Curacao meets the international community in The Hague
By Roy Lie Atjam
Rijswijk(ZH) 1 April 2022. The Curacao Experience came and went, without any question, it has been a tremendous event. The Curacao Experience showcased the inner as well as the outer beauty of the island of Curacao. To many in the audience, this was their first encounter with Dushi Kòrsou/beautiful Curacao. Let me assure you there is much more to get.
Christel van de Reit, Manager of workspace & facility services at TUI and Mr Rick van der Pluijm, Head of TUI Dutch Caribbean & Suriname shared fascinating background information on TUI/Holland International, notably its close relationship with Curacao.
The evening was animated with live music by the vocalist Lou Prince and Divya Punjabi. In the audience was Miss Curacao-Nederland 2021 and her First runner. Several ambassadors and diplomats came to celebrate the inauguration of The Curacao Experience with Minister Carlson Manuel: Argentina, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Italy, Kosovo, Malta, Panama, Peru, Minister Plenipotentiary of St Martin, Mr. René Violenus and diplomats from Belarus and South Africa.
A slate of parliamentarians, politicians and members of the business community of Curacao flew in to lend their support to make Curacao Experience an unforgettable manifestation.
To mention some: Head of the delegation of the Curacao Parliament Amerigo Thode and the parliamentarians, Rennox Calmes, Gwendell Mercelina. Further, Euro parliament Samira Rafaela, Jorien Wuite Dutch MP(D66) Director Curacao Tourist Board Netherlands Muryad de Bruin, Curacao Airport Holding, Edson Engelhart.
Minister plenipotentiary Carlson Manuel subsequently cordially welcomes the dignitaries and others. The keynote address was by H.E. Gilmar Pisas, Prime Minister of Curacao who graced The Curacao Experience with his presence. Also present were cabinet members Charles Cooper Minister of Transportation, Minister of Economic Development Mr Ruisandro Cijntje.
Noteworthy is that Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas only a few days earlier attended the Expo Dubai 2020 where he presented Curacao to the world. Prime Minister met with Mohammed Al Habtoor, the vice-chairman, and CEO of the Al Habtoor Group LLC. Among the topics discussed were the many investment opportunities in Curaçao.
Here is an excerpt of Prime Minister Pisas discourse.
“As you look around you will notice beautiful pieces of art, each with a short description. We are here to admire artefacts from Curacao on exposition. These art objects have a special meaning to us. It is our aim that they will impress and entice you in planning a trip to experience our part of the world, especially if you have not yet visited our lovely island, Curacao.
Although we are here to open an exhibition, it will not be proper to let this moment pass without informing you about what our government stands for, what we are doing and what we aspire to achieve.
Our Government has been in office for almost ten months, via the office of the plenipotentiary minister in the Netherlands we work tirelessly to build bridges with the rest of the world.
We endeavour to inform as many ambassadors as possible about our island Curacao and what we stand for.
With Curaçao’s strategic location in the Southern Caribbean, we are focusing on further solidifying Curaçao’s role as a (logistical) hub within the region and strengthening regional cooperation. Curacao focuses on increasing existing business but also on that with prospective partners.
The Government of Curaçao has been working to mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic for the past ten months. While striving to mitigate the pandemic we were able to book some positive results based on our courageous Covid-19 free policy.
Our Tourism sector has bounced back gratefully to our satisfaction because of this policy. Other areas that are also blooming and will require large numbers of employees are the construction and catering industries.
The implementation of the needed fiscal reforms has created a positive impact on our public finances, reforms are still necessary.
I can assure you that we are committed and determined to continue working on the stability of our economy. We are not there yet! But, while doing so we need to be able to continue to collaborate with you because we consider you a potential international partner. Our future aim is to transform Curacao into a radiant pearl of the Caribbean.
We are eager to share more information with you, for now, please let us enjoy this pleasant time, and use the opportunity to network, mix, mingle and cherish the unique exhibition.
I now like to thank the Plenipotentiary Minister of Curaçao Mr Carlson Manuel, and his team for organizing this event and our guests for accepting our invitation to this special occasion” The Curacao Experience””.
The Curacao Experience was henceforth declared open.
The Plenipotentiary Minister of Curaçao Mr Carlson Manuel, envisage taking his island to the summit. Arranging regular activities is one avenue to attain that objective.
It has been a tremendous event, Bon Bini, welcome to Curacao!
