Netherlands seeks agro-food business

The Netherlands launched a new website (www.dutchagrofood.com) to promote partnership between the Middle East and North Africa region and the Netherlands in agro-food business.
Announcing the launch at a press conference on Wednesday, Deputy Head of Mission of the Netherlands Embassy William van Rossem, said the new website is an attractive and easily manageable tool to be in touch with the Dutch.
“It provides you with an up-to-date events agenda and news items, and a company directory with Dutch companies which are active or seriously looking for business opportunities in the MENA region. The fisheries and aquaculture, horticulture and poultry sectors are particularly highlighted. The main body of the website is also in Arabic, in order to serve the local business community optimally,” he said.
The website is an initiative of the Dutch agro-food representation of the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs. The ministry has specialized staff in Riyadh, Dubai, Rabat, Algiers and Cairo to serve the browsers. The website was launched here during the Dutch agriculture network event in Riyadh, which coincided with the Saudi Agriculture 2013 Exhibition.
The Netherlands is the second largest global exporter of agricultural goods and it is the first in density of road network, the second in quality of water transportation and has the fourth largest seaport in the world.
“All these aspects contribute to its world-famous position in agro-food. It is the 5th most competitive economy in the world, according to the Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013,” Rossem said, adding that these and other facts, as the high education level and good training programs, make the Netherlands suitable as “your distinctive partner” in agro-food business.
“For the Netherlands, the countries in the Middle East and North Africa are important as they are potentially large providers of agricultural goods, especially vegetables and fruits from the Maghreb and Egypt,” he added.
The region is geographically well situated versus the European Union and offers great potential for agricultural production due to its climate. However, he added, water scarcity throughout the region is one of the main constraints for agricultural development.
The Netherlands has gained worldwide experience in water efficient methods, for example through techniques, cultivation, precision agriculture, monitoring systems, new varieties and crops, and concepts like agro parks. In almost all countries of the MENA region, partnerships are established or discussed with the Dutch innovative agro-food industry. “The new website presents a virtual market place in order to facilitate your contact with the right Dutch company for your needs,” he said.
Hans van der Beek, agricultural counselor at the Netherlands Embassy, said the cooperation between the Kingdom and the Netherlands in the field of agriculture is a long lasting and good cooperation.
“In the cooperation between our two kingdoms, we are building on a vast experience in agriculture. For example, in the seventies a large cooperation program on potato cultivation stepped up this sector in Saudi Arabia, resulting in an excellent production and consumer produce, which you will find in the various shops.”
At present, we are engaged in setting up a dedicated center for agricultural information, and developing an institute for sustainable agriculture where water-use efficiency will be a main driver. The institute will be called Estidamah. Besides horticulture, poultry and fisheries and aquaculture are main topics in our cooperation priorities. With the Ministry of Agriculture we are at present participating in designing a program to restructure the fish farming sector. In the poultry sector, the Dutch private sector is heavily involved.