Rotterdam is ready for foreign shipowners
Rotterdam Maritime Services Community – In the limelight
This week we had the pleasure of talking to Connie Roozen, fiscal advisor and co-owner of C&B More in Rotterdam. She recently joined the board of the RMSC, is treasurer at Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA) and has keen insights in the fiscal rules and regulations of the shipping industry in the Netherlands and abroad. We discussed recent developments she sees on the market and the greatest challenges the industry faces today.
In 2012, Roozen and a colleague at Ernst & Young started C&B More to be closer to the client’s needs. Back then, they would write extensive advisory reports with a complete set of possible fiscal solutions. Nowadays, their advise is much more goal oriented. While banks became more stringent, ship owners are looking for different kinds of financing structures.’ That’s why C&B More does thorough research on the fiscal systems of other countries. Due to the increase of Spanish investors,
they come across possibilities with Spanish tax lease.
Another trend Roozen notices is the increasing number of foreign shipowners settling in Rotterdam. Because of the favourable tax regulations and the extensive tax treaty network, Roozen predicts foreign ship owners will make the step to settle in Rotterdam as well. If the Dutch tax regulations for shipowners are compared with other traditional shipping countries, like Greece, the Dutch tax climate is even better. Furthermore Rotterdam has also increased the attractiveness of the city for expats. This is also one of the reasons why Roozen joined the RMSC. ‛By clustering business services and making exactly clear why maritime businesses are better off in Rotterdam we can develop the region even further.’
Besides the RMSC, Roozen is also active as a treasurer for WISTA The Netherlands. WISTA The Netherlands is part of the international organisation. WISTA aims to connect women working in shipping together all over the world. ‛Shipping is traditionally a men’s world. We all really enjoy working with them, but it’s also nice to be around women sometimes. I think that’s because women strive for equivalence. We are not afraid to also appoint the issues that are not going well in our industry. At WISTA we share these experiences and learn from each other. Also it’s a lot of fun.’
