OVERVIEW OF PHILIPPINES-NETHERLANDS RELATIONS

POLITICAL RELATIONS

The Philippines and the Netherlands marked in 2021 the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, with formal ties commencing on 17 May 1951.

As part of the commemoration of the 70-year milestone, the 2nd Philippines-Netherlands Bilateral Consultations was held via video conference on 29 June 2021. The Philippine delegation was led by DFA European Affairs Assistant Secretary Jaime Victor Ledda, while the Dutch side was headed by Ms. Karin Mössenlechner, Director for Asia and Oceania at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Philippines and the Netherlands vowed to further strengthen cooperation in the areas of political, economic, defense and security, and people-to-people linkages. Both sides also apprised each other of developments in their respective countries and exchanged views on regional and global issues, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic.

Assistant Secretary Ledda welcomed the Dutch proposal to establish an Honorary Consulate in Davao City as this will enhance consular assistance to Dutch nationals and boost bilateral trade and investment.

Assistant Secretary Ledda was joined by Ambassador J. Eduardo Malaya, Consul General Lolita Capco and Commercial Counselor Benedict Uy.

A year earlier, on 30 January 2020, the two countries held their first Bilateral Consultations in The Hague. Undersecretary for Policy Enrique A. Manalo led the Philippine delegation. The Dutch side was headed by Mr. Matthijs van der Plas, Director-General for Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. Before the start of the consultations, Undersecretary Manalo made a courtesy call on H.E. Stef Blok, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

During the period 2015-2020, bilateral meetings were held between the Philippine Foreign Secretary and his Dutch counterpart at the sidelines of regional and international meetings, namely:

• Meeting between Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok at the sidelines of the ASEM 14th Foreign Ministers Meeting in Madrid, Spain in December 2019.
• Meeting between Secretary Locsin and Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok at the sidelines of the ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting in Brussels in January 2019.
• Meeting between Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano and Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok on the sidelines of the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, on 27 September 2018
• Meeting between Secretary Perfecto Yasay and Dutch Foreign Minister Albert Gerard Koenders on the sidelines of the 34th Session of the Human Rights Council’s High-Level Segment in Geneva, Switzerland, 27 to 28 February 2017
• Meeting between Secretary Alberto del Rosario and Dutch Foreign Minister Albert Gerard Koenders in The Hague on 6 July 2015 when the former was in the Netherlands for the hearings of the South China Sea arbitration case.

Secretary Locsin also had a bilateral meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte at the sidelines of the Asia-Europe Summit in Brussels, Belgium in October 2018.

The above engagements were supplemented by the visits to the Philippines of the following Dutch officials:

• Special Envoy Andre Peperkoorn and Director Willem Beaujean of the Dutch MFA to discuss the case of Mr. Ewold Horn and other areas of cooperation in May 2019.
• Dutch Vice Minister for Foreign Trade Marten van den Berg and an economic mission composed of 15 Dutch companies on 26 to 28 October 2016

Her Majesty Queen Maxima of the Kingdom of the Netherlands also visited Manila on 30 June to 1 July 2015 in her capacity as the UN Secretary General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development.

ECONOMIC RELATIONS

Bilateral Trade and Investment

In 2020, the Netherlands ranked as the Philippines’ 13th trading partner (out of 224), 10th export market (out of 210), and 21st import supplier (out of 204). The Philippines’ top five trading partners in Europe are: Germany, Netherlands, France, UK, and Italy.

In terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) to the Philippines, the Netherlands ranks first out of the 28 EU Member States. Investments from The Netherlands for 2020 amounted to USD 137 million, USD 277.90 million in 2019 and USD 76.97 million in 2018.

A significant number of major Dutch companies are doing business in the Philippines, notably ING Bank N.V., TNT Express Worldwide Philippines, Shell Philippines, Unilever Philippines, Heineken International, Royal Philips, Royal Friesland Campina, East West Seed, Holland America Lines and Royal Van Oord.

In 2020, Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V., one of the world’s leading dredging and heavy-lift companies, was awarded the land development contract by the San Miguel Aerocity for the new Manila International Airport in Bulacan province, located some 20 kilometers north of Metro Manila. The airport land development project has an estimated value of EUR 1.5 billion (approximately P87 billion pesos), making it the largest project in Boskalis’ history. 

Water Resources/Sustainable Development of Manila Bay

The Netherlands is a recognized global leader in water management and development. In January 2018, the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the Master Plan for the Sustainable Development of Manila Bay.

The Manila Bay Sustainable Development Master Plan is an inclusive master plan for the sustainable development of Manila Bay. It is envisioned to guide decision-makers in the assessment and approval of programs, activities and projects for implementation in the Manila Bay and in adjacent areas with significant influence on the bay.

It envisions to help clean up Manila Bay and improve the living conditions in Metro Manila and its coastal zone. The Bay area will also be made more resilient to the effects of climate change.

Maritime Cooperation

Since 1999, the Philippines and the Netherlands have held annual meetings of the Joint Committee on Maritime Affairs which are co-chaired by the Department of Transportation and the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management of the Kingdom of Netherlands. Discussions cover, among others, matters relating to the welfare and training of seafarers.

Some 22,000 Filipino seafarers work onboard Dutch-flagged vessels.

The Royal Association of Netherlands Ship-owners (KVNR) has been assisting the Philippines in the enhancement of maritime educational programs of the Palompon Institute of Technology (PIT) in Leyte for over a decade.

FILIPINOS IN THE NETHERLANDS

There are an estimated 14, 768 Filipinos in the Netherlands including its constituent countries and special municipalities (Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Saba, Sint Eustatius).

At the same time, there are some 24,369 Dutch citizens of Filipino origin (including second generation with either one or both parents as Filipinos) in the Netherlands.

Filipinos are concentrated mainly in the Netherlands’ four major cities: Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht. They are in the various professions and trades such as engineers, computer programmers, systems analysts, managers, sales/marketing executives, legal advisers, nurses, bankers, hotel/restaurant managers, entertainers, domestic workers and hotel housekeeping staff.

In the Dutch Caribbean, hundreds of Filipinos are in the hotel and tourism industry, and a good number are in accounting and other business fields.

Thousands of Filipino seafarers also pass through the ports of the Netherlands, notably Rotterdam, every year to board or disembark from Dutch and other foreign vessels.

The Netherlands is also host to Filipino au pairs. Under the Dutch au pair scheme, the au pair stays with a Dutch family for a year under a cultural exchange program.