City Leaders Received New Consul General of the Netherlands

On 15^th November, 2017, Mr. Dao Anh Dung, Vice Chairman of the Municipal People's Committee, hosted and chaired a working session with Mr. Carel Richter, New Consul General of the Netherlands in Ho Chi Minh city.

At the aforesaid meeting, Mr. Carel Richter expressed his great honor to visit Can Tho city, his first trip to the Mekong Delta region after taking his post at the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ho Chi Minh city in August, 2017. "I am totally impressed and honored to be received at this nice building in the beautiful city, surrounded with dynamic and young people…", said him.

Additionally, he praised Can Tho city for its development in terms of economics, society and GDP growth. Especially, speaking of the latter, he shared that for the Netherlands, it would be amazing if its GDP growth rate could reach at 1.3%. However, with Can Tho city, statistical figures in the last few years showed that the city got the rate at around 13% on average, which was much higher than that of its counterpart. Such great achievement could not be gained without strategic and appropriate decisions and policies of the city leaders.

   The Netherlands is always proud of having a special and strong partnership with Vietnam in general and Can Tho city in particular because both sides are located in the delta regions which are facing the same problems related water resources, climate change, and sea level rise. Mr. Carel Richter mentioned that Can Tho city and the Netherlands greatly rely on agricultural production. Moreover, the Netherlands is the second largest exporter of farm produce, after the USA. Therefore, it is ready to provide to support to Can Tho city in this regard to help the city improve the agricultural product quality to serve for exporting markets.

For amounts of visits of Dutch delegations to Can Tho city, Mr. Carel Richter was happy to point out some recent visits by the Minister of Infrastructure and Environment (2016), business delegations form Philip Lightings, Oss city (2016) or Dutch Parliament members (2014) etc. These have shown the existing good relationship between Can Tho city with Dutch partners. He would like to show his sincere gratitude towards support provided by Can Tho city's Department of Foreign Affairs, VCCI and Union of Friendship Organizations to contribute to the success of the visits. He hoped and committed that during his 4-year term in Vietnam, such frequent visits would be conducted by himself and Dutch delegations to Can Tho city for mutual understanding, discussions and cooperation opportunities.

Mr. Carel Richter also showed his happiness when talking about the educational sector. He said that Can Tho city, compared to other places in Vietnam, had the highest number of students who have studied in the Netherlands. In fact, he felt absolutely amazed when he attended the event for the kick-off project on "Communication and Information Dissemination Strategy for the Mekong Delta Plan" at Can Tho University because he was received by its leaders who used to study in the Netherlands. "The alumni can be considered ambassadors to connect Can Tho city and the Netherlands to boost up the relationship of both sides", added Mr. Carel Richter.

Vice Chairman of the People's Committee, Mr. Dao Anh Dung received new Consul General of the Netherlands in Ho Chi Minh city on 15^th November, 2017

For his part, Mr. Dao Anh Dung said that it was Can Tho's privilege to be the first destination of the new Consul General of the Netherlands. He was very impressed by the information on Can Tho GDP growth rate, its actual facts etc., in regards to the geographical location, position, prominent role in the Mekong Delta region given by Mr. Carel Richter. This shows the new Consul General's concern and great affection for the city although he just started his post within a short time in the country.

Mr. Anh Dung continued his speech by expressing how thankful Can Tho city leaders were towards the support given by the Dutch government, organizations, researchers and experts to the Mekong Delta region, including Can Tho city itself in conducting researches, surveys and developing plans to cope with the climate change issue. Mr. Dao Anh Dung emphasized that water management and climate change issues are great important sector which have special concerns by Vietnamese PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc during his visit to the Netherlands and Can Tho city to take part in the Conference on Sustainable and Climate-Resilient Development of the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. As a result, he hopes that in the future the region can continuously receive such support from the Dutch relevant stakeholders.

  Mr. Anh Dung specifically indicated some future sectors which need to be further enhanced with Dutch partners. They included those in infrastructure construction, smart city, high-tech application in agriculture, climate change adaptation. The Netherlands, with its expertise, experience and reputation can assist relevant institutions of Can Tho city carry out cooperation programs/ projects in the above sectors where applicable.

Furthermore, Mr. Anh Dung believed that with his strong emphasis on the existing great relationship not only between the Netherlands and Vietnam but also between the Netherlands and Can Tho city, love for the city and vigorous commitment on fostering the cooperation between both sides, Mr. Carel Richter can act as a focal point to introduce Dutch companies, investors to Can Tho city for their investment opportunities in the city's investment projects. Can Tho city and its leaders always open door for discussions and information provision for interested investors and create every favorable conditions for them to implement their investment projects smoothly and successfully.