Celebrating agricultural ties between East Anglia and the Netherlands as North Sea Neighbours - United Kingdom
Celebrating agricultural ties between East Anglia and the Netherlands as North Sea Neighbours
This week, the Dutch Ambassador to the UK, Karel van Oosterom, will visit East Anglia in light of the Royal Norfolk Show 2022. He will be accompanied by the Dutch Agricultural Counsellor to the UK, Mr Philip de Jong, and the Dutch Honorary Consul for the East of England, Mr Andrew Wood.
The people of East Anglia and the Netherlands have enjoyed a close friendship and excellent trading ties as North Sea Neighbours for centuries. Today, these ties are as strong as ever as we are working together on sustainable, innovative and creative solutions to the global challenge of climate change and biodiversity loss. A key area of cooperation with a lot of potential is innovation in water management and agriculture.
The Dutch Ambassador will be attending the Royal Norfolk Show on Wednesday, where he will meet officials of the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association, visit Agri-Tech-E’s innovation hub, and meet UK and Dutch businesses as-well as representatives of research organisations.
The visit comes at an exciting time for agricultural cooperation between East Anglia and the Netherlands, following the announcement of Dutch OneFarm and British IGS Ltd to build a vertical farm in Suffolk, the construction of glasshouses for growing tomatoes, cucumber and peppers by the BOM group – and an increase in similar innovative partnerships over the past couple of year.
The Dutch Ambassador will be available for interviews during the event. Please contact us using the contact form.
Andrew Wood, Honorary Consul for East Anglia, said: “The visit builds on previous successful visits to Norfolk, all of which help promote the strong Dutch agricultural links in the region based on UEA’s links with VU Amsterdam and the Norwich Research Park’s Research links with the leading Dutch Agricultural University of Wageningen. Norfolk is widely recognised as a leader internationally in the revolution in #agritech and crop sciences, with its farmers leading the pack with the application of new precision techniques and data-driven technologies. There is much to share with Dutch farmers and opportunities to collaborate to help with the challenges of climate change and food security. In turn, the Dutch are showing the way forward with vertical farming in Newmarket and glasshouse construction for growing tomatoes as at Crown Point Estate, Bury St Edmunds and Ely. The ambassador will also be learning from English subsidiaries of Dutch businesses about the challenges of trading post-Brexit.”
For further information please contact us using the contact form.