Indonesian president Joko Widodo was on a working visit to friendly Western European countries from April 20 to 24 , which included stopovers in Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands. During this trip he was accompanied by his foreign minister, Retno Marsudi, who previous to taking this ministerial post served as ambassador of Indonesian to The Netherlands. 

Main goal of the visits was to intensify trade relations with the three countries at stake as well as the EU. Economic targets for Indonesia have been the development of technical savoir-faire for harbours, ship building, combating illegal fisheries as well as land reclamation.  Due to the importance of Indonesia to these European countries, President Widodo was received by the heads of state of Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands as well as the President of the European Council during his working visits.  President Widodo was sworn in on 20 October 2014, thereby becoming the seventh, and current President of Indonesia. Indonesian presidents are both, head of state and of government. 

 For more information: The Presidency of Indonesia: http://www.presidenri.go.id Visit to The Netherlands:  http://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/actueel/nieuws/2016/04/13/president-widodo-van-indonesie-brengt-bezoek-aan-nederland      

President Filipe Nyusi and The King of the Belgians – Picture by the Belgian Monarchy. H.E. President Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique paid a working visit to Brussels in April  21-22, during which he met with the seventh King of the Belgians, Philippus at the Royal Palace as well as with Belgium’s Prime Minister Charles Michael for bilateral talks. Mozambique being one of the 14 partner countries for the Belgian Development Cooperation. His visit also allowed him to heed Mozambican relations vis-à-vis the EU. President Nyusi was duly received by President of the European Council Donald Tusk as well as its High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini. 

On cooperation within the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, President Nyusi met the secretariat’s Secretary-General HE Dr Patrick Gomes at the ACP House in Brussels on Friday, 22 April 2016. Mozambique is a member of the ACP Group since signing the Lomé Convention in 1984. President Nyusi is the fourth President of Mozambique, in office since January 2015. He previously served as Minister of Defence from 2008 to 2014. He was a presidential candidate for the ruling FRELIMO (Frente de Libertação de Moçambique) party. For further information:  President Filipe Nyusi: http://www.nyusi.org.mz ACP House: http://www.acp.int/content/president-mozambique-received-acp-house Mission of Mozambique to the EU and the OPCW, Embassy to the Benelux countries (HE Ambassador 

Ana Nemba Uaiene): http://www.embassyofmozambique.be/index.php?lang=en  

  Chinese Ambassador Ken Wu presented letter of credence to H.M. King Willem-Alexander On 11 May 2016, H.E. Mr. Ken Wu, newly accredited Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the Kingdom of the Netherlands presented letter of credence to H.M. King Willem-Alexander in The Hague. At 9:00, Ambassador Ken Wu and staffs of the Embassy went to the Noordeinde Palace by Royal horse carriages accompanied by Chamberlain to H.M. the King. Upon arrival, Dutch Military Band drummed welcome to Ambassador and played the National Anthem of the P.R. China, then Ambassador reviewed the Military Band and Guard of Honour. After the ceremony, Ambassador Ken Wu presented the letter of credence to H.M. King Willem-Alexander and they made a cordial and friendly conversation. Ambassador Ken Wu arrived in the Netherlands on 8 May and presented the copy of the credentials to Director of Protocol Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 9 May. For additional pictures, please open the following link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/albums/72157668471538895  

H.E. Ambassador Ken Wu presented credentials to the Director-General of the OPCW On May 12, 2016 H.E. Ambassador Ken Wu, newly accredited Permanent Representative of the People’s Republic of China to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, presented credentials to H.E. Mr. Ahmet Üzümcü, Director-General of the OPCW, accompanied by the Deputy Permanent Representative, Counselor Huaicheng Dai. The Director-General welcomed Ambassador Wu to take office, speaking highly of Chinese government’s efforts to fulfill the Chemical Weapons Convention and support for the OPCW. Ambassador Wu praised the positive role of the OPCW and the Director-General in the field of international security, as well as the cooperation between the Chinese government and the OPCW. He also exchanged views with Director-General on issues including chemical weapons abandoned by Japan on the territory of China.    

Pictured Ms  Abir Ali, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Embassy of Lebanon in The Hague together with the Lebanese Trade Mission and guests. On the occasion of the visit of a Lebanese Trade Mission, Ms Abir Ali, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Embassy of Lebanon in The Hague, in collaboration with NCH (Netherlands Council for Trade Promotion) hosted a networking event at her residence in Wassenaar. The event held on May 10 was an opportunity for Lebanese and Dutch businesspeople to get together and consider various ways to enhance business between Lebanon and the Netherlands. The commercial team of the Dutch Embassy in Lebanon was also present at the event showing its support to the initiative started by Ms Ali couple of years ago. In fact, the Lebanese delegation is coming every year guided by Ms Ali, growing in numbers of participants also in tangible results.  The Lebanese delegation featured companies from Agriculture, Food & Beverages, packaging, commercial law, engineering,  Pharmaceuticals, garments and other sectors. Ms Abir Ali cordially welcomed the guest to this important annual event. She stated she has just returned from Lebanon a day before the event; she was there in connection with the visit on Tuesday, May 3 by H.E. Prime Minister Mark Rutte and H.E. Ms Lilianne Ploumen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands.  Ms Ali described the discussions between Prime Minister Rutte and his Lebanese counterpart H.E. Mr Tammam Salam as excellent and setting the way towards future cooperation. She thanked the Netherlands for their continuous support to Lebanon during the trying times that Lebanon and the region have been passing through. In her speech, Ms Ali made a special mention of the Lebanese Diaspora Energy Conference organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants of Lebanon attended by over 1000 participants of Lebanese origins who returned home  from all over the world to develop a valuable cultural and social connection with their homeland. The meeting took place from 5-7 May 2016 at the Hilton Beirut Habtoor Grand in Beirut, Lebanon. There were delegates from the four corners of the globe; from the Gulf States, but also from Trinidad & Tobago in the Caribbean which has a sizeable Lebanese community. The conference aimed at promoting the positive image of Lebanon around the world. Lebanese businesspeople are to be found all over the world mostly dedicated to business and in general considered as a  progressive community. The Lebanese international conference is a demonstration of Lebanese resilience. Moreover, Ms Ali spoke with proud confidence and referred to the strength of the Lebanese people, their knowledge and professional approach, their flexibility and capability to adjust to all business environments. She added that Lebanese businessmen are present in many parts of the world especially the Gulf, Iraq, Africa and Eastern Europe. She invited the Dutch Business community to explore the opportunities in Lebanon and the business connections Lebanese have with neighbouring countries; Lebanon represents a gateway to wider markets. Hence, Abir Ali called for an increase in trade between the two nations and more cooperation. The speaker after Ms Ali was Mr Mohammad Sinno,  president of the Lebanese Dutch Business Association; he invited the Dutch to team up with the Lebanese especially in the post-crisis in Syria since Lebanese businesses will be directly involved in the reconstruction of Syria once the crisis comes to an end. In a nice way, he prevented the audience to relies on news media as the only source of information. Instead, he invited Dutch business people to visit Lebanon to discover the many opportunities. For his part, Mr Salim Rabbani, Chairman of the MENA Business Council, highlighted the importance of contact between people to people and between business to business as the best way for cooperation to grow and to create new business opportunities. The Lebanese residence was full and the perfect weather was kind enough to host the event on the lawns of the residence as well as indoor. Authentic Lebanese delicious food with choices to suit everyone was served continuously. It has been a great networking event.  

UNESCO-IHE Graduation Ceremony which took place at the end of April. 123 students from 38 countries were congratulated by the Rector a.i. Dr Fritz Holzwarth,  Dr. Flavia Schlegel Assistant Director-General for the Natural Sciences Sector of UNESCO  and by Mr. Brian Arbogast Director of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with which the Institute has been working for several years.