Dr Patrick Gomes, ACP Secretary General and OIF Secretary General, Michaëlle Jean – Picture by Cyril Bailleul, OIF. Paris, IOF – The Secretary General of La Francophonie, H.E. Michaëlle Jean, accompanied by the IOF Administrator General, H.E. Adama Ouane and her Cabinet Director, H.E. Jean-Louis Atangana, and other advisers in the fields of economy, programme development and strategy received in audience, 20 December 2017, the Secretary General of the ACP Group of States (Africa, Caribbean and South Pacific countries), H.E. Dr Patrick Gomes as well as the President of the ACP Committee of Ambassadors, H.E. Amadou Diop, Permanent Representative of Senegal to the EU and Head of Mission to the Benelux countries with seat in Brussels. The get-together was organised by the OIF Permanent Representative to the EU, H.E. Ambassador Stéphane López.  The top level meeting aimed at signing a cooperation agreement between the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) and the ACP Group of states in promoting peace, the right to education, culture, the fight against climate change, promotion of the French language and linguistic diversity as well as the development of economic and entrepreneurial schemes in ACP countries members of OIF. Thirty four states are members simultaneously of OIF and the ACP Group of States Secretariat based in Brussels, Belgium. 

Both organisations are joining forces through the renewed agreement before future EU-African Union Summit, wherein Dr Patrick Gomes as well as Secretary General Michaëlle Jean normally partake. A dossier of urgent relevance for both organisations is the resurgence of slavery in Libya, afflicting mostly people of Sub-Saharan African descent.  For further information:  https://www.francophonie.org/accord-cooperation-OIF-ACP-48335.html  

  Jeroen Dijsselbloem and Mário Centeno – Picture by EU. 12 January 2018, Embassy of Portugal in France, Paris: Portugal’s Finance Minister, Mário Centeno, assumed the leadership of the Eurogroup from the hands of the Dutch Jeroen Dijsselbloem at his homeland’s chancery in Paris. Because the Eurogroup is an informal organisation in the EU framework, no official ceremony was held from the EU side.  Centeno was elected Eurogroup President on 4 December 2017 after defeating the Luxembourgian Pierre Gramegna on the second round of votes.  Centeno is but the third president of the forum of EU Finance Ministers belonging to the Euro, after the Luxembourgian Jean-Claude Juncker, and the Dutch Jeroen Dijsselbloem. His term lasts two and a half year till 2020. However to end his mandate, he must be reappointed Finance Minister of Portugal after the legislative elections in his country taking place in 2019, for only office holders of that ministry can lead the Eurogroup.  Dijsselbloem was the informal leader for five years.  For further information: https://www.ft.com/content/3eef2998-d90c-11e7-a039-c64b1c09b482    

On the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Slovak Republic’s Independence, the Ambassador of the Slovak Republic in the Netherlands H.E. Roman Buzek and Livia Buzekova hosted a reception at the Crown Plaza Hotel on 16 January 2018. In his welcome remarks, Ambassador Buzek stressed the excellent cooperation between the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic. Buzek continued, the process of dividing the government assets and liabilities between the Czech Republic and the  Slovak Republic went smoothly.

Many had doubted whether the separation of the two countries was going to be successful. Today, the two nation coexist in a spirit of good neighbourship. Buzek jokingly observed: when it comes to ice hockey we become competitors, laughter. Furthermore, Ambassador Roman Buzek lauded the bilateral relationship between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Slovak Republic. A  reception followed.

By Roy Lie A Tjam. The Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to the Netherlands H.E. I Gusti A. Wesaka Puja, had been invited by the Asia Table (Societeit De Witte) last November, under the acumen direction of Mr Nando van Ketwitch to delivered a discourse. The well attended evening included a Q&A session and concluded with an Indonesian dinner buffet Ambassador I Gusti A. Wesaka Puja, welcome remarks follow hereby. Mr. Nando van Ketwitch, chair of Asian Table at the Societeit De Witte; Ambassador Gontha, Indonesian Ambassador to Poland, who has generously spared his busy schedule to join us tonight; Mr Jan Willen Scheigrond, Vice President Global Government and Public Affairs, Phillips; Dr. Tik Tan, from Indonesian Diaspora Health Affairs; Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. It is with distinct honour and privilege for me to be here in this hall, anchored with its rich history and being in the company of exclusive members of Sociëteit de Witte. It is comforting to see familiar faces of old friends. Someone once said: “a friend is one of the nicest things you can have and one of the best things you can be”. We count our blessings with old friends and making rooms for the new ones. Allow me to seize this kind opportunity to extend my sincere thanks to the Asian Table of the Societeit De Witte, especially Pak Nando, through Pak Kie Tan, for the invitation as well as for the participation of the Indonesian Embassy in this event. Let me begin by citing a story: a priest and an imam are seating on the same train. It’s lunchtime and the priest orders ham, sausages, pork ribs and 2 bottles of wine. The imam next to him unwraps a little turkey sandwich. “Ha!, says the priest between two gulps of wine, you guys don’t know what you’re missing!” Later on, the train arrives at its destination. The priest is welcomed by four old monks. As they head for the car, the imam catches up with them – accompanied by his four wives. “Ha!, says the imam, standing in the middle of his four wives, you guys don’t know what YOU are missing!” I cite this story because it reminds me of my light conversation with our Minister. Before I got my assignment in the Netherlands, she was kind to suggest that I should discover the Netherlands. She was twice posted here and she also suggested that I may find some interesting things in life that I should not miss. Although, I have been posted in European countries, the first few thoughts that ran through my mind about the Netherlands are windmills, cheese and Delft blue. And so, I took the assignment and went around the Netherlands. Perception, The Netherlands is more than what I thought. It is actually different when one would experience it and be connected with the local people. You have a great culture and museums like Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh, Anne Frank Huis and Rembrandt. You have infrastructural and technological advancement such as the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven and an entire province made from land reclaimed from the sea, that is Flevoland. The Netherlands accounts as the world’s biggest exporter in agriculture and horticulture products. You have excellent port services, namely; Port of Rotterdam and Schiphol Airport. By the way, one of my favourites is cycling spree, the Netherlands is known to have the safest cycling paths in the world. I enjoyed it very much that every morning as I go to the office, I cycle from my residence down to The Hague. In short, based on my personal experience and staying here in this lovely country, Indonesia has a lot more to learn from the Netherlands. As much as I cherish and know the Netherlands by first – hand experience, allow me to ask you kindly — how much do you know about Indonesia? Socially speaking, there are at least 1,600 Indonesian restaurants, stores and shops scattered across the Netherlands. One can hear some familiar food adaptations such as nasi (fried rice), spekkoek (delicacy), sambal (Indonesian spicy sauce) sate and sate saus (barbeque peanut sauce). Even the Dutch Royal Navy serves every Wednesday an Indonesian rice table popularly known as de blauwe hap. Netherlands is the only country in Europe that knows more about Indonesia. You have a wide collection of Indonesian artefacts and old literary collections in museums and universities. However, such knowledge should not be limited to what we have. Citing Albert Einstein, the only source of knowledge is experience. The only way to experience is to visit Indonesia, discover it and be connected or be re-connected. Superimposing the map, Indonesia stretches from the West to the East Coast of the United States. From Sabang to Merauke, it is a great escapade to explore and discover Indonesia other than Bali, which is the most favoured destination of the Netherlands. There is so much more to explore Indonesia as it offers a wide range of discovery not only as a tourist destination but also for trade and investment opportunities which you can tap on. For example, Indonesia’s main export commodities to Europe are palm oil, natural rubber, furniture, tin, footwear, wood products, iron and steel. Economic Statistics. It is not surprising that Indonesia is emerging to be a global powerhouse in Asia and being considered as one of the most favourable trade and investment destinations considering its young and democratic base producing global standard goods and services, and a promising consumer market of around 250 million reform-minded population. Even the World Bank Country Director in Indonesia, Rodrigo A Chaves indicates a positive and encouraging development about Indonesia citing a steady economic growth in the past 10 years averaging between 5 to 6% growth rate, having positive investment grade by all major rating firms, being projected to become the 5th largest economy in the world by the year 2030 according to Price Water House Coopers, improving regulatory environment as reflected in Ease of Doing Business of which Indonesia jumped from 91st to 72nd rank as of 2017, rising competitive index from 41 to 31 of this year and growing investor confidence  of which Indonesia is being ranked 3rd after China among Asian economies. Challenges and Opportunities Despite the confident outlook, Indonesia still faces a number of challenges ahead. We all agree that the increasing world population, the demand for energy and food will continue to rise. As a country with population of around 250 million, Indonesia has to deal with a continuous effort to improve our energy and food security. Indonesia’s economic growth still lacks inclusiveness wherein Indonesia’s population under the poverty line is still around 10,64%. Despite of the fact that the present administration has allocated 8.2 billions US dollars for the health sector, which is second to the highest budget allocation, Indonesia is still facing a number of challenges in the quality of health services and education. There is still plenty of room for improvement in these sectors. The far stretched of islands of Indonesia also dictate a degree of challenges such as infrastructure development and climate in view of the rising temperature and the rising of sea level. These are one of the reasons that the Indonesian government is gearing up projects such as toll roads, bridges, ports to energy infrastructure as well as tidal defense against floods, storm surge and hyper weather storms. On Bilateral In answering those challenges and identifying opportunities, I am pleased to note the intensified bilateral relations between Indonesia and the Netherlands. We have witnessed the Joint Declaration of a Comprehensive Partnership in 2013; we have seen the visit of President Joko Widodo to the Netherlands in April 2016 as well as the visit of Prime Minister Mark Rutte and a large business delegation from the Netherlands to Indonesia not only once but twice! (20-22 November 2013 and 21-24 November 2016) We are pleased to acknowledge that the Netherlands rank as the top among other European countries for Foreign Direct Investment of almost USD 1 billion from the period of January to September 2017. In the period of January-September this year, the number of Dutch tourists is up by 7% compared to the same period of last year with the number of visitors of more than 160 thousand. We have enjoyed a close two people’s relations having 1.4 million Indonesian diaspora in the Netherlands. For all of those reasons, it is important to make use of our closeness and affinity amongst our two countries. It is not only because of history that links us, it is our two peoples that binds us. Other speakers at the event I am pleased to note that we have speakers before us to share their insights and perspectives. Our old friend and Indonesian diaspora, Bp. Tik Tan, has been with us for several years and has been helping Indonesia in the health sector. We are pleased to have Mr Jan Willen Scheigrond, Vice President Global Government and Public Affairs, Phillips. Philips has been an instrumental organization for uplifting so many lives by offering modern day technologies. I remain grateful for the presence of Ambassador Gontha, Indonesian Ambassador to Poland. He was in the Netherlands during his youthful years and started his humble beginnings in the Netherlands as a taxi driver. It is a cliché to say that taxi drivers are crazy drivers, but Ambassador Gontha will drive you crazy to win your hearts to visit and invest in Indonesia. Ladies and gentlemen,we have so many things to discuss but time carries some limits. In any case, my doors will and shall always remain open to you all. If you have time, please visit Indonesia. It is a wonderful world out there. It is a wonderful Indonesia. Who knows? Why wait? You may yet to find what you are missing. Connect or be re-connected. Discover and explore. It may not only be in business but also an experience you will remember .

Drs. Barbara Couwenbergh-Rapke during her speech at the German Club New Year reception. By Anton Lutter. More than 100 members and guests attended the New Years reception of the German club in The Netherlands at the Pathé Theatre in The Hague the 14th of January. The club prides itself on being one of the oldest German societies in Europe founded about 1850. After the war, it was refounded in 1955.The guests were welcomed by the long-serving president Drs. Barbara Couwenbergh-Rapke, who is at the helm of the club since 1997. In her new year’s speech, she mentioned the activities of the club being, of course, the Oktoberfest, Christmas event and the visit of many members to Wittenberg and other places connected to Martin Luther, 2017 commemorating 500 years of the Reformation. Mrs Couwenbergh,  before wishing everybody a wonderful 2018 with a glass of champagne, thanked the members of the board for their support in making the Deutscher Klub a successful organization where the Dutch and Germans enjoy their longstanding friendship.

By Anton Lutter. Between 18-20 January the Cuban Embassy organised “Cuban Flavors” at Crowne Plaza Hotel in The Hague. This event showcased traditional Cuban cooking at its best. The ambassador from Cuba to The Netherlands H.E. Soraya Alvarez, who hosted the event, welcomed an array of guests at the opening Thursday evening. In her welcoming speech, she introduced the Cuban chef Mr Reinier Suarez who works and lives in Rome. Amongst the many guests where many ambassadors and other diplomats from South America, the USA, Europe and the Middle East. Among the guests were also representatives from the business world and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  

The guests were treated to an absolutely wonderful taste of Cuban cuisine which everyone enjoyed. As starters, there was Tostones (fried plantain), Tamal en Cazuela pot tamal and Frituras de Malanga. The main dish consisted of breaded Victoria bass, confit pork and Ropa Vieja (beef stew) with as side dishes Yuca (cassava) and Congri Arroz (rice with black beans). Lastly, the dessert served was caramel French toast, Arroz con Leche (rice pudding) and Flan de Cuba, a custard dessert. The smell and taste from Cuba were emphasized by live musicians from Galan Biz Musica Cubana, who performed traditional Cuban songs. ——- Photography by A. Lutter.  

The U.S. Embassy to the Kingdom of the Netherlands is pleased to announce that it will open for business at a new location in Wassenaar, Monday, January 29, 2018. The address of the new venue is John Adams Park 1, 2244 BZ Wassenaar. The telephone number will remain the same: 070 310 2209. All landline numbers for Embassy contacts will also stay unchanged. Please note that Consular operations will not be affected by this move, as all consular operations including visas and American Citizen Services remain in Amsterdam at the U.S. Consulate General, which is located at Museumplein 19, 1071 DJ Amsterdam. The new U.S. Embassy provides a secure, modern, and environmentally sustainable platform for diplomacy in the Netherlands. It is a fitting home for the U.S., Dutch, and foreign staff working to maintain and improve the longest peaceful, unbroken relationship the United States has with any country in the world. The buildings, while American in character, were designed to reflect Dutch architectural elements. The Chancery façade includes white granite from the Rock of Ages quarry in Vermont, the same location that provided granite for the construction of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. The Chancery interior features the use of wood veneer and blue glass, meant to remind visitors of Delft blue. The Embassy was located in the city centre on the Lange Voorhout for nearly sixty years. This building, designed by the famous architect Marcel Breuer, will be returned to the City of The Hague in March 2018. This video provides an overview of the historic structure: