BENGALURU:Indian and Dutch companies signed Memorandums of Understanding worth 170 million euros here on Friday. Apart from this, the Indo-Dutch startup initiative ‘#StartUpLink’ was also inaugurated. The decisions were made during the two-day visit of the largest ever trade delegation of the Netherlands to India on May 24-25.
Sigrid Kaag, the Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, said representatives of 130 Dutch companies were part of the trade mission which included large companies and start-ups. “There have been a number of MoUs between varsities, e-health firms, waste management technologies and others,” she said. The delegation was part of the attempts made by the Dutch government to consolidate their presence in emerging markets in a post-Brexit era.
To a question on #StartUpLink project between the two countries, she said that basic formalities of the project are being worked out in the first six months.
Student exchange
Student exchange is a game-changer and helps in coming up with new ideas and innovations, Sigrid said.
Bengaluru Mayor Sampath Raj said the city was mainly looking at technologies related to water management. “The Dutch are experts in increasing water efficiency. Some of the sectors in which MoUs have been signed include agriculture, water resources and management,” he said.
On the waste-to-energy plant run by Shell near Nandi Hills, he said that Shell was among the companies that was working on such a project. “If the Shell plant is good, we will take a call on whether to adopt such technologies,” he added.