The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Jordan is celebrating the national day, known as King’s Day. In a statement on Wednesday, Harry Verweij, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Jordan said: “For the embassy in Amman, King’s Day is an occasion to reflect on the solid ties that bind the Netherlands and Jordan together. This year, we celebrate 72 years of strong diplomatic relations between our two Kingdoms. This decades-long relationship is characterized by successful cooperation and coordination in a number of fields and the long-standing friendship between the two Royal Houses. We have been friends and allies for decades.” Since 2019, the Netherlands, he noted, has invested over 200 million euros to assist Jordan with supporting vulnerable people and with the hosting of refugees, adding that the two countries have expanded cooperation in a number of fields, in particular water management in agriculture, education, private sector development, human rights, trade and security. “Just last week, Jordan provided logistical support and facilities to assist the Dutch Defense Forces in the process of evacuating Dutch nationals from Sudan,” he indicated. “The year 2023 is an exciting year for us as we have started the implementation of our new multi-annual strategy for our development cooperation program in Jordan. The core of our efforts will remain on supporting refugees and host communities, as we have done in the past. The other areas of focus are: water and climate, sustainable and inclusive economic growth, and human rights,” added Ambassador Verweij. “We will continue to encourage interaction between Jordanian and Dutch knowledge institutions and the exchange of Dutch know-how and innovation with our local partners, while putting the needs of the most vulnerable, such as refugees, host communities, women and youth central to our programming.” The Netherlands reaffirmed its continued commitment to Jordan in the coming years with the continuation of the Dutch flagship program Prospects (implemented in partnership with UNICEF, UNHCR, IFC, ILO and the World Bank), which aims to improve the access of Jordanian host communities and refugees to education, social protection and decent work. Furthermore, the Netherlands is looking forward to officially launching the Orange Corners program with partners like iPark and The Queen Rania Centre for Entrepreneurship in the coming few months. This Dutch initiative supports young Jordanian entrepreneurs to access training, funding and mentoring to start and grow their start-up businesses, the envoy pointed out. On water and climate, the Netherlands continues to link up Dutch know-how to best practices to help tackle water issues in Jordan through a rain-water harvesting project with the Inter Islamic Network on Water Resources Development and Management (INWRDAM) and the Dutch partners Acacia Water and IHE Delft. In addition, the Netherlands has committed a grant of 30 million Euros to the Amman-Aqaba Water Desalination and Conveyance Project. On trade cooperation between the two countries, Verweij noted that the Netherlands is committed to strengthening bilateral trade. Last year, The Netherlands was among the strongest growing export partners of Jordan in the European Union. He stated that a number of Dutch-supported projects focus on opening new markets for Jordanian businesses, namely those exporting olive oil, fruits and vegetables, apparel, and cosmetics. In turn, these projects also promote investment opportunities for Dutch businesses in Jordan. On the political front, he underscored that the two Kingdoms will continue to give their support to the Middle East Peace Process, adding that the Netherlands considers Jordan a key partner in achieving peace and stability in the region and recognizes Jordan’s important humanitarian role in the hosting of refugees. King’s Day is a Dutch ‘Orange-day’, the color referring to the family name of the Royal House, Orange-Nassau. King Willem-Alexander and his family are part of the festivities themselves, every year in another part of the country.

Source: Jordan News Agency