A push to expand trade between the Netherlands and Northern Ireland will get under way this week when the Dutch foreign trade minister and leading Dutch industrialists arrive in the region, writes Isabel Conwayin Amsterdam.
Strong economic development in the North is already attracting increasing investment interest from the Netherlands.
Dutch foreign trade minister Frank Heemskerk will arrive in the North tomorrow.
During the two-day visit he will address the Northern Ireland Netherlands Trade and Export Society's New Year's dinner at Hillsborough Castle.
A group of 25 Dutch industrialists with business interests in Northern Ireland, including medical, environmental and agricultural technology, food, food processing and interactive media, will meet First Minister Ian Paisley and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and businesses active in the Netherlands.
"The strong economic developments in Northern Ireland offer good opportunities for Dutch businesses; their economy has developed into one of the fastest-growing in the UK and offers very interesting opportunities in ICT, new forms of technology, energy and food processing," said the minister, on the eve of the visit.
Its marks the first visit by a Dutch politician to Northern Ireland since the new regional government took office.
The Netherlands and Northern Ireland share "a thirst for knowledge, a passion for innovation, and both are entrepreneurial and internationally orientated economies", Mr Heemskerk told The Irish Times.
He also plans to visit Dublin later in the week "to exchange ideas and knowledge on globalisation . . . and sustainable trading and corporate social responsibility".
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