Foreign investments in the Dutch economy topped €3.2 billion last year, a record amount of money according to the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA).
The agency, an operational unit of the ministries of Economic Affairs and Foreign Affairs, released its annual report today that states that in total 187 new investment projects were achieved including headquarters, manufacturing facilities, and data centers. These investments will lead to 6,304 extra jobs.
On Wednesday, the Council of Ministers will meet to discuss the Dutch contribution to the international struggle against ISIS.
Minister Frans Timmermans of Foreign Affairs has an appointment with Jean-Claude Juncker, the new president of the European Commission, in Brussels today. The PvdA Minister will be interviewing for the position of European Commissioner, a top function, and may become Juncker's second man, the NOS reports.
The Cabinet is making €6.5 million available for extra emergency aid to the population of North Iraq. Minister Lilianne Ploumen of Foreign Trade and Development Co-operation announces today that this money will go to helping these people who are fleeing their homes because of the threat of IS, the Algemeen Dagblad reports.
For more than a year, The Netherlands has been negotiating in secret in the Niger Delta oil pollution conflict in the unstable southern region of Nigeria. There is large-scale pollution in the Ogoniland, resulting from oil extraction activities in the region of companies such as Shell.
The Netherlands has sent two experts to the Balkans to assist the relief efforts that have been initiated in the wake of the worst flooding there in over a century.
The UN refugee camp Al Zaatari in the north of Jordan is going to receive aid from the municipality of Amsterdam, the Association of Dutch Municipalities and the cabinet, to help solve problems such as waste management and water access.
Minister Lilianne Ploumen of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation announced on Thursday that the Netherlands and Bolivia will start a cooperation to make use of, and make money froml, the gigantic amounts of Lithium that can be found in Bolivia.
The TU Delft and three Dutch companies are going to help Bolivia to put up a new company that will produce lithium batteries.
The government is concerned about criticism that the World Bank gives insufficient attention to human rights. The Netherlands will ask questions to the World Bank about this issue. Minister Lilianne Ploumen (Foreign Trade and Development) has said that on Tuesday in response to a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW).
