News item | 30-09-2025 | 15:59
The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) will help the Ministry of Defense in strengthening and scaling up the defense industry. State Secretary Gijs Tuinman and Director-General RVO Abdeluheb Choho have reinforced this intention today with their signatures. Through joining forces and innovation, they want to preserve security, freedom, democracy and prosperity in the Netherlands.
The increasing geopolitical tensions require more strategic autonomy. Collaboration with partners is essential here. It is important to be a step for the enemy. This can be achieved with quality fast innovations, such as autonomous systems, smart drones and artificial intelligence.
Choho: “RVO has a lot of knowledge in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship. We also have a strong network of companies and national and regional social organizations. We are happy to use this in the near future to strengthen resilience in the Netherlands.”
RVO supports entrepreneurs and industry optimally. The cooperation focuses, among other things, on giving better access to European innovation subsidies and financing for Dutch companies. In addition, RVO Defense assists in linking the supply and demand of products and services from the business community.
Defort support
The Defort program office is involved in stimulating collaborations between business, knowledge institutions and government. This is important sectors for the Ministry of Defense. RVO helps Defense with knowledge and skills of public-private partnerships to optimally organize Defort. The purpose of this is a faster production and delivery of military equipment.
Turnover Defense companies almost doubled
The Ministry of Defense makes more than € 1 billion available for the upscaling of innovation and production. A strong defense industry is necessary for the strength of the armed forces and offers opportunities for the economy and the labor market. The Netherlands now has around 900 defense companies. The joint turnover of this has almost doubled in 3 years to more than € 9 billion.