At the end of the 90s, the Dutch government began to outsource a number of activities in the area of private sector development to specialised, external organisations or ‘front offices’: the FMO and Senter. The goal is to make the programmes more cohesive and more accessible for both the market sector and developing countries. Since the beginning of 2000 they have formed the outlet for Dutch enterprises wanting to invest in developing countries.

The FMO supports the private sector in developing countries and emerging markets in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe. This is done with loans, guarantees and other investment promotion activities. FMO's operations are carried out by two business units: FMO Finance and FMO Investment Promotion.

FMO Finance extends tailor-made financing on commercial terms to enterprises and financial institutions in developing countries in the form of: loans, equity & quasi-equity, guarantees and syndicated loans. FMO Investment Promotion is the ‘one stop investment shop’ for Dutch businesses wanting to invest in developing countries and emerging markets. On behalf of the Dutch government, FMO manages several programmes focused on stimulating specific activities including the delivery of capital goods, feasibility studies in the pre-investment stage and management support in the post-investment phase. Some of these programmes are linked to the supply of goods and services by Dutch companies.

Furthermore FMO Investment Promotion is responsible for the execution of the following programmes: Development-Related Export Transactions (ORET), Investment Promotion and Technical Assistance Developing Countries (IPTA), and Technical Assistance Emerging Markets (TAEM).

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Senter and Novem, both agencies under the Ministry of EZ, have merged in 2004. The new organisation incorporates knowledge of innovation, energy, climate, the environment and our living conditions. SenterNovem implements government policy in the fields of technology, energy, environment, exports and international cooperation. Its objective is to make an enduring contribution to the position of the business sector and knowledge institutions in the Netherlands. Senter International is a newly established division of the SenterNovem organisation. It pools the SenterNovem implemented schemes and programmes in the areas of export promotion, foreign investment and international economic collaboration and has a wealth of information at its disposal on the entire field of incentive schemes and programmes.

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