Prime Minister Rutte will be accompanied by Minister Micky Adriaansens of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. The visit will focus on the semiconductor industry and will take place in Phoenix, AZ, and San Francisco, CA. A delegation of Dutch companies and knowledge institutes that specialize in the semiconductor industry, led by Ingrid Thijssen of the Dutch employers’ organization VNO-NCW, will join the visit.

The visit coincides with new, rising employment numbers in the US. The jobs of 1 million Americans are supported by trade and investments with the Netherlands. During a visit to the White House in 2018, Prime Minister Rutte vowed to increase the number of Americans whose jobs are supported by the US economic ties with the Netherlands. In 2023, that number grew to 1,022,743 jobs. Of that number, 78,000 jobs are in California and 15,000 jobs are in Arizona.  These numbers illustrate the vibrant role the Dutch play in supporting a robust US economy. 

Program

In the afternoon of Monday, December 4, Prime Minister Rutte will visit Luke Air Force Base in Glendale, AZ, which is the training grounds for Dutch F-35 pilots. Afterwards, he will be welcomed by Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego; he will meet with the Dutch companies that are part of the economic mission; and he will visit the Heard Museum. To conclude the first day, a reception will be held with Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs.

On Tuesday, December 5, Prime Minister Rutte will visit Waymo, a market leader in self-driving cars. After that, a roundtable conversation will take place with Dutch and American companies in the semiconductor industry at the Thunderbird School of Global Management. The Prime Minister will also meet with representatives of Arizona State University, and visit Dutch companies ASM and ASML, both of which are active in the Phoenix area.

The next morning, Wednesday, December 6, Prime Minister Rutte will be in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he will visit the DeFremery Recreation Center in Oakland, CA. He will continue his trip with visits to Stanford University, Microsoft, and Nvidia for conversations with companies that specialize in artificial intelligence. The visit will conclude with a pitch session of Dutch startups in the ScaleNL accelerator, as well as a business reception.