One of the most active ambassadors in the Netherlands is leaving The Hague after one very active year of service to her country.
H. E. Mrs Iffat Imran Gardezi, a career diplomat, is known by her activism on causes related to Pakistan / India/ Bangladesh bilateral and multilateral relations. Ambassador Gardezi’s “I have focused my activities in the organisation of high profile events on Human Rights violations in the modern occupied Jammu and Kashmir and interfaith harmony meetings, including speakers from diverse philosophies.” She organised well attended gatherings, which was appreciated by expats and the public in general.
“The Netherlands has been for me a great posting; I loved the comfortable friendship feeling of the country and its people. My mission here was able to improved bilateral economy and trade relations. I’m proud to note that over 40,000 Pakistanis living in the Netherlands have been openly accepted and are able to contribute positively to the economy of this country. Since my arrival, I had the mission to support and reinforce the presence of my community and make them more visible in the Dutch landscape”, expressed Ambassador Gardezi.
In her memorable twelve months of duty in The Hague, Ambassador Gardezi hosted a Diplomat Meet & Greet, Pakistani mango and promotional Rice Dinner event in collaboration with Diplomat Magazine. Nine Pakistan projects took place in 2017. She diffused several sport and cultural events, such as a hockey tournament, a Cricket Cup, a golf match, and the successful Pakistan Cultural Festival 2017 in collaboration with the City of The Hague. More than 7000+ people attended this festival.
“I’m thankful to the Pakistani community who provided me full support in different ways, notably attending massively to every event we organised. I’m also thankful to my officers and staff at the embassy who provided unconditional support and facilitated my work.”
“I’m grateful to all the parliament members I met; I had the privilege to meet the Dutch Foreign Minister, the Secretary General Yoka Brahn and the inter division of South Asia and colleagues in the economy ministry and in the Prime Minister office. The year I was here I spent it in the most useful, constructive and productive way; a big achievement is that the trade rose by 16% during the year I was here specially at the time commerce with other Europe countries were on the decline”, says ambassador Gardezi.
“In the commercial sector I organised trade delegations agenda in both ways, and the Dutch conformed the biggest European trade delegation to the famous Expo Pakistan in November 2017, by far even bigger that the traditional UK delegation.”
“I’m especially proud to strengthen the credibility of the positive contribution of Paksitan to the aims and objectives of the OPCW and the convention. My personal contribution is winning the membership of the executive council to the OPCW again for the tern 2018 to 2020. I personally believe that the tremendous amount of work been undertaken by OPCW has the higher value for promoting peace and security in the word. I take this opportunity to sincerely congratulates our colleague Fernando Arias in his new position as Director General at the OPCW”. After a productive, exciting and meaningful year Ambassador Gardezi is in her way to USA, new challenges in her horizon.
