Toespraak van minister Schultz van Haegen op de Dutch Trade Reception

Toespraak | 18-06-2015

Ladies and gentlemen,

I, too, would like to welcome you to this trade reception.

This is my first visit to Bangladesh, and my main aim is to get to know the country and its people. So that we can move forward together in the area of water management.

As my colleague Ms Ploumen just said: our countries have a close, long-standing relationship. There are Bangladeshi-Dutch partnerships in all kinds of fields, some more surprising than others. A Bangladeshi-Dutch IT company, for instance, is creating standardised digital maps of the entire Netherlands. It’s a huge task. And most of the work is being done right here in Bangladesh! So, your country is putting ours on the map! Now that’s what I call a good partner…

My first impression of Bangladesh is of a fascinating country. On the surface it has a lot in common with my country: a low-lying, densely populated delta... Many big rivers and estuaries... Large-scale urbanisation… And a good strategic location as a gateway to South and Southeast Asia.

At the same time, the scale and complexity of the challenges facing Bangladesh are of a completely different order. In the Netherlands, for example, our worst-case flood scenarios are based on a maximum discharge of 18,000 cubic metres per second for the Rhine. But the Brahmaputra – which is only one of the rivers flowing through your country – has a peak flow of 100,000 cubic metres per second! And it occurs every year, causing enormous accretion and erosion.

In view of all these challenges, I’m impressed by the resilience of the Bangladeshi people. And the country's economic growth rate of 6 per cent a year is an enormous achievement.

There are few other places in the world where the force of nature is so evident. It's here that we see the impact of climate change on people in low-lying deltas. My key message is: we must step up global efforts to make delta regions more resilient. The focus should be on prevention and long-term planning.

The Netherlands has 800 years of experience in water management. It is my personal mission to share Dutch knowledge and expertise in order to make other countries more resilient. It's a mission that the Dutch companies and institutions in my delegation support. They have knowledge and experience that they are keen to share.

The government of Bangladesh is determined to tackle the country's enormous water challenges. This afternoon we discussed the bilateral project, Delta Plan 2100. It’s a good example of the outstanding cooperation between our countries. I hope that parts of the Plan will be included in your new five-year plan.

I'm pleased that Bangladesh welcomes Dutch knowledge. I hope that we will be able to deepen and broaden our partnership to include sanitation, port development and land reclamation, for example. I look forward to many innovative future projects.

Thank you.