Toespraak minister-president Mark Rutte tijdens diner met president Solís van Costa Rica

Toespraak | 10-05-2017

Mr President, Your Excellencies, honoured guests,

I am delighted to welcome you, President Solís, and your delegation to the Netherlands for the first time. I hope it will be the first of many visits in the future. Costa Rica's efforts to build a peaceful, prosperous and dynamic society are reflected in its leadership. I want to thank you for your friendship and your commitment to the partnership that our countries have built in recent years.

To strengthen our bilateral cooperation, President Solís and I signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2015, promoting innovation and trade and investment between our 2 countries. And we're practising what we preach. For example, Dutch businesses are investing in the container terminal in Limón, and a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed on cruise terminals with the Port of Amsterdam. Our economic relations are based on a shared belief that we need to work together towards a sustainable economic future. With that in mind, we welcome the opening of Costa Rica's trade promotion office, PROCOMER, in Rotterdam: an excellent way of reaffirming your commitment to progress.

And progress requires hard work. Our Memorandum of Understanding shows that determination, focus and shared values will create a better future for our children and grandchildren. In areas of mutual interest, like logistics, renewable energy and sustainable agriculture, we seek to launch initiatives and investments that are about more than only euros and colones. They involve setting priorities and seizing opportunities.
Tonight, we want to explore the possibility of developing infrastructure that serves Limón; exchange views on hybrid transport models; and discuss innovation in agriculture. So we have lots to talk about over dinner.

It's in both our interests to keep our countries competitive by enforcing corporate social responsibility standards on both sides of the Atlantic.
Consumers are demanding more sustainable production of fruit like pineapple. And we need to respond to that demand.

In recent decades history has shown that markets and trade can create prosperity in both our countries. Global trade is not a win-lose situation. It's a win-win situation.We can learn a lot from the success stories of economic cooperation told by the companies here tonight: the Port of Rotterdam and Alliander, to name just two. Hearing their experiences and insights will help us identify opportunities for our partnership.

In closing, allow me to express my confidence that the solid foundation we've built for our partnership is only the beginning. Let us continue to build on it as our countries work together in the future.  

Thank you.