Beursplein 37, 5th floor 3011 AA Rotterdam
Tel	:	010 - 201 34 34
Fax	:	010 - 411 40 81
Email	:	cbi@cbi.nl
Web	:	www.cbi.nl

The CBI (Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries) is an agency of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The CBI was established in 1971.

The CBI's mission is to contribute to the economic development of low income countries by strengthening the competitiveness of companies from these countries on the EU market. We consider social values and compliance with the most relevant environmental requirements to be an integral part of our policy and activities.

The CBI is a centre of expertise with a difference. Not only do they know the developing world and the EU market like their own pocket, but CBI is also specialized in assessing the individual strengths and weaknesses as an exporter. And following the assessment, CBI helps the exporter to get right down to business.
  CBI has a wide variety of tools at their disposal for keeping exporters and Business Support Organisations (BSOs) in developing countries in step with the very latest developments on the EU market. These include market surveys and strategic marketing guides for more than 40 product groups; manuals on export planning and other topics; fashion and interior forecasts; and their bimonthly magazine, the CBI News Bulletin. This information can also be obtained from their website at www.cbi.nl. For all information on non-tariff trade barriers in the European Union, such as legislation and other market requirements in the field of environmental, health, safety and social issues, the CBI has a special database www.cbi.nl/accessguide. AccessGuide also contains links to many websites, as well as useful addresses, news and case studies, among others, on CE Marking.
Export Development Programmes (EDPs) are designed to assist entrepreneurs in developing countries in entering and succeeding on the EU market and/or in consolidating or expanding their existing market share. Selected participants receive individual support over a number of years by means of expert and on-site consultancy, training schemes, trade fair participation and general market entry support. Key programme elements usually include technical assistance in fields such as product adaptation, improving production, implementing regulations and standards, and export marketing and management assistance.

Companies from India are participating in the export development programme.
The training programmes are one of CBI's main tools in the field of capacity building for exporters and BSOs. Training programmes are developed on, among others, general export marketing and management; trade promotion; management of international trade fair participations; and developing client-oriented market information systems. The duration of the training programmes vary between two days and two weeks and are organized in Rotterdam or on location in the developing countries themselves.
Under the BSO development programme, CBI is able to offer selected BSO's institutional support for capacity building. The programme is tailored to the specific needs of participating BSOs and can include train-the-trainer assistance, market information systems support and staff training. CBI's role is advisory and facilitative. The main responsibility for implementation of the programme lies with the BSO itself.
Company matching programme links carefully selected and well-prepared exporters in developing countries to suitable importing companies in the European Union and vice versa. The online matching database we've developed for this purpose contains profiles of hundreds of CBI-audited and assisted exporters in developing countries that are ready to export to the European Union, as well as many EU importers.
If you're an aspiring exporter, the online 'Export Checker' can help you assess your export readiness and guide you in preparing your business for the European market. Explanations, recommendations and hyperlinks are provided. The test is unofficial (it takes just five minutes), but may be a stepping-stone to completing the official CBI company matching audit.