On the Picture HE Ambassador Moazzam Khan.
By Nicole Pierre.
It was a wonderful gathering in The Hague and my favorite expression of the evening was undoubtedly “Food Diplomacy”.
For a photo-album on Pakistan Diplomats Meet & Greet, please click here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/albums/72157657718041960
On Tuesday September 1st, 2015, H. E. Moazzam Khan Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to the Netherlands welcomed invited guests and members of the diplomatic corps to the Carlton Ambassador for the monthly Meet and Greet gathering.
This event was held in collaboration with the Carlton Ambassador Hotel, Jaguar, Diplomatic Card, Vimpelcom and Diplomat Magazine. The reception room at the Carlton was warmly decorated with Pakistani products and, upon entering the guests immediately knew that they were in for a unique experience.
The Netherlands and Pakistan share a very special bond as trading partners, with the Dutch being the 5th most important importer of Pakistani products in European Union and the 10th largest overall importer for Pakistan.
The Netherlands is also a top investor in Pakistan where many multinational companies such as Shell, Unilever and Phillips are housed. In fact, we were told that the two countries have a bilateral trade between them of approximately 1 billion dollars. Mr. Zahid Abbasi, in his capacity as Commercial Attaché in the Trade Wing of the Embassy has, along with HE Khan, conducted many trade promotional events.
Some of these events included the Mango exhibition, fashion week in Amsterdam, sport goods exhibition during the Hockey World Cup, participation at the Embassy Festival, and conducting Seminars on the textile sector and investment opportunities in Pakistan.
But what constitutes this great trade relationship between the two countries? Machinery, electrical equipment, and pharmaceutical products are among some of the products that Pakistan imports from The Netherlands, while their main export includes: textile, garments, leather and sport goods, footwear, mango and, very importantly, rice.
Ambassadors who attended the successful event included HE Khalid Al Khater, Ambassador of Qatar, HE José de Bouza Serrano, Ambassador of Portugal, HE Sadik Arslan, Ambassador of Turkey, HE Maria Teresa Infante Caffi, Ambassador of Chile, HE Gabriel Aguilera Peralta Ambassador of Guatemala and HE J. L. Mukul recently acredited Ambassador of India.
Thus, it only seems fitting that, for such an occasion as the Diplomat’s Meet and Greet, the embassy decided to host a rice dinner, serving 5 different assortments of this main export crop. The convivial atmosphere created through the sharing of a meal appeared to be a symbolic representation of the trade partnership which exists between Pakistan and The Netherlands.
In the Ambassador’s speech he said that he wanted to do something different and thought about promoting his country through “Food Diplomacy”. I believe that we were all able to appreciate the meal and to savor the flavor of the rice after His Excellency’s thorough explanation of the importance of the profounder of the clay for the taste and texture of the rice.
To paraphrase Mr Ambassador himself, “The proof of the pudding – or the rice as it may be – was definitely in the eating”. We applaud the Embassy of Pakistan for this initiative and we certainly enjoyed dinner!
