Partner Article

Dutch PM to visit Manchester and London

The Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte will visit London and Manchester next week as part of a business and trade delegation.

Mr Rutte will meet with David Cameron, and Nick Clegg for consultations, including the growth agenda and the Euro zone.

The business delegation will focus heavily on creative industries and innovation, transport and logistics.

Economic ties between the two countries are strong, as annual Dutch export to the UK amounts to €30bn, while the Dutch invest €94bn in the UK every year, and the UK conversely invests €60bn in the Netherlands.

The visit will first see the Dutch PM co-host a Strategic Business Dialogue breakfast at Number 10 Downing Street with Mr Clegg and CEOs of the largest British and Dutch companies.

Following this Mr Rutte will travel to Manchester with the trade delegation, visiting Media City, meeting technology entrepreneurs and making an appearance at TNT, the Dutch postal group based in Wigan.

The visit is intended to underline Dutch recognition of the wider Northwest region as an engine for growth and innovation in the UK, and its importance to the Dutch economy.

The Dutch government is the first and only government to set up a permanent business support office in the region and will host the 2012 Apeldoom: British-Dutch Dialogue Conference in Manchester next March.

It will focus on the potential of higher education institutions as incubators for future innovation and economic growth.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .