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8 Major Dutch Companies, Others, Eager To Invest In Nigeria – Netherlands PM

Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, has confessed that many investors in his country are eager to come and invest in various industries and projects in Nigeria.
“It is therefore no accident that representatives of eight major Dutch companies – agro, oil and many other sectors in Dutch society have joined me on this trip (to Nigeria).
Mark Rutte, who spoke to news men today, November 26, shortly after a bilateral meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential Villa, Abuja, said that investors and industrialists in his country have seen the many opportunities offered by having closer ties with Nigeria.
He described Nigeria as Africa’s biggest economy, saying that it is an economy that has a lot of potential to grow even more.
“Therefore we have just signed communique to deepened our political and economic partnership. The future of Dutch, Nigerian relations is full of opportunities.
“President Buhari and I have met several times in The Hague, New York, Nigeria and many other places. We will work hard to make sure that together, we seize those opportunities and I am looking forward to the future together, in the Netherlands and Nigeria and I can also say I look forward to working together with President Buhari because we have really struck a relationship which I value highly.”
He said that one of the focuses of his visit is economic cooperation, adding that both Nigeria and the Netherlands stand greatly to benefit from this economic cooperation.
“There are strong economic ties between our countries. I am proud to say that the Netherlands is Nigeria’s third biggest trading partners as an exporter and importer of Nigerian products and there is still a lot of room to expand our trade. And this is one of the issues we discussed in our bilateral meeting as well as the CEO lunch that we just had.”
The Prime Minister expressed appreciation for Nigeria’s active role in promoting international law in the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
“Our countries, Nigeria and Netherlands share the believe that international law contributes to a fair and safer world.
“We are also working together on the issue of migration that is why the minister of migration is part of my delegation and my country is looking forward to continuing this excellent partnership.”

In a communique emanating from the bilateral meeting, President Muhammadu Buhari and Prime Minister Mark Rutte agreed that Nigeria and the Netherlands would continue to work together to improve bilateral trade volumes as well as private sector investments.

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The communiqué said that the two leaders reviewed the progress that has been made with implementing the Memorandum of Understanding on deepening the bilateral relations between the two nations concluded and signed by the respective Foreign Ministers in The Hague in July 2018.

‘‘We welcome the steps that have been made to increase bilateral economic cooperation and are happy to see higher levels of bilateral trade volumes as well as private sector investments, ’’ the communiqué signed by Nigeria’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Netherlands, Oji Ngofa and the Deputy Head of Mission, Netherlands Embassy in Abuja, Ewout-Jan de Wit said.

‘‘The contribution of Dutch private businesses, both global players and small, micro and medium enterprises, to the Nigerian economy is duly noted.

‘‘Investments by the Netherlands Investment Bank FMO and the Dutch Good Growth Fund are contributing to better access to finance and energy for the private sector.

‘‘Nigeria confirms its commitment to continuing reforms for a conducive business and investment environment while the Netherlands pledges to continue assisting Nigeria for an increase in agricultural productivity especially horticulture, seed, and sustainable palm oil production,’’ it added.

President Buhari and Prime Minister Rutte also reiterated their commitment to the fight against human trafficking, appreciating the close collaboration between both countries in supporting the victims.

Noting with concern the challenging security situation in the West-African sub-region and Nigeria, The Netherlands acknowledged the sustained efforts of Nigeria in the fight against insurgency and in countering violent extremism.

‘‘The Netherlands will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to those in need, in particular women and girls, in order to mitigate the impact of insecurity and displacement,’’ the communiqué said.

Prime Minister Rutte, who is on a two-day working visit to Nigeria is leading a trade delegation of 8 Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Dutch multinationals currently operating in Nigeria with huge investment portfolios in the agriculture, finance, oil and gas sectors.

After the bilateral consultations between delegations of both countries, President Buhari and Prime Minister Rutte witnessed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on dairy chain development between Royal FrieslandCampina WAMCO and the Government of Niger State.

The MoU was signed by Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger State and Mr Ben Langat, Managing Director, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Plc.

The agreement on dairy chain development is expected to save Nigeria about 1.2 billion dollars from milk importation annually.

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