On April 30th, the Netherlands is celebrating the birthday of HM Queen Beatrix. On this day the country is in a very festive mood. It is a truly national holiday and the Kingdom of the Netherlands is rejoicing.
Outdoor music and cultural festivities can be found in all Dutch cities. All Netherlands Embassies have invited their friends and contacts to join the Dutch.
Here in Riyadh last year we constructed our famous “Magere Brug”, a well-known landmark in our capital Amsterdam in the Embassy premises. This year we will have a colorful flower event. The past year has been very fruitful in further enhancing the bilateral ties between the two Kingdoms. The trade volume has almost doubled in the past two years!
During the past year the number of official missions have increased substantially. Just to name a few, in May last year a big seminar, “Gateway to Saudi,” was organized in the Netherlands. More than 70 Dutch companies showed a keen interest to increase their commercial activities in Saudi Arabia.
Early this year a substantial “Strategical Horticultural Mission” visited the Kingdom. More than a dozen high-tech agricultural firms offered their services to interested Saudi counterparts.
A high-level mission from the Ministry of Economic Affairs in the Netherlands came to Saudi Arabia to explore the possibility of attracting investments in the Netherlands, following the footsteps of Saudi Aramco and SABIC.
A team from SAGIA traveled to the Netherlands to meet with representatives of Europe’s largest harbor Rotterdam. Earlier a delegation of Rotterdam had visited the Royal Commission of Jubail and Yanbu. Early 2007 a group of Saudi journalists was invited to the Netherlands. They were shown around and reported on their findings. Very soon a group of leading Dutch journalists will be hosted here by the Kingdom. All in the framework of enhancing the mutual understanding and cooperation. In the field of education, substantial progress has been made. The current and future plans involve significant numbers of Saudi students to go to the Netherlands for higher education.
Last but not least the Embassy in Riyadh hosted our regional Dutch Ambassador’s conference. It was the first time this event took place in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
In the coming months I expect a “railway mission” and an extensive business delegation to attend the Jeddah Water and Power Forum in the second half of 2007.
Overlooking the list of achievements in the past year and the plans I can only conclude that the bilateral relations continue to prosper.
I wish everybody a happy Queen’s Birthday!
Nicolaas Beets
Ambassador
The Kingdom of the Netherlands
