Dutch Prime Minister Rutte visits London and Manchester

Dec. 28, 2011 - PRLog -- The Dutch Prime Minister, Mr Mark Rutte will visit London and Manchester at the head of a business and trade delegation on 14 and 15 November. The business delegation will focus heavily on creative industries and innovation, transport and logistics. During his visit, Mr Rutte will also meet British Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg for political consultations, including the growth agenda and the Euro zone.

Economic ties between the two countries are strong; annual Dutch export to the UK amounts to €30bn, while the Dutch invest €94bn in the UK every year. The UK itself invests €60bn in the Netherlands annually. As such, the Netherlands and the UK are each other’s second largest investors.

On 14 November, the Dutch PM will travel to both London and Manchester to visit several technology and media companies as part of a trade mission heavily focused on the creative industries. In London Mr Rutte will meet various new media and tech business leaders at a ‘High Tech Tea’ with Mr Eric van der Kleij, CEO of Tech City. Subsequently he will speak at an exclusive dinner with companies with operations in the Netherlands recognising their contribution to the Dutch economy.

On 15 November Mr Rutte will co-host a Strategic Business Dialogue breakfast at Number 10 Downing Street with Mr Clegg and CEOs of the largest British and Dutch (multinational) companies. He will then travel to Manchester with the trade delegation, where they will go to Media City, meet more tech entrepreneurs in a networking event, and travel by Dutch Abellio train to visit TNT, the Dutch postal group based in Wigan.

Mr Rutte also wants to use his visit to underline the Dutch recognition of the importance of the wider Northwest region as an engine for growth and innovation in the UK, and its importance to the Dutch economy. The Dutch government is the first and only government to establish a permanent business support office in the region and will host the 2012 Apeldoorn: British-Dutch Dialogue Conference in Manchester next March, which will focus on the untapped potential of higher education institutions as incubators for future innovation and economic growth.

Source: Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands press release, 14 November 2011

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