An overview of my activities during the research in The Netherlands.

On the 19th of April, I commenced my research in the Netherlands. From that day on, NEA provided me with a workplace and all the other necessities needed for the upcoming period of research.

The research in The Netherlands consists mainly of conducting interviews with relevant managers of Dutch firms interested in developing environmental protection and safety in the Chinese maritime sector.

When I was not preparing, conducting or processing these interviews, I used the spare time partly to prepare the researchphase in China by acquiring information through deskresearch, and partly to conduct the compulsory reports as demanded by my university.

My activities during the first week were mainly investigating and contacting relevant Dutch firms. I was suprised how cooperative most Dutch firms were, regarding my request for conducting interviews. Due to the cooperative stance of these firms, my agenda for the next 2,5 weeks was full of appointments with several managers of the firms.

Consequently, the next 2 weeks were totally different from the first. Every day, I visited different firms to held interviews with the relevant managers.

Interview by interview, I gained more and more insight about the activities inside the cluster of respective firms and how these activities can facilitate environmental protection and safety in China.

Besides that, the interviews provided me with the necessary information to define the firm's interest in China and the firms' opinion on the proposed cluster stategy. The interviews also increased my understanding of the cooperation between these firms and their position in the (international) market. Most firms also provided me with concrete researchtopics concerning their questions on appoaching the Chinese market.

At the moment, I am almost at the end of this researchphase, and subsequently my daily journey through The Netherlands is coming to an end.

At the time my research in The Netherlands is finished, it is expected that I have conducted interviews with a total of twelve Dutch firms. I am of the opinion that this is a sufficient number of firms to proceed to the next phase of my research; define the state of affairs and outline relevant parties in China, concerning the development of environmental protection and safety in the Chinese maritime sector. As a result of the talks I held with several managers, I noticed that it is also important to do specific research for the participating Dutch firms, concerning their questions on the Chinese market.

If the volcano in Iceland is so kind not to interrupt my plans, I'll head for China on the 18th of May. In the next blog I'll update you on the preparations for my stay and research activities in China.