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Dutch bizmen have high hopes for new PH gov't

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Dheza Marie Aguilar, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/global-filipino/06/25/the-hague_062516.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">PH Ambassador Jaime Victor Ledda (2nd from left) with wife Veredigna (left) together with former Ms. Netherlands 2006 Sheryl Lynn Callister and Maurits Oudshorn, board member of the Sheryl Lynn Foundation.</div></figcaption></figure></div>THE HAGUE – This year marks 65 years of diplomatic ties and 165 years of consular relations between the Philippines and the Netherlands.At the annual Independence Day reception organized by the Philippine embassy in The Hague, Philippine envoy to The Hague, Ambassador Jaime Ledda boasted of the two country’s strong diplomatic and economic ties.In 2015, the Netherlands was the country’s biggest investor, pouring in a total of P27.7 billion worth of investment in the economy, according to the official figures of the Philippine Statistics Authority. The Netherlands has consistently been in the top 3 investors in the country for the last 10 years.“We’ve been reaching out to the different companies that had been doing business in the Philippines. We are also coordinating with the Dutch foreign ministry in the conduct of a trade mission to the Philippines, hopefully, by the end of this year. The Dutch are very much interested in doing business in the Philippines. Napakaganda po ng interaction between the people of the Philippines and the people of the Netherlands.”As the new PH government gets sworn in on June 30, the Dutch business community expressed high expectations from the Duterte government.<div>Maritime concern and traffic woes</div>This month, a delegation consisting of officials from the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, together with representatives from the Dutch maritime sector visited the Philippines for the 17th Philippine-Netherlands Joint Committee on Maritime Affairs.Honorary consul general to the Philippines Albert Bos, who was included in the said delegation, acknowledged the improvements done by the former administration in addressing the issues raised by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA).It can be recalled that in 2014, EMSA warned that Filipino seafarers could be banned from EU-flagged ships if the Philippines doesn’t improve the quality of maritime education in the country and implement the requirements of Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STWC).“The representation of the Filipino seafarers in the Dutch fleet is huge for us. It is more important that it remains as it is. I think there have been major improvements on the schools at the moment; he (President-elect Duterte) should keep up that good work so that the international community will still have good faith in the quality and the experience of Filipino seafarers as we had before so keep up what they are doing at the moment. We have good faith that everything will remain like that so that the position of the Filipino seafarer will remain at the same level,” said Bos.Urban planning and water management expert Rick Heikoop is confident that the appointment of real estate scion Mark Villar as secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways will deliver the needed private insight and changes in the department.“I think Villar is very capable. Of course he is from the private sector so he knows how things work in the Philippines. I think from his experience and the experience of the Villar family, they can really give very positive contribution to the Philippines.”Heikoop, who was involved in the development of the Urban Planning and Housing Act in Cebu and had been doing projects in the Philippines for more than a decade, thinks that the traffic problems, water management and lack of waste disposal system should be top priorities of the incoming government. Heikoop has also worked with Villar’s mother, Senator Cynthia Villar, in different development projects particularly the proposed floating houses for the low-lying parts of Metro Manila.“More mass transport system should be constructed or the current one should be expanded because it couldn’t handle rush hours. Since most of the population doesn’t have access to waste sanitation, there should be sanitation introduced in Manila. The new government should also look at the balance between urban development and watershed protection to reduce urban sprawl because urban sprawl is a very big issue in Manila.”<div>Room for improvement</div>However, despite Ledda’s pronouncement on the efforts by the embassy to attract more investors, some Dutch businessmen were not impressed.Martien Witsenburg, importer of coconut products from the Philippines, wishes that the Philippine Embassy in the Netherlands would reach out more to business owners like him.“We’ve been importing organic products from the Philippines for many years and it is better if you know more from the inside than only talking to business people there. I really have warm feelings for the Philippines but I really would like to have a better communication with the embassy here in the Netherlands, to share information, no matter what kind of government there is in the Philippines. Keep talking,” says Witsenburg.<div>On the West Philippine Sea</div>Amid the growing tension between China and other Southeast Asian countries, France’s Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, in his speech at the Asian Security Summit in Singapore, urged members of the European Union to have a stronger military presence in the South China Sea.In 2013, the Philippines filed a case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague over its jurisdiction of the West Philippine Sea. Despite China’s rejection of the arbitration, PCA has ruled that it has jurisdiction to decide on the maritime dispute between the two countries.Ledda said that Le Drian’s statement only shows EU’s growing concern about the tension in South China Sea.Speculations have surfaced that PCA will come up with its decision but no findings had been released so far. Ledda admits that the issues surrounding the case are very complicated and will need more time than expected.Without a military arm to enforce its rulings, even if the decision of the PCA favors the Philippines, it will still depend on China to recognise it.“Importante ipaliwanag sa daigdig, sa ating mga kapitbahay, sa mga concerned, tungkol sa sitwasyon sa South China Sea, na dapat mangibabaw po ang international law, on UNCLOS, na dapat mangibabaw po ang kapayapaan at maayos na pag-uusap at pagresolba ng mga disputes. So itong pagpunta po natin sa arbitration tribunal ay isang paraan upang makahanap ng solusyon sa isang problema na hindi madaling solusyunan.”President-elect Duterte had made conflicting statements in the past regarding his position in the South China Sea conflict, jesting at one point that he will ride a jet-ski and plant the Philippine flag on the disputed islands. At the end, he expressed willingness to engage in bilateral talks with the Chinese governments.

THE HAGUE – This year marks 65 years of diplomatic ties and 165 years of consular relations between the Philippines and the Netherlands.

Dutch bizmen have high hopes for new PH gov't

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Global Filipino

Dutch bizmen have high hopes for new PH gov't

Dheza Marie Aguilar,

ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau

Published June 25, 2016 10:25 AM PHT

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Updated June 25, 2016 11:47 PM PHT

Read More:

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the netherlands

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