Tamil Nadu - Chennai   

India Festival in Amsterdam, an extravaganza of culture and trade

CHENNAI: An India Festival to be held in Amsterdam in November this year will be an extravaganza of culture and trade, Dutch Ambassador in India Bob Hiensch has said.

Artists, CEOs of Indian companies and trade delegations, comprising small and medium entrepreneurs, will be invited to Amsterdam to take part in the festival, he said on Saturday. The Netherlands hopes that Union Tourism Minister Ambika Soni and Commerce Minister Kamal Nath will be able to attend, as the festival will give a fillip to the Netherlands to emerge as a top destination for Indian investors. Currently, India is the fourth largest investor in the Netherlands, he said.

The ambassador also spoke about the efforts at doubling the volume of bilateral trade from $3 billion in the next three years. The annual growth of trade between the two countries now stands at 24 per cent, and the Netherlands is working towards increasing the volume 20-fold in the next 15 years.

The other areas of co-operation, he said, included participation and investment in infrastructure logistics (especially in maritime and aviation), science and biotechnology, energy, health, information communication technology, agriculture and automotive industries. “We are keen on the maritime sector—dredging and inland waterways. There is also a great interest in the Ennore port, in terms of development, management and security, from the Netherlands,” Mr.Hiensch said.

The Dutch are also keen on attracting top of the line bright research students to pursue Ph.D. programmes. The medium of instruction is English, and 95-96 per cent of the population speak English, the Ambassador assured students. A Netherlands education support office will soon be set up in India to facilitate exchange of students.

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