THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Netherlands Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander will make a two-day visit to Kerala from October 17. The visit to Kochi would be part of further strengthening the Dutch cooperation in the Rebuild Kerala Initiative and development of ports.
Recently, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had visited the Netherlands to learn more about water management practices followed by the European nation, in connection with the Rebuild Kerala Initiative.
In a Facebook post after his meeting with Dutch Ambassador Marten van den Berg in New Delhi, Pinarayi said the Dutch Royal family would be accompanied by a 20-member delegation of Dutch company officials, professionals and technical experts. In addition, there will be a 40-member delegation of economic experts too.
The Ernakulam District Collector and the Resident Commissioner in Delhi will coordinate further steps in this regard. A decision has been taken to develop 20 museums and Dutch heritage monuments in Kochi as a joint initiative of the State Archives Department and Netherlands National Archives.
Pinarayi said the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands will assist in developing the Azheekal port. Also, there will be steps to strengthen the Ocean Study Centres at Neendakara and Kodungallur. The MoU in this regard will be signed during the Dutch delegation’s visit.
The chief minister said, during his recent visit to the Netherlands, discussions were held about development of ports with Dutch support. The new initiative is part of these discussions. The follow-up measures in this regard are currently on at the Ministry of External Affairs.
During his meeting with the chief minister, the Dutch Ambassador said Kerala could make use of the Netherlands’ expertise in floriculture and vegetable farming. Dutch companies are interested in investing in Kerala in this sector, he pointed out.