Industry Committee

AmCham's Industry Committee supports the Chamber’s mission to ensure prosperity for future generations through competitive transatlantic business and contributes to safeguarding the Netherlands as an attractive, innovative, and reliable investment environment.

The Industry Committee brings together companies from capital- and energy-intensive sectors, technology and innovation providers, sustainability leaders, and organizations enabling industrial ecosystems in the Netherlands and Europe. It provides a platform to explore challenges and opportunities across the entire value chain – from raw materials and energy systems to production, logistics, consumer markets, and circular processing. This integrated perspective allows the Committee to identify interdependencies, address bottlenecks, and explore system-wide solutions that enhance competitiveness, resilience, and sustainable growth.

Its mission is to promote a thriving, competitive, and sustainable industrial ecosystem by fostering understanding of the operational realities of industry, advancing innovation-driven transitions, and supporting a policy and investment climate that encourages long-term industrial presence in the Netherlands and transatlantic business. It does so by creating a space where members can exchange knowledge, present solutions, and discuss major developments and challenges affecting industrial strategy, sustainability ambitions, and economic performance. Through this dialogue, the Committee strengthens awareness among the broader AmCham community and helps articulate the conditions needed for companies to continue investing in the Netherlands. 

The Industry Committee also places emphasis on how innovation can power sustainability and competitiveness simultaneously. It highlights the role of technological breakthroughs, digitalization, new business models, and collaborative research. By connecting these themes to real-world industrial operations, the Committee showcases how innovation not only drives environmental progress but also reinforces economic strength, market leadership, and transatlantic investment flows. 

It contributes to AmCham’s advocacy mission by providing insights, practical experience, and recommendations aligned with the Chamber’s four priorities: improving the policy environment, ensuring efficient infrastructure, enhancing human capital, and stimulating research and innovation. Cross-sector membership allows identification of issues that cut across industries, including initiatives such as product-level carbon-intensity standards as a pragmatic path to a lower-emissions future.

The Committee serves as a platform for engagement with policymakers and knowledge institutions through expert sessions, collaborative events, site visits, and company showcases. Members are expected to actively participate, contribute expertise and resources, engage their networks, and support the Committee’s role in enhancing AmCham’s impact and visibility on industrial and sustainability issues.

Through this merged structure, the Industry Committee becomes a powerful platform for strengthening dialogue across the value chain and for public-private exchange aimed at advancing the Netherlands as a leading location to enhance competitiveness, resilience, and sustainable growth for transatlantic business.

 

 

Committee Members

Mr. Johan Scharpé (Chair)
Director Public & Government Affairs Benelux, ExxonMobil
Mr. Frank Buijs
Senior Manager Public Affairs, Coca-Cola Company
Mr. Khaled Dadi
Partner Commercial Contracts and IT-Disputes, DLA Piper Nederland
Ms. Alexandra Danopoulous
Lawyer / Partner, Ploum
Ms. Andrea de las Hernas Garcia
Sr. Energy & Climate Commercial Manager Benelux, Spain, Dow Benelux
Ms. Refke Gunnewijk
Head of Clean Industry & Transport, Havenbedrijf Rotterdam / Port of Rotterdam
Mr. Willem Koolhaas
Marketing and Communications Director, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University
Ms. Karin Op den Kamp
VP, Global Head of Public Affairs, VTTI
Mr. Jaap Rabou
Senior Director Marketing Polyolefins, LyondellBasell Nederland
Mr. Tom Rood
Head of Procurement Europe & Indonesia, Ahold Delhaize
Mr. Steven van Vliet
Consultant, Global Industrial Practice, Spencer Stuart International