In 2025, Invest International further increased its impact with a slightly higher operating profit and, for the first time in its history, surpassed 100 new private-sector transactions in a single year. This generated significant value for our clients, employees, and society, while strengthening the long-term resilience and earning capacity of the Dutch economy. These strong results are presented today with the publication of our Annual Report 2025, appropriately titled: Building business. Strengthening resilience. Driving competitiveness.
The main results:
- Continued solid organisational growth: Invest International recorded an operating profit of €6.7 million, compared to €6.4 million in 2024 (an increase of 3%).
- Positive contribution to the Dutch economy: A total contribution of €557 million to Gross National Product (+18%), supporting 5,104 full‑time jobs (FTEs) (+22%).
- Rising demand for international financing: By the end of 2025, €908 million was committed in investment loans, equity and export financing, of which €494 million supported 248 Dutch SMEs.
- Commitment to infrastructure projects in emerging economies: grew by 18% to €886 million compared to €748 million in 2024.
- Growth in project development activities: The committed volume of the project development portfolio increased from €20 million to €24 million with 42 active projects at the end of 2025.
- Contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): A substantial share of Invest International’s portfolio contributes directly to the SDGs.
From first strategy cycle to years ahead
Throughout the Annual Report, we share impact stories that illustrate how we support Dutch SMEs such as Den Ouden Groep in collaboration with ING Bank, advance initiatives like our Critical Raw Materials initiative, contribute to the EU’s Global Gateway, and celebrate 10 years of DRIVE, leveraging public funding to catalyse private investment. In addition, the report includes our financial statements and the Supervisory Board report. We also present our VSME Sustainability Report.
With the 2025 Annual Report, we reflect on the final year of our first four-year strategy cycle. During this period, we updated our strategy to respond to the realities of an increasingly multipolar world, where competitiveness is inseparable from resilience. Our renewed strategy focuses on strengthening capabilities where dependencies create risk, scaling Dutch and European innovation globally, and mobilising private capital at scale.
Melanie Maas Geesteranus, CEO at Invest International:
“In 2025, a year marked by profound global shifts and the reconfiguration of global value chains, Invest International delivered a strong performance. Exceeding 100 new private-sector transactions in a single year illustrates our growing role as a catalyst for international business growth. Invest International is designed to bridge gaps—between public and private capital, between Dutch expertise and global needs. We ensure that Dutch companies can grow internationally while doing so responsibly and sustainably.”
Supporting Dutch business & resilience
Invest International supports Dutch companies in realising their export ambitions and foreign investments through tailored financial solutions. These investments enable international growth while contributing directly to employment, innovation and earning capacity in the Netherlands. By backing companies at different stages of internationalisation, we help translate Dutch knowledge, technology and entrepreneurship into sustainable global impact.
Our focus remains on sectors where innovation, competitiveness and public value intersect, including agri-food, energy, sustainable manufacturing, healthcare, and water & infrastructure. Within these sectors, our portfolio increasingly reflects investments in renewable energy, circular production processes, advanced manufacturing, local sourcing and resilient infrastructure, in the Netherlands and abroad.
Invest International is designed to bridge gaps—between public and private capital, between Dutch expertise and global needs.
Bridging aid & trade
Invest International operates at the nexus of development and commerce. Together with partner governments, development banks and organisations across our ecosystem, we continued to build bridges between aid and trade, unlocking opportunities where they are needed most and where markets alone are often insufficient.
Projects such as the Lobito Corridor in Angola and other initiatives in emerging markets show how development goals and investment returns can reinforce each other. By pairing public mandates with commercial discipline, we de‑risk projects, mobilise private capital and deliver lasting outcomes. This approach enables Dutch and European companies to operate responsibly while supporting local value creation, jobs and infrastructure.
CRM Financing
In our next growth phase, we will continue to build on our five core sectors, directly addressing the need to enhance the strategic autonomy and resilience of the Netherlands and Europe. This is reflected in our Critical Raw Materials (CRM) financing initiative—stimulating secure and sustainable supply chains for critical inputs—and our key role within the EU’s Global Gateway initiative to translate policy ambitions into bankable infrastructure projects worldwide.
Integration Invest-NL
Furthermore, we are preparing for the integration with Invest-NL, announced by the Dutch government in 2025, with closer collaboration starting in 2026 and full integration planned for 1 January 2028. This integration will create a more powerful public investor with improved access to capital and a broader set of instruments.
