“The Dutch economy has come out of recession. We did not have an economic growth rate like India's, but we are definitely growing,” said Marten van den Berg, Deputy Director General for Foreign Economic Relations, Ministry of Economic Affairs, The Netherlands on Thursday.
Delivering the keynote address at a seminar on ‘Doing business with the Netherlands,' organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, he said: “We are forecasting a growth rate of 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent next year... India is one of our focus countries and we wish to continue to expand our relationship. International trade and investments are the driving force for economic recovery and future growth.”
Leading a 35-member business delegation to India, Mr. Berg said that the bilateral trade between the countries had tripled between 2001 and 2008. In the welcome speech, The Netherlands Ambassador to India, Bob Hiensch, said that business visas were given to reliable and respectable companies in two days and his task was to make Indian tourists stay longer in Holland.
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J.N. Amrolia, CII-SR, chairman, sub-committee on International Business Promotion and Networking, said, “India and the Dutch have considerable business with each other and this could be increased. The Dutch firms can help us in the fields of biotech, environmental issues, food processing, hospitality management, ICT and infrastructure.”