CHENNAI: In a bid to strengthen ties with Tamil Nadu, the embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands appointed Gopal Srinivasan, founder, chairman and managing director of TVS Capital Funds as honorary consul of Netherlands for the southern state. Addressing reporters, The Netherlands Ambassador Marten van den Barg said that Srinivasan was appointed honorary consul as he has strong network and connections in government, business and academia which plays an instrumental role in bringing both regions together, facilitating trade, investment and tourism and encourage cultural and community activities.
The Netherlands has 15 of its companies operating in Tamil Nadu and is keen on investing or tying up in renewable energy, healthcare, water management, urban planning, agriculture and education, said Marten. Marten said that The Netherlands is renowned for its experience in all areas related to water and water management. The Netherlands can help clean up rivers like Cooum, Adyar and Buckingham Canal and assist making them navigable.
“It can also provide tremendous expertise in water and flood management,” he said. Gopal Srinivasan said that he hopes to help strengthen Dutch ties in the areas of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), education and water resilience which are core area of Dutch leadership.