNV members for years without having to be balloted in advance, which in the stately building has been quite common since 1782. Ingrid Thijssen, chairman of the national employers' umbrella organization VNO-NCW, and Kees van der Burg, Director General of Mobility at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, were the guest speakers.
After the opening speech by the chairman of Royal Dutch Transport Bertho Eckhardt, who kicked off in a positive manner and with a small economic growth expected, Ingrid Thijssen gave a text and explanation about a good business climate. As Thijssen himself indicated, it was not a tailor-made story that those present immediately recognized themselves in, but a superficial sketch about safeguarding the economy of tomorrow. From nitrogen to making your company more sustainable or setting up a new research laboratory.
Everything is reviewed, except that which is of use to us within our transport sector. Or at least, her statement “Without transport, everything comes to a standstill”, but we had previously heard it as the central message in the latest promotional film by Transport and Logistics Netherlands. She admitted, as said before, that she had 'no tailor-made speech' for the target group where she was a guest, and yes, that was completely correct.
According to Thijssen, the predictability of government policy should be improved, because those who invest want to know where they stand. She also pointed to the accumulation of rules that entrepreneurs encounter, the headlines on European legislation and the fact that legislation and regulations are often not geared to new innovative, often circular, developments.
Whoever hires Kees van der Burg knows that his story is correct and that the audience listens with all their attention. The Director General of Mobility of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management was previously a guest of the members of the Royal Dutch Transport and immediately managed to set the right tone.
Kees van der Burg is looking for common ground and dialogue with the sector, with the starting point, according to him, that if amendments to regulations or additional legislation are necessary, it should be open for discussion in order to look at them. The director hopes to be able to connect more within mobility and likes it when a team is created of people who know how to find each other. In any case, KNV chairman Eckhardt was promised that, if asked, he might be a guest again next year. Fixed appointment!
Royal Dutch Transport is the umbrella organization for professional passenger transport. KNV Healthcare Transport and Taxi and Bus Transport Netherlands are part of Royal Dutch Transport. KNV represents both the collective and individual interests of its members. As a trade association, KNV is constantly involved in public and private consultation structures.
Through this ongoing active participation, KNV is able to effectively represent the interests of its sectors and makes an important substantive contribution to mobility issues at both national and international level. Good contacts with politicians and the civil service are of great importance in this respect. In order to further optimally represent the interests of members, KNV works closely with national and international interest groups, such as the employers' organization VNO-NCW, the IRU and UITP.
KNV works closely with Public Transport Netherlands, with national and international interest groups such as the Mobility Alliance, the Logistieke Alliantie, the Dutch employers' organisation VNO-NCW, the International Road Transport Union (IRU) and the International Association of Public Transport (OUTP).
