This was stated by Rick Slettenhaar, Head of Economic Affairs Embassy of Netherlands while addressing the executive Committee members of the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) here on Friday.
He said Netherlands was a small country but it was included among twenty biggest world economies. It is also ranked sixth biggest exporter and sixth largest investor in the world. He said very recently we are trying to establish new ties with Asia and particularly with Pakistan in the field of trade by promoting bilateral relations.
He said Netherlands had allocated Euro 26 million for Development Cooperation in Pakistan but still the main focus was on the promotion of trade.
He said SMEs was a key to development and we are helping this particular sector to improve its overall efficiency with efficiency, innovation and modernization.
He said Netherlands could help Pakistan in water management and in this connection a Dutch mission was expected to visit Pakistan in November this year. Some leading Dutch Companies will also accompany this delegation to explore the possibilities of cooperation and collaboration in this field.
Earlier, in his welcome address, Engineer Suhail Bin Rashid, President FCCI said Pakistan and Netherlands enjoyed good economic and diplomatic relations since independence. Netherlands is Pakistan's important trading partner. In fiscal year 2013 bilateral trade stood at US $ 876.83 million almost in favor of Pakistan we exported US $ 627.32 million worth of goods to your country while imports stood at US $ 249.31 million.
Later a memento of FCCI was also presented to the Dutch guest.