Dutch-Belgian team promoting ag in Saudi Arabia
Talking about the visit, Dr. Hans van der Beek, Dutch agricultural counselor to the GCC countries, said that the two countries have close collaboration in the agricultural sector.
He said that as far as his country was concerned, the joint visit will increase the volume in the agricultural sector in particular and in bilateral trade in general between the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia.
He noted that last year, the Netherlands exports to Saudi Arabia crossed 600 million euros (SR2.5 billion).
“As far as fresh vegetables are concerned, Dutch exports to the Kingdom touched 20 million euros (SR80 million). The amount is not that much, but the Netherlands is one of Europe’s biggest exporters of fresh fruits and vegetables,” he said.
Asked about the significance of the visit, aside from the possibility of increased bilateral trade in agricultural products between the two countries, he said that “we will add to the variety of products that we have been exporting to Saudi Arabia.”
He said that the delegation will introduce apples and pears, whose quality because of the taste is “different from what I have seen in the local market.”
He added that a fairly large Dutch trade delegation in various agro-food sectors will also participate in the agricultural exhibition in the Saudi capital from Oct. 11-15.
The delegation members will include Dr. Willem-Jan de Kogel and Dr. Piet Boonenkamp from Wageningen University and Dr. Laurens Bierens and Dr. Bill Haraka from the TEC-IB.
Another delegation will also arrive next week to discuss cooperation with KSA on water use efficiency in dates. The members will include Mink Vermeer from DLV and Alfred Rol from Dacom.
Source: yahoo.com