Dutch trade delegation inks 53 MoUs in India totalling 170 Mn Euros
The largest ever Dutch trade delegation to India culminated its expedition in Bangalore on Friday anouncing the signing of MoUs estimated to be worth 170 million euros. Of the fifty-three MoUs signed fifteen were signed in Bangalore.
The delegation visited the cities of Mumbai, New Delhi and Bangalore to promote cooperation between India and the Netherlands in the areas of water, renewable energy, science, technology, agriculture and healthcare. In addition to contracts, various cooperation agreements have also been signed between Dutch and Indian knowledge institutes.
“With this visit we wanted to further intensify the good relationship between our countries and as far as I am concerned we can conclude that this has been achieved. With Prime Minister Modi I have agreed that we will further strengthen the close cooperation between the Netherlands and India. With a fast-growing Indian economy and the Netherlands as the gateway to Europe, there are many opportunities for both sides,” said Prime Minister Rutte.
India-EU Trade Agreement
India and Netherlands expressed support to the efforts of both sides to re-engage actively towards timely relaunching of negotiations for a comprehensive and mutually beneficial EU-India Broad Based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) and agreed to explore opportunities for further cooperation that will be generated by the next EU-India Summit.
“Prime Minister Modi raised an important issue and we committed we would also engage around it again, in Brussels. This is the trade agreement between the EU and India. It’s very important. The same applies to an investment agreement. Of course the challenges around international trading.. the rules of the World Trade Organisation and the approaches by some to keep up the system that has been built. We believe that the WTO should be reformed, can be improved. But we do this through negotiations. India is a country that works very actively multilaterally within the international system. So we also spoke about that,” said Sigrid Kaag, Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation.
Both countries reaffirmed the crucial role of the rules-based multilateral trading system, and the importance of enhancing free, fair, and open trade for achieving sustainable growth and development. They reaffirmed their commitment to work together with all members of the WTO, which would reaffirm the centrality of the rules-based multilateral trading system and its importance for open and inclusive global trade.
Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu indicated that negotiations on long-stalled free trade pact between India and the European Union could resume soon.
Cyber Security cooperation
The Government of Karnataka has launched a Centre of Excellence, in which The Hague Security Delta will be an international partner.
The Hague Security Delta (HSD) is Europe’s largest cyber security group, comprising dozens of tech giants and law firms.
On Tuesday, a group of 20 institutions in Hyderabad (called the Hyderabad Security Cluster) signed a cyber security support agreement with the Hague Security Delta.
India and the Netherlands agreed to hold the bilateral cyber dialogue in 2018 with the intention to discuss issues including internet governance, and data protection, cyber security policy and Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) cooperation and international capacity building. The Leaders welcomed the deepening of cooperation on cyber-security through the signing of a MoU between The Hague Security Delta and Hyderabad Security Cluster, India’s first Cyber Security Cluster.
Security cooperation
The Netherlands congratulated India’s accession to the MTCR, Wassenaar arrangement and the Australia Group. In order to further strengthen global non-proliferation, the Netherlands reaffirmed its strong support to building consensus among regimes’ members on the issue of India’s membership to the Nuclear Suppliers Group; recognizing that India’s accession will add value to the aims and objectives of these regimes.
The Leaders noted the progress made by the two sides in finalising the text on the Agreement on Mutual Protection of Classified Information in the field of Defence.
Both sides agreed to deepen and enhance the scope of the ongoing bilateral dialogues on security issues and to hold the next round of counter terrorism dialogue in The Hague in the second-half of 2018.
New Trade and Development Policy
The Leaders also called for responsible and calibrated monetary, fiscal and social security policies to improve the global economic and financial governance architecture, reduce excessive global imbalances, and promote inclusive growth.
“We have established a new trade and development policy just last week. It is anchored on the Sustainable Development Goals because it’s a universal agenda. India has signed off on it against its goals and targets that are relevant to your development setting and economic conditions,” said Minister Kaag.
“Technology has always, in the life cycle of mankind, or humankind rather, been transformative. It changes. But technology is never value neutral. It is who has access to it, whether it transforms, whether it opens up markets, whether it opens up education, or whether it creates a future divide. And all of us whether we are from the developing world or the developed world are faced with these challenges,” she added.
Education
PM Modi and PM Rutte welcomed the growing number of Indian students and professionals in the Netherlands. They welcomed the PhD fellowship programs supported by India’s Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) at the University of Maastricht, Technical University of Delft, Erasmus University Medical Center, VrijeUniversiteit, and Rijksuniversiteit Groningen in the Netherlands.
They also welcomed the signing of a MoU between the Foreign Service Institutes of the two countries. The MoU will provide for exchange of information of structure and content of training programmes for diplomats; identification of experts in mutually decided areas; and promote contacts and exchange of diplomats, faculty members and experts.
“Just in the last year, not totally correlated to Brexit, Indian student uptake to the Netherlands has increased by thirty percent. I’m delighted to hear that, not only because I am an internationalist by background, but also by belief. Sharing of knowledge and people exchanges are the ultimate game-changer to when it comes to understanding the cultures and dialogue. But also your talent has a lot to offer our generation, the millennials, nothing is more powerful than people learning together and doing it together and making a change,” said Minister Kaag.
The Netherlands hosts the second largest Indian Diaspora in Europe. The number of daily direct flights between the two countries has risen from 1 in 2015 to 5 today, due to the partnership between KLM and Jet Airways.
#StartUpLink
“With several Dutch startups looking towards India and vice versa, startups are one of the many vital areas of cooperation between our two countries”, said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
The Indo-Dutch #StartUpLink is developed for Indian and Dutch startups that are exploring each other’s markets and offers access to key information, relevant networks, pilot opportunities, and navigators for the respective startup ecosystems.
A group of 10–12 Dutch startups are expected to visit India later this year and take part in a series of B2B and B2G meetings, exposure trips along with networking and pilot opportunities. Startup India and its Dutch implementing partner Dutch Basecamp are gearing up to organize startup missions from India to Netherlands.
“With this Indo-Dutch Startup Link we’re not only assisting Dutch startups to ‘Make in India’, but we’re enabling Indian startups to find their way in the Netherlands as well. This new pilot creates a dynamic marketplace for everything startups require to grow. The strength of the Dutch ecosystem is based upon ‘joining and sharing’ and this portal will boost just that,” said Sigrid Kaag, Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation.
“A number of these startups and entrepreneurs are very engaged around the theme of social impact. So it’s technology for good; this is also global theme. India, like the Netherlands, has signed up to the Sustainable Development Goals and SDG 17 is the role of the private sector and that’s where profit lies where growth of the economy is where jobs will be created, where the private sector can play a leadership role,” added Minister Kaag.
Clean Air India Ring, a critical component of the Indo-Dutch #StartUpLink, will be launched on 24th May in Delhi. The initiative is a multi-corporate challenge that will test and scale innovations through collaboration between startups, corporates and governments by providing pilot opportunities for promising innovations that solve the problem of pollution. Indian and Dutch startups will be matched through this program to relevant corporates.
As a partner for the Indo Dutch #StartUpLink, Shell has come on board with the aim of accelerating India’s transition to a sustainable energy future. Shell has established the Shell E4 Start Hub to enable and empower energy entrepreneurs in progressing their impactful solutions. It will offer startups access to infrastructure (labs + co-working space), industry knowledge, subject matter expertise, funding, global connections and brand recognition, combined with its accelerator program. Shell will also meet the needs of companies entering India by helping them with market assessment, business model development, regulatory and legal support, product/service development and testing, brand strategy and visual identity development.
Indo-Dutch #StartUpLink digital hub: https://www.startupindiahub.org.in/content/sih/en/startup-scheme/international/indo-dutch.html
India is the 5th largest source of FDI into the Netherlands and the Netherlands is the 4th largest source of FDI for India. Both sides also agreed to consider putting in place a reciprocal Fast Track Mechanism to resolve issues confronted by businesses and to promote greater two-way bilateral investment.
“The Netherlands is the gateway for Indian companies, students, scientists and tourists to Europe. The connections via air and sea are optimal. The cooperation between Indian and Dutch companies and organisations is not only good for the Dutch economy, but also helps India in sustainable development (SDGs) and tackling large, current problems such as air pollution in densely populated cities,” said Sigrid Kaag, the Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation.
“It is satisfying to see that the knowledge and practical ideas of our companies can help solve large social challenges that India faces,” said Carola Schouten, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.
“I see the determination of the Indian government to tackle the pollution of the Ganges. The Netherlands is already helping with this, such as with a project whereby tanneries no longer dump their waste water into the river. The Dutch companies that have traveled here have shown here last week that when they come on board, they have the solutions to tackle the pollution,” said Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, whose time in Delhi was dominated by the cleaning of the Ganges River. In addition to clean water, the Minister’s visit to Delhi focussed on the improvement of air quality, for example, by introducing cleaner vehicles, and on the use of satellite data from, inter alia, the Dutch space instrument Tropomi.
Dutch companies have been active in the port of Mumbai for ages. On board the Boskalis dredger, the Minister got a chance to see how Dutch companies are operating in that sector in Mumbai. In 2017, the Boskalis dredging company was commissioned to widen and deepen the port access canal. In 1997, the Van Oord dredging company opened their India office in Mumbai; and the company takes care of regular dredging operations in the port itself.
The Indian online logistic company Cogoport announced that it will be establishing the first digital freight corridor of the world to enable Indian traders to connect to the European market using Netherlands as gateway. Port of Amsterdam also announced that it is competing for the operations of the Mumbai cruise terminal jointly with JM Baxi.
“Premier Modi wants to reform health care and help 500 million people with health insurance. That is a huge operation that can only succeed through good cooperation between public and private parties. We have a lot of experience with this in the Netherlands. We discussed with the Indian Prime Minister that Dutch research institutions and companies can advise and support India. The same applies to the fight against antibiotic resistance. In 2040 this will cause up to 10 million deaths per year worldwide. India and the Netherlands will work more closely together to turn that tide,” said Bruno Bruins, Minister for Medical Care.
Circular Economy
To highlight the importance of the circular economy Sigrid Kaag, minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation wore a special dress that was made of textile waste on Thursday in India. In doing so, she asks the country during the largest Dutch trade mission to pay attention to the necessity and possibilities to produce sustainably in the textile sector.
“I am convinced that sustainable and circular business can be a serious business in the textile sector. And it offers attractive opportunities for innovative cooperation between Dutch and Indian companies. I also hope that it makes us more aware and that these kinds of initiatives encourage us all to take a critical look at how and under what circumstances our clothing is made,” said Minister Kaag.
“The circular dress has meaning. It shows that the circular economy is essential; that it is a way to achieve sustainability and true inclusive development. But it also demonstrates the tremendous economic opportunities that exist, if you analyse the situation from a circular perspective, if you look at certain solutions, and then bring the brain power, the brain thrust of the private sector in particular. If you bring that experience and ‘know-how’ and ‘can-do’ (attitude), which is of course, where we as a government are pretty slow, then you have a solution that is in the interest of all.” she said.
The red ‘circular’ dress was designed by Ronald van der Kemp. A group of mainly Dutch entrepreneurs, together with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Netherlands, set up the production chain that makes this possible. Pals Brust, former CEO of C&A and MVO Nederland are behind this initiative to make fully recycled clothing available for the general public.
Climate Change
Both governments noted that addressing climate change and promoting secure, affordable and sustainable supplies of energy are key shared priorities, and agreed to undertake mutual cooperation for reducing the cost of development and deployment of clean energy projects through technology innovation, knowledge sharing, capacity building, trade and investment, and project establishment.
India welcomed the signing of the Framework Agreement of the International Solar Alliance by the Netherlands.
Dutch PM cuts short India visit
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was discernibly absent from the events organised around the visit of the Dutch delegation to Bangalore. He had to abruptly cut short his India visit and rush back to his country to resolve a cabinet crisis that arose following the release of the MH17 findings. Prosecutors investigating the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 announced on Thursday that they had identified the missile used to shoot down the plane on July 17,2014 came from a Russian military unit. Two-thirds of the plane’s 298 passengers were Dutch.
