Mumbai : The Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, Ms. Lilianne Ploumen, will lead a trade mission to India with over 40 Dutch

companies joining the trade delegation, from 3-5 September 2013. The focus of the mission will be on urbanization and food security, two themes where The Netherlands and India have joined hands.

The Minister will be visiting New Delhi and Mumbai where several seminars on agro-logistics and urbanization will be organized, matching Dutch expertise to Indian demand.

Minister Ploumen will have bilateral meetings with Mr. Anand Sharma, Minister of Commerce and Industry, with the Minister of Finance, Mr. P. Chidambaram, the Minister of Urban Development Mr. Kamal Nath and the minister of Corporate Affairs Mr. Sachin Pilot.

One of the topics that will feature high on the agenda of the meeting between the Dutch Trade Minister and Mr. Pilot is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The two countries have been cooperating on this through a MoU since 2011. The two ministers will discuss how the Indo-Dutch cooperation on CSR can be developed further. In Mumbai, Minister Ploumen will moderate a discussion with leading Indian businesses on how CSR strategies can help them in contributing as private sector to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

To mark the important role of women in the development of India, Minister Ploumen will visit the Janki Devi Memorial College. At this girls’ college the Minister will launch the Women Entrepreneurship Initiative. Under this initiative a Women Entrepreneurship Center will be set up, funded by The Netherlands, where the women students will receive training on how to set up a business.

Since the last decade, economic ties between the two countries have intensified rapidly. Trade between the two countries has more than tripled in the last decade to EUR 6,4 bln in 2012, making The Netherlands is India’s 4th largest European trading partner. The Netherlands is the 5th largest investor in India. Many large Dutch multinationals have set up R&D centers in India. Similarly, India is also the 5th largest investor in The Netherlands. Currently, more than 180 branches of Indian companies are active in The Netherlands, comprising large IT and Life Sciences companies. The Netherlands receives the largest share of Indian exports to Europe (EUR 7bln). Part of this is meant for transit to the European hinterland, which indicates that India has recognized the Dutch seaports and airports as the “Gateway to Europe”.

The Netherlands and India are two of the most densely populated countries in the world, entailing several distinct challenges, for example in the field of urban planning, water management and food security. Both the countries can learn from each other’s experiences. The Netherlands, as world’s second largest exporter of agri-food products, can offer customized solutions to challenges India faces in boosting agricultural productivity. To this end, The Dutch and Indian governments have signed an Indo Dutch Action Plan, aiming to cooperate in raising quantity and quality of food production in India within next years, using Dutch technologies.

Dutch companies can also share knowledge and experience in decreasing the waste of food ‘from farm to fork’, as an estimated 25-40% of the food production in India is being wasted. Dutch companies are world leaders in agro-logistics (transport and ‘cold storage’). By reducing waste and expiration both food security and food safety can be enhanced.

Another challenge faced by India is managing the trend of urbanization. By the year 2020 India will have 75 cities with more than 1mln inhabitants. Managing this trend entails huge challenges in the field of infrastructure, urban planning and transport. The Dutch integral approach to urban planning, with an eye for the environment and social cohesion, can be of great added value here.

Source : Lokesh Shastri