Dutch PM leads trade mission to Russia

17 Oct 2011

The visit of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to Russia aims to create and strengthen cooperation between the Netherlands and Russia, especially in the fields of economics and business.

During his 3 day visit, from Wednesday 19 until Friday 21 October, Rutte will visit the Russian president Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. More than 85 Dutch business people, amongst them 15 CEO’s from Dutch multinationals like ING, Phillips and Shell will travel to Russia with him.

The Dutch business visitors will meet potential Russian business partners during seminars, matchmaking sessions and round table conferences in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and the Environment, Melanie Schultz van Haegen also joins the trade mission. The focus fields of the visit are the energy, agriculture, logistics and transport, health care, airport and aviation and financial sectors.

Thursday the evening of October 20, directly after visiting Prime Minister Putin, the Dutch Prime Minister will go to the Nuffic Neso offices to open the Alumni Network NANR. Mark Rutte will launch the network and will answer questions from alumni during a Q&A session.

NANR currently has 500 members who studied in Holland or took part in traineeships there, the majority of which now work as directors or managers at Russian or international companies.

After the opening reception of the NANR the delegation flies to St. Petersburg. As well as visiting businesses, Rutte will give a lecture for Russian students at the St. Petersburg State University with the title ‘The rule of law and reliable institutions; laying the foundation for economic growth and prosperity’.

The Dutch PM will also talk with different activists from human rights organisations in Russia.

Highlights of the Programme

Wed 19 October

  • Arrival at airport Vnukovo, welcome and inspection of the Russian honour guards
  • Meeting with human right experts in Russia
  • Holland-Russia Trade Dinner

Thursday 20 October

  • Russian-Dutch business seminars
  • Signing of MoU’s and contracts between Russian and Dutch government organisations and companies
  • Wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Kremlin’s Alexandrovsky Gardens
  • Meeting between president Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Mark Rutte
  • Signing of Joint Statement Bilateral Year 2013 (official Holland Year in Russia, Russia Year in the Netherlands)
  • Dutch Prime Minister gives radio interview in the studio of Echo Moskvy radio station
  • Meeting between Prime Ministers Vladimir Putin and Mark Rutte in the White House
  • Opening of the alumni network NANR at Nuffic Neso Russia together with Russian alumni who studied in Holland

Friday 20th October

  • Visit to State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg
  • Meeting with St. Petersburg Governor Poltavchenko
  • Wreath-laying ceremony at Pistaryevskoye cemetery to honour the victims of the Leningrad Blockade during World War II
  • Meeting with Governor Serdyukov of Leningrad Oblast
  • Visit  to St. Petersburg dam project - 25km complex of dams for flood control
  • Lecture for Russian students at the St. Petersburg State University
  • Round table conference on port infrastructure St. Petersburg
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