Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte visits Nuffic Neso Russia to launch alumni network
23 Oct 2011
Over 150 guests arrive to see Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte launch the Netherlands Alumni Network in Russia, Thursday evening 20th October in Moscow.
Russian alumni from across the country gathered to celebrate the launch of the Netherlands Alumni Network in Russia (NANR). Many of them came from Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kazan, while some had travelled from as far away as Omsk, Novosibirsk and even London to attend the event. They were joined by members of the Dutch business community in Moscow interested in supporting the network and helping it to grow.
The NANR is a network for Russian alumni who studied in the Netherlands
(as part of exchange, BA, MA, Phd and short course programmes) or took part in
trainings and internships via the Presidents Programme NRMTP.
After opening words from Charles Hoedt, the director of Neso Russia, Andrey Barashenko the chairman of the network and Olga Zabotina alumni officer of Neso Russia gave the guests an introduction to the network and outlined its plans to ‘maintain and strengthen the network of Russian students who studied in the Netherlands and create new networks and friendships between its members’.
The guests were then treated to a lively and insightful presentation by Human Resources specialist Thomas Louman of Unilever about ‘How to get the best out of your career’. Louman also shared some helpful insights which the now Prime Minister Mark Rutte offered him when he also worked at Unilever, before answering questions from Russian alumni.
With the Prime Minister’s convoy now on its way to Moscow after a
meeting with Vladimir Putin, alumni battled it out in a humorous quiz titled
‘How much do you know about the Netherlands?’ before Mark Rutte and his team
finally arrived to officially open the network.
As well as the Dutch Prime Minister, Dutch and Russian media and many alumni, the Dutch ambassador Ron Keller and Dutch minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen (Infrastructure and the Environment) will also take part alongside members of the business community.
The Prime Minister was visibly impressed by the film about studying in the Netherlands which had been specially made for him by Russian alumni. He remarked that all the alumni present could now consider themselves as “real ambassadors for the Kingdom of the Netherlands”.
In his speech Rutte told the audience how he had spent the day
discussing with President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin the current plans
to modernise the Russian economy and make it more innovative. Keeping young
Russian talent in Russia is vital to these plans he explained adding that as
the Netherlands and Russia continue to strengthen their links, exchange
knowledge and promote entrepreneurship “Russia will become a better and better
place.”
Rutte then took part in a question and answer session where Russian alumni asked him a wide range of questions on topics such as state investment in culture, energy efficiency, development of small and medium sized business and the plans for the bilateral Russia-Netherlands year in 2013.
When asked about the Netherlands immigration policy towards knowledge
workers, Rutte said that he considered the Netherlands to have one of the most
efficient and straightforward policies in Europe. Highlighting the Netherlands
need for foreign talent, he cited the example of leading Dutch company
Phillips. Phillips requires 300 PhD students a year for its natural sciences
department. Dutch students make up only about 80 of them. The remainder come
from outside the country hence he said
“foreign knowledge workers are very important for us, especially in keeping our
Dutch companies based in the Netherlands.”
At the reception after the opening, guests discussed Mark Rutte’s comments and the talk by Thomas Louman over drinks and food. Many alumni expressed how impressed they were by the Prime Minister’s ‘very laidback and open’ attitude and praised Mr Louman for a very interesting and informative talk. Others who had travelled to Moscow especially for the event expressed how exciting it was to meet so many other people who had studied in Holland and to share experiences.
When asked if he felt the evening had been a success, NANR chairman
Andrei said “We are really pleased that so many people came and had a good time
and we saw many new faces here tonight”.
The network, which is now preparing for two upcoming events, is also
actively seeking new corporate partners and is still recruiting more members.
As Andrei pointed out; “now it’s time for the real hard work to start!”