RIYADH: The Embassy of the Netherlands will celebrate King’s Day with the diplomatic community on Wednesday, and with Dutch nationals residing in the Kingdom the next day, in collaboration with the Dutch Association.
“During a visit to Jeddah, Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Majed showed me a picture taken before 1900 in which the Dutch flag was the only one that could be seen,” Dutch Ambassador Joost Reintjes told Arab News in an interview at the Dutch Embassy on Wednesday.
“We have always tried hard to come up with something new as we work hard to boost bilateral ties with the Kingdom. In May, Dutch companies will participate in the Saudi Health Exhibition,” Reintjes added.
Reintjes said that the Netherlands would like to increase business-to-business and business-to-government ties in Saudi Arabia.
“It is our ambition to partner up Dutch firms with Saudi companies,” he said.
He said another area in which bilateral ties could be bolstered is in sports, adding that Dutchman Bert van Marwijk is the coach of the Saudi national football team.
“Under his guidance, the Saudi football national team has come a long way and is now showing great promise of making it into the biggest tournaments in the world,” he said.
He noted that lately the embassy has been holding cultural events as another way of augmenting bilateral ties. He said that Mengjie Han, a young Dutch pianist, recently staged a performance at his residence.
“Some 120 guests, half of whom were Saudi nationals, attended the young Dutch pianist’s two-night performance on Tuesday and Wednesday night,” said Reintjes.
He said bilateral trade has reached €5 billion ($5.4 billion), with the amount split between them. He said that Dutch exports to the Kingdom include agricultural products, food, fruits and cows, among other commodities.
The Kingdom’s exports to the Netherlands include plastic, oil and petrochemicals. On tourism, he said that more and more Saudi tourists have been visiting his country.
“These tourists also include the parents and relatives of Saudi nationals who are studying at various universities in the Netherlands such as Maastrich University and Groningen University,” he said.