Netherlands Embassy First Secretary/Head Economic Affairs Robert Dresen on Saturday said Netherlands had the technology and expertise to cooperate with Pakistan in solar, wind, coal & bio mass energy to mitigate its energy woes.
During a visit to Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) accompanied by Peter A Felix, he said Netherlands was amongst the top 20 economies of the world with a GDP of $ 820 billion while Pakistan was emerging as a huge consumer market. Netherlands wants to cooperate with Pakistan in power generation, energy saving, shipping, ports development, water purification, dairy farming agriculture etc. to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes, he said.
Located at the gateway to the European Union, which is the world’s largest single market, Netherlands was a global hub for innovation and high-tech value added products, he said. “Pakistan can reap rich economic benefits by improving collaboration with Netherlands in areas of mutual interest,” Dresen stated.
He further said Netherlands had access to limited arable land, but due to advanced technology and best practices, it was the second largest exporter of agricultural products in the world. Pakistan could achieve phenomenal results in its agriculture productivity by having a close cooperation with Netherlands, he said.
He said Netherlands had special technology and expertise in de-silting of dams and Dutch companies could help in de-silting of Tarbela and Mangla dams which would help Pakistan improve energy supply. He said Pakistan could also benefit from Dutch Private Sector Investment Program which aimed to stimulate growth and create jobs in emerging markets.
Speaking at the occasion, Zafar Bakhtawari, president, ICCI, said energy shortage had badly affected trade and industry and stressed that Pakistan should seriously consider Netherlands’ cooperation, especially for de-silting of its dams to increase cheap hydro power.
He said bilateral trade between Pakistan and Netherlands was still below one billion dollars while both countries had good potential to work together in many areas including energy, IT & high-tech industries, agriculture, dairy farming, logistics, chemicals, water, environment etc.