The Netherlands is expected to designate a focal person who will work with the Philippine government to promote trade and boost Dutch investment in the country.

“What we are happy about is the commitment of the Netherlands to designate a focal point to carry out the memorandum of understanding on economic and technical cooperation,” said Philippine Ambassador to the Netherlands J. Eduardo Malaya on the sidelines of a meeting between Dutch Minister for Foreign Affairs Hanke Bruins Slot and Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo on Monday.

“We have been encouraging this for some time because we have noted that there are the joint bilateral consultations but mostly doing cooperation on the political security and other fields and it needed to be complemented by economic cooperation,” he added.

Malaya believes the Netherlands has seen the “enormous potential” in the Philippines.

During their meeting in Manila, Bruins Slot and Manalo agreed to explore ways to enhance cooperation in of water management, agriculture, and circular economy, among others.

Malaya said the Dutch delegation also cited the involvement of the dredging giant Royal Boskalis Westminster NV in the construction of the New Manila International Airport in the country.

“Boskalis is one of the biggest dredging land reclamation companies in the world, and they have the biggest contract in their entire history in the Philippines,” he told reporters.

“So (the Dutch) they’re seeing those, realizing those and now I think they’re giving more focus on the Philippines,” he added.

Apart from water management and agriculture, Malaya said the Netherlands is interested in further enhancing cooperation on cybersecurity and maritime affairs.

“They have a special strength in the law of the sea so they are reaching out to the Philippines to do exchanges in this field,” he said.

“We are looking in fact (on) some projects with them on maritime affairs and the law of the sea,” he added. (PNA)