The Hague, 5 November 2021— The Philippine Embassy in The Hague invites the public to attend the webinar entitled “Philippines-Netherlands Connections @70: Reconstructing history and forging ahead” on 9 and 10 November 2021.

Organized by the Philippine Embassy, in cooperation with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Manila, the Philippine Foreign Service Institute (FSI), and the Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU), the webinar makes a timely assessment of the bilateral relations amidst changing geo-political and socio-economic developments. Most notable of these developments is the publication in November 2020 of the Dutch Indo-Pacific guidelines for strengthening Dutch and EU cooperation with partners in Asia, which was followed in April 2021 by the EU Strategy for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.

The Philippines has also assumed recently as country coordinator of the ASEAN-EU dialogue relations. Focused discussions by experts in diverse fields as trade and economics, agriculture, maritime cooperation, and science and technology, as well as history and culture will shed light on operational areas of cooperation, with the objective of providing a roadmap for the future.

Keynote remarks will be made by Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin, Jr., and Secretary-General Paul Huijts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The first day will assess the current state of bilateral relations, while the second day will discuss the historical foundations of the bilateral relations.

On the first day, panelists include Ms. Karin Mossenlechner, Director for Asia and Oceania of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who will expound on the Dutch Indo-Pacific Guidelines and what this policy shift towards the Indo-Pacific means for the Philippines. Other speakers are Professor Alvin Ang of the Economics Department of the AdMU, who will talk on trade and economic cooperation between the two countries; Mr. Mitchel Smolders, Executive Director of the Dutch Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (DCCP), who will discuss the experience of the DCCP; Honorary Consul General Albert Bos, Philippine Honorary Consul General in Rotterdam, on human capital development in the port and shipping business; Dr. Mary Ann Sayoc, an Order of Orange-Nassau awardee and public affairs lead for the East-West Seed Group, on science and technology cooperation; and, Mr. Richard van der Maden, Chairperson of Agriterra Philippines, on agricultural cooperation.

The second day panelists include Professor Ambeth Ocampo of the AdMU, who will discuss the battles of La Naval Manila; Professor Ruurdje Laarhoven of the Hawaii Pacific University, who will talk about the post-1650 period after the Treaty of Munster; Mr. Gerard Arp, the translator of the Noli Me Tangere and the El Filibusterismo into the Dutch language, who will expound on the connections between Jose Rizal and the Dutch Republic at the time. Film director Antonio Reyes and media practitioner Bernard Canaberal, will also share their experience, motivation and learning from their making of the film documentary on Blessed Titus Brandsma, the Dutch Carmelite friar who was martyred during World War II at the Dachau concentration camp. Blessed Brandsma is revered as patron of the Philippine Province of the Order of Carmelites.

Those interested to attend can register at http://go.ateneo.edu/70DutchPhlRelations. The crossposting link is at https://go.ateneo.edu/PhilDutch70yrs.

The webinar is the culmination of the year-long celebration of the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and the Netherlands (END).