Toespraak van minister-president Rutte tijdens Business Dinner in Atlanta

Toespraak | 07-10-2015

Mayor Reed, Ladies and gentlemen,

It's a pleasure and an honour to be at this fantastic venue this evening.

I studied history at university. So a dinner at the Atlanta History Center really appealed to me. This impressive building radiates a love of history and respect for the past.

The Atlanta History Center has plenty of stories to tell. This city and region have a rich and varied history. You can see that from the many exhibitions in this building.
They cover everything from the American Civil War and the film classic Gone with the Wind, to the 1996 Olympic Games.

And I saw it for myself yesterday, when I visited the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site. The story of Dr King’s fight for freedom and justice is still an inspiration to us all. Freedom and justice are values we promote worldwide. They bind our countries together. They form the basis of our friendship and our political, military and economic partnerships.

The Dutch, Americans and Flemish have a no-nonsense approach to doing business. Our focus is on solutions, not problems. This shared mentality has created excellent trade ties, which are more than 4 centuries old. And we’re still going strong. What’s more, there are lots of new opportunities. That’s why we're working to make trade between Europe and the US easier, with the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

Trade and investment between my country and the US have created almost 24,000 jobs in Georgia and the Netherlands. For years the Netherlands has been among the top 5 foreign investors in the US. And the US, for its part, is the biggest foreign direct investor in the Netherlands.

But there's always room for improvement. And that’s why Minister President Bourgeois and I are here today. We have brought along a delegation of Dutch and Flemish IT and logistics companies. And they are all very interested in exploring business and technology matchmaking opportunities.

The reason for Flanders and the Netherlands joining forces on this trade mission is obvious. Not only do we share a language, culture and history: the Dutch-Flemish delta region is considered the ‘gateway to Europe’. This is thanks to the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and the region’s excellent roads and waterways. And we have a counterpart in Georgia. Atlanta’s international airport is a major hub for domestic air traffic, and more than 12,300 logistics companies have branches in the region. Georgia is one of America's fastest-growing states in terms of its economy and population. And Atlanta is its beating heart.

But there's more. One of the most famous products to emerge from this city is Coca Cola. For years, pharmacist John Pemberton sold a popular alcoholic drink. When prohibition came into force in Atlanta in 1885, he replaced the wine in his drink with sugar syrup. It's a story which really speaks to me. Because it shows the power of inventiveness and flexibility. Pemberton didn’t see an obstacle in prohibition. He saw an opportunity. And then created the most famous soft drink in the world.

This was more than a century ago. But Pemberton’s innovative spirit lives on.

Atlanta is gaining a reputation around the world as the Silicon Valley of financial technologies and information security. More than 70 per cent of all online payments in the US go through Georgia’s 'Transaction Alley'.

Innovative FinTech and cyber-security startups are also sprouting up across the Netherlands and Flanders. In fact, Amsterdam is quickly becoming one of the FinTech capitals of the world. Just look at companies like Backbase and Parkmobile: high-tech businesses leading the global digital applications sector.

Ladies and gentlemen,

With all this exciting potential, maybe we should ask ourselves why we didn't visit sooner. The innovative power of the Netherlands, Flanders and Georgia offers exciting opportunities in financial technologies, information security and logistics.

I'm looking forward to a fascinating evening. Please take the opportunity to get to know each other, hatch some plans and make a few deals that will benefit us all.
Thank you.