The Netherlands which is the third largest investor in the world is bullish on India. One of the very few surviving monarchies, the Netherlands queen Beatrix will pay a four-day state visit to India from October 24, accompanied by CEOs of the top Dutch companies.

Followed by her visit, the country is sending its largest economic mission to India in November, to boost the bilateral trade, which is currently around Euro 2.77 billion (roughly Rs 15,800 crore). That mission, which will also have representatives from 13 top research institutes and universities, will be headed by the minister of foreign trade Mr Frank Heemskerk.

Dutch seeks B’lore

Bangalore is the most important destination for both the visits. While the Queen will spend two days in Bangalore, the economic mission too will be in Bangalore in November, seeking Indian investments in the Netherlands.

The deputy head of the Press and Protocol division of the Dutch Royal house, Hansa Kamp told a small group of visiting Indian journalists in the Hague that the Queen’s first official visit to India had taken place in 1986 when she was on vacation in Rajasthan with the entire Dutch royal family.

She has had close contacts with the Gandhis. When the Congress president Sonia Gandhi had visited Netherlands earlier this year, she had stayed with the Queen in her palace as her guest.

According to the official programme, the Queen will be accompanied by her son, the Prince of Orange and his spouse, Princess Maxima, Mr Kamp said. The Princess, who is Argentine by birth  is very popular with the Dutch people.

The Queen, accompanied by the Dutch foreign minister Maxime Verhagen, will meet the high government representatives and the Leader of Opposition.

The focus of the visit is on three sectors — ecology, water and micro-finance, coupled with economic developments in India and the possibilities for Dutch business with India.

After the official programme, the Queen will participate in a round table meeting with the CEOs of eight Dutch giants in the presence of the Dutch economic affairs minister Mrs Van der Hoeven. India will be represented by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and top CEOS of India.

The eight Dutch giants are Akzo Nobel, Campina, DSM, ING, KLM, Philips, Rabobank and TNT. The ING and Philips have been in India for many years, so also the Uniliver and ABN Amro.

On the third day, the Queen will visit a training centre of the NGO ‘Myrada’ and the village of Srinivasanagar in Bangalore, to see how microfinance can assist Self Help Groups and Watershed Committees in improving conditions of the life of the local population in particular, through efficient water-management.

On the last day of the state visit, the Queen will visit a micro finance organisation called Ujivan in Bangalore, an organisation fighting poverty on a commercial basis.

In the evening, the Queen will meet the four Gurus who have contributed to the development of India in various fields — M S Swaminathan (green revolution), Vergesh Kurien (white revolution), Dr K Kasturirangan (blue revolution) and Narayan Murthy (grey revolution), Mr Kamp said.

The foreign trade minister Frank Heemskerk, talking to Indian jouranlists emphasised that the economic mission will be the largest ever sent by the Netherlands to any country so far. The mission will have 125 delegates from the business, industry and research institutes.

Economic Mission

The economic mission will arrive in Delhi and visit Bangalore, where the delegates will participate in an investment seminar.

Interestingly, the seminar is about attracting Indian investments in the Netherlands, which has come up as the gateway to Europe.

Mr Heemskerk said that the Netherlands government’s trade policy was quite liberal and there are no problems against takeovers or foreign investments. He sighted an example of the Tata’s take-over of the Anglo-Dutch steel giant Corus, and the liquor baron Vijay Mallya’s take-over of Dutch sports car maker Spyker.

In fact, the Netherlands prime minister was the first to congratulate Tatas after the Corus take over, a senior Dutch foreign trade official Ms Loes Klappe-Linsen pointed out.

The Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has its European HQ located in Amsterdam, while Bangalore-based IT giants Infosys and Wipro, as well as Satyam have strong presence in the Netherlands, Ms Loes said.

The economic mission will also visit Hyderabad and Chennai, and will conclude its visit in Mumbai, she added.