Exemplary relations

The Kingdom of the Netherlands is one of the most successful geo-political entities on earth. Popularly known as Holland, this industrious little country has pulled more than its weight throughout much of the modern era. Among the secrets to Holland’s success must be how the Dutch have retained the best of the old while keeping abreast and sometimes ahead of the latest global developments. This is the retention to this day of a much cherished monarchy figureheading the most liberal of democracies.
Ethiopia itself having been an empire until relatively recently, had established ties with the House of Orange very early. There are many bilateral, corporate and private ties that exist today that were molded in the reign of Haile Selassie I. After the near total collapse of Ethiopia's relations with the west during the heights of the cold war, The Netherlands today is one of Ethiopia's closest development cooperation and trade partners with much more promising growth in relations on the near horizon.
Capital’s Teguest Yilma and Tesfu Telahoun, intrigued by this mutually productive relationship sought and were granted an audience with His Excellency, Mr. Alphons Hennekens, Ambassador of Kingdom of The Netherlands, and discussed on various topics of interest to the sisterly nations.

Capital: At what stage of development are bilateral relations between Ethiopia and the Netherlands?
H.E. Mr. Alphons Hennekens: The relations between Ethiopia and The Netherlands are multifaceted. They can be categorized into: Government to Government, the GoE and Ethiopian NGOs with Netherlands NGOs, churches and other organisations, private Netherlands citizens who work in Ethiopia and last but definitely not least the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), coming from The Netherlands.
With regards to government to government relations, it is important for the Embassy of The Netherlands to maintain an open communication with the Government of Ethiopia. It is vital that the Netherlands Embassy or in my personal capacity as the ambassador, to have discussions with the Head of Government (the Prime Minister), other members of Cabinet and high officials, on issues of mutual interest. I can assure you, that since I arrived in September 2005, opportunities for me to contact government officials have not been difficult. It gave me the chance to have a continuous, frank and constructive communication.
A political dialogue between both parties has been established and an open exchange of views exists. Since this is based on the shared trust we have, we are able to discuss a range of special issues.
One of these special issues is the development cooperation programme. The Netherlands finances a substantial, government to government development program in Ethiopia amounting to about 45mln Euro annually. This program focuses on sectors such as Health, Education, Rural Development, Environment and Water, and then cross-cutting issues like good governance, democratization and respect for human rights. In the program, additional attention is given to gender issues. The aforementioned sectors are various aspects of development co-operation between Ethiopia and The Netherlands. If I may elaborate on activities concerning education for example, a special focus is given to primary education since girls are particularly disadvantaged with regards to attending school regularly. I must say at this point that the education sector as a whole in Ethiopia is making tremendous strides.

Capital: How exactly, do you empower girl students to pursue education?
H.E. Mr. A. Hennekens: We try to facilitate the entry of girls to school by holding discussions with the Federal and the regional governments and then at the community level on issues that might hamper girls from attending school. Providing girls with special purpose-built latrines might be an incentive for girls attending school, as sharing a common toilet with boy students might cause unease and might be a cause for harassment. Another issue is going to and from school undisturbed and with confidence. The Netherlands provides additional incentives such as clothing or food - generally, any support that will help the girls obtain an education and also make this easier for families to allow them to do so. We feel that much progress has been achieved in this regard.

Capital: Is this aspect of development co-operation exclusively a government to government initiative?
H.E. Mr. A. Hennekens: This aspect of development cooperation is fully in line - as other aspects of development cooperation - with government policy and government directives. This does not imply, however, that the government should be the exclusive executing agency. In the implementation of plans in the education sector, we collaborate with the government institutions and with NGOs such as Save the Children and international organizations like UNICEF. The needs and challenges in the educational sector in Ethiopia are enormous. The government alone cannot accommodate all the needs. That is why we feel that addressing the challenges in the education sector is a responsibility of all the actors in society, government, churches, civil society and private sector. In selecting an executing agency for its educational programmes in Ethiopia, the Netherlands is guided in its decision by available institutional capacity, infrastructure and manpower.
The Netherlands education system is based on private schools - that are 100 % subsidised by the government - that use a certain religion or ideology as a basis for education and on non denominational public schools. All schools, however, have to comply with the general education standard as formulated by the Ministry of Education.
In the field of tertiary (higher) education, the Netherlands supports a program in which Dutch and Ethiopian universities cooperate in strengthening the capacity of the newly established thirteen universities in the field of curriculum development, research and manpower. I personally strongly believe that every country should establish appropriate tertiary educational institutes for its own development. Investing in education is investing in the future manpower capacity of the country.
The health sector is another priority sector in the Ethio-Netherlands bilateral development cooperation. The programme is focused on mother and child healthcare, family planning and the fight against HIV/AIDS. Statistics show that Ethiopia's population grows by as much as 2,000,000 yearly. Taking into consideration that the government is committed to achieving the MDGs in service delivery by the year 2015, the investments that have to be made not only to improve the current standard but also to meet the growing demands are - to put it mildly - enormous. It will be impossible to raise personal income if the population keeps expanding at this rate, that is why I am convinced that family planning activities are vital, family planning is a must!
Other priority areas that I mentioned, are rural economic development (RED), and environment and water. The Netherlands involvement in the field of rural economic development and the environment is to ensure that an economic sustainable development will take place that will lead to an improvement in the quality of life of the population in a sustainable manner.
At this point, I wish to refer to the Foreign Direct Investment from the Netherlands. In a number of cases, the FDI has the same effect as financial support through the official development aid channel. Investment leads to employment creation, income generation, improvement in the accessibility to goods and services, in transfer of knowledge. FDI in other words is one of the instruments that can lead to the improvement in the quality of life of the Ethiopian citizen, a goal that the government and its partners have set.
Another element in Netherlands FDI in Ethiopia I wish to mention is the emphasis on social responsible entrepreneurship which implies that due attention and care is given to the social aspects of the investment. Investing in good working conditions, education and healthcare are important components of this policy.
As the Netherlands Embassy at Addis Ababa appreciates the role that the private sector can play through direct investments in Ethiopia, a number of development programmes are designed to promote FDI. Looking at the number of investors who have used the programmes to make investments in Ethiopia, one can only but conclude that these programmes have been successful.
In its drive to promote FDI in Ethiopia, it is the government itself that creates a conducive environment. It has been successful under the auspices of the Minister of Trade and Industry, Ato Girma Birru. However, more has to be done. The Netherlands support programmes in this field might be considered a useful instrument.

Capital: How is Ethiopia ranked among African nations in terms of Dutch FDI inflow?
H.E. Mr. A. Hennekens: I do not have the exact figures at hand. What I do know is that Ethiopia is emerging as an increasing interesting destination for potential investors. The increase in air links between our two countries through KLM and Ethiopian are clear evidence. Another positive signal is the interest by Netherlands companies to participate in trade missions and information seminars on trade and investment possibilities in Ethiopia.
Looking at the past Netherlands FDI in Ethiopia, The Netherlands FDI began in the Imperial era with HVA-Metahara - a major investment in sugarcane plantations and production of refined sugar. At the time, the Netherlands was home to the largest foreign investor in Ethiopia. During the Derg time the then government decided to nationalize the factory which is still in full production. Since approximately three years Netherlands FDI has started anew into Ethiopia due to the favorable business climate in Ethiopia and the incentives that I mentioned before. Investments are made in floriculture in the first place. Next to that Netherlands companies are in partnership with Ethiopian companies involved in logistic services and input supply for the horticulture, cooling systems, organic coffee chain, cosmetics, glassware, car assembly and livestock. Three rather new projects are seeds potatoes and joint ventures, one on the establishment of a modern feed factory and one a small holders based organic sesame production, processing and marketing project.
An agro-mission from the Netherlands is organized for the end of September. Special attention will be given to improving and developing business links in the oilseed sector, focusing on promoting Ethiopian oilseeds, which by the way, are the country's second most valuable export after coffee. The Netherlands Embassy has financed a study on Oilseeds business opportunities on the basis of which we hope to attract a number of Netherlands companies. This study clearly indicates that Ethiopian oilseeds have a considerable higher quality than the average world produce. At the same time Ethiopia covers a relatively small part of the attractive European market. This offers interesting opportunities for linking companies from the Netherlands and Ethiopia

Capital: Does the Dutch market alone absorb all the Ethiopian flowers exported to the Netherlands?
H.E. Mr. A. Hennekens: The Netherlands is the world's center for floriculture. In fact, more than 50% of worldwide cut flowers production are sold through the Netherlands, the Dutch flower auction play a pivotal role in the world trade. The system works very well because it ensures that when a certain type of flower is needed, in any season of the year anywhere in the world, it can be obtained in the Netherlands. Furthermore. I like to emphasize that the Dutch auction system facilitates the entry to the international market considerably.
The Netherlands became the world center of the flower trade because of factors like a rich trading heritage and maritime assets like the port of Rotterdam which is one of the largest in the world. The Netherlands is the 'Gateway of Europe'. That is why the Netherlands holds such a dominant position in - among others - flowers, fruits and vegetables, coffee, edible oil and petrochemicals.
Over 50% of the flowers produced in Ethiopia are marketed through the Netherlands. Furthermore, the Netherlands are at the moment an important destination for fresh beans produced in Ethiopia. I am also pleased to note that several Dutch buyers have shown an interest in buying a wider variety of fruits and vegetables. So may be the Netherlands might be the partner in kick starting the fruit and vegetable sector in Ethiopia, like floriculture in the recent past

Capital: Would you say that the Netherlands has overcome physical (geographic) constraints by developing a service economy?
H.E. Mr. A. Hennekens: That is correct. The service sector accounts for over 60% of our economy. But at the same time I wish to say that the Netherlands have developed a highly efficient and productive agro sector. In the Netherlands economy, the agro-sector plays an important role. Despite being a small country we are the third largest exporter in the world of agricultural products, roughly 20% of our foreign exchange originates from agricultural exports. At the same time only 2-3% of the workforce is involved in primary production.

Capital: How about technology and knowledge transfer in the form of technical expertise, exchanges, scholarships, advocacy initiatives and others?
H.E. Mr. A. Hennekens: Capacity building as such is an integral part in all of the bilateral aid programs.
In the horticultural sector we have developed an innovative way of cooperation in the form of the Ethiopia-Netherlands Partnership in which both the private sector and the government participate.
Together with the public and private partners we have set up a kind of rolling agenda. By pulling together resources and expertise we are now on the way of implementation. Support to the development of the code of practice for the floriculture is one example. Another example is a project on training in which EHPEA and Jimma University and a Dutch horticulture training institute cooperate. Another project is the introduction of Integrated Pest Management in horticulture, partners are MoARD, Ethiopia Institute for Agriculture Research, EHPEA and individual growers. From the Dutch side, support is given by the Wageningen Agriculture University and Koppert, a company specialist in IPM. Other projects are support to the phytosanitairy service and to the development of the fruit and vegetable sector.

Capital: Does your government offer scholarship programs? Also, are there any cultural exchange activities between our countries?
H.E. Mr. A. Hennekens: Globally, Ethiopia is one of the largest recipients of Dutch scholarships with between 150-180 candidates every year. These scholarships are additional to the university co-operation programme that I mentioned earlier. The advantage of the Netherlands fellowship programme for Ethiopian students is the fact that the courses are given in the English language.
You may be interested to know that H.E. President Girma Wolde Giorgis was the first student from Africa when he attended the Netherlands Institute of Social Studies in 1953. Many Ethiopian alumni from Netherlands universities hold positions of importance in present day Ethiopia.

Capital: What can you tell us about the Ethiopian community in the Netherlands?
H.E. Mr. A. Hennekens: There are about 10,000 Dutch citizens of Ethiopian origin living in the Netherlands.

Capital: Is immigration an important issue? Any problems with regards to assimilation?
H.E. Mr. A. Hennekens: Immigration has indeed grown to be a sensitive political issue for a number of reasons. The main reason being the widespread abuse of the political asylum system since economic refugees abused the system by claiming political reasons for asylum. Another reason for the existing sensitivity on immigration issues is the obvious lack of willingness to assimilate into the Netherlands culture and way of life that some immigrants display.
I cannot state that the assimilation of immigrants in the Netherlands has been without problems or challenges. Certain immigrant groups are more prominent than others when it comes to issues of urban crime, violence and radical activities. These are worrying statistics that need to be addressed urgently. The Netherlands government and the leaders of the immigrant groups have an important role to play in order to ensure that the Netherlands will continue to be a place of social harmony and tolerance.