Buffet diner at Ambassador de Heer's residence in Tokyo
Alleen de uitgesproken tekst geldt.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Ambassador de Heer, I greatly appreciate it that you have given us the opportunity to receive our Japanese guests here at this lovely, historic location.
Today, I have been received with open arms everywhere.
It is an honour and a pleasure to be able to return this hospitality.
The people of our two countries are well suited to one another.
You can see this at many different levels.
For example, at the academic level.
Many students from your country travel to ours, and vice versa.
I too spent some time in Japan during my studies.
In both countries, academic studies involving our two countries can be traced far back in time.
In Japan, Rangaku, or Dutch Studies, has existed for a long time.
In the Netherlands, the University of Leiden appointed its first Professor of Japanese in 1855.
Learning about the Far East was considered so important in the Netherlands at that time that King William III paid the professor’s salary from his own pocket.
Our business communities also maintain intensive contact.
Over 300 Japanese companies have offices in the Netherlands.
Some 100 Dutch companies have offices in Japan, with a total of 200 companies active here.
And finally, there are warm ties between your Imperial Family and our Royal House. Your Crown Prince Naruhito and our Crown Prince Willem-Alexander are in close contact with one another in the field of water management.
And just recently, in August, Prince and Princess Akishino honoured our country with a visit.
They were present at the opening of the From Here to Tokyo [Van hier tot Tokio] exhibition.
This exhibition is part of the celebration of 400 years of trade relations between the Netherlands and Japan.
We are devoting extensive attention to this anniversary both in the Netherlands and in Japan.
The fact that the Dutch embassy is at this lovely, green location in Tokyo, is a direct consequence of the long-term ties that exist between our countries.
The Netherlands and Japan traded for a long time from Deshima.
When your country officially opened diplomatic relations we were thus one of the first countries to enjoy that honour. The first diplomats were housed on the green hills surrounding Shiba Park.
And that is how we are still able to stay at this lovely spot today.
And, four hundred years after Shogun Tokugawa leyasu handed over a trade permit to a Dutch delegation, our relationship is still going strong.
My delegation and I are only in Japan for two days.
We are making the best possible use of this time.
Today, for example, I spoke with the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
I became acquainted with the cooperative safety systems being developed by Nissan through which a car communicates with the road.
Together with a large delegation from Rotterdam led by Alderman Lucas Bolsius, we talked extensively about sustainable transport and mobility.
And in passing, there was the unveiling of the monument honouring the engineer Lindo.
A young Dutchman who, in the 19th century laid the basis for the Japan Standard, the basis for measuring water levels.
Tomorrow, my programme includes a visit to the Tokyo Traffic Control Centre.
This should be very interesting.
In the Netherlands in recent years we have had good results through the professionalization and centralisation of traffic control centres.
But the sheer scale of Tokyo, the pressure of traffic – I am very curious about how you manage it.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Tomorrow promises to be just as interesting a day as today was.
Japan has an abundance of in-house knowledge in innovative logistics, sustainable mobility, and Intelligent Transport Systems and traffic management.
Moreover, Japan and the Netherlands are linked by large logistics flows, by air as well as by sea.
We thus have a lot to discuss, to learn from one another, and to examine where cooperation is possible.
The warm welcome I have enjoyed everywhere makes this all even more of a pleasure.
I am pleased to see that we are adding a new chapter to the good relations between Japan and the Netherlands.
I would now like to hand the floor over to our honoured Japanese guest.