By: Salwa Samir Cairo, May 8, 2018 – The Embassy of the Netherlands in Egypt on Monday night celebrated the King's Day; the Dutch National Day, in honour of King Willem Alexander's birthday. Attending the ceremony were members of the diplomatic community and senior Egyptian officials and prominent figures. "This year's celebration is different. It is also a celebration of 400 years of friendship and co-operation between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the great country of Egypt," said Mr Laurens Westhoff, Ambassador of the Netherlands to Egypt. "We shared our knowhow and became involved in the development, maintenance and expansion of the Suez Canal. All Dutch school children learn about the Pharaohs and the Pyramids," he added. The Dutch diplomat highlighted the gradual development of the relationship between the Netherlands and Egypt from a small Dutch presence of consuls, archeologists and contractors to "the second largest investor from the EU in Egypt, (No.7 globally), with more than 100,000 Dutch tourists visiting Egypt in 2017 and 20,000 visas being issued to Egyptians travelling to Holland." Speaking about the economic ties between the two countries, the ambassador said that the Dutch companies in Egypt and their Egyptian partners provided up to 9,000 jobs, for men and women. "Dutch-Egyptian teamwork is especially visible in sustainable agriculture, horticulture, water, and energy," he said. He highlighted his country's awareness of the courageous Egyptian efforts to reform the economy. This has generated the renewed interest of Dutch businesses. "A trade delegation of 20 Dutch water and agribusiness companies will visit Egypt next week to look for new partnerships and to strengthen existing ones."
