The Philippines and the Netherlands have affirmed their intent to forge stronger bilateral partnership and mapped out areas where they can further collaborate as both nations mark their 70th year of diplomatic relations.

The two countries commemorated their seven-decade partnership through a webinar on Nov. 9, where they both conveyed their commitment to sustain their cooperation in various sectors.

It drew a large and diverse audience in both countries, including government officials, business leaders, community members, and students.

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. expressed that “the Philippines is committed to re-energizing its relationship with the Netherlands, with emphasis on economic cooperation, and special focus on the agri-food, water and infrastructure; the circular economy; and maritime and healthcare sectors.”

“The Netherlands’ renewed foreign policy interest in the Indo-Pacific region is a positive development, particularly its commitment to sustainable trade and investment relations, to reducing one-sided strategic dependencies, to establish more reliable value chains in the Indo-Pacific region and to provide active support for EU negotiations on free trade agreements with Indo-Pacific countries,” Locsin said.

“We are hopeful that this will further expand business-to-business engagements between the private sectors of our countries,” the top Filipino diplomat added.

Secretary General Paul Huijts, of Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the other hand, said that “the strength of our countries’ economic ties are shown by the fact that the Netherlands is the second biggest EU trading partner of the Philippines and the biggest EU investor in the Philippines, and more recently, sustainability has become a key element for our bilateral cooperation.”

He cited the Manila Bay Sustainable Development Masterplan as a result of the collaboration of Dutch and Filipino experts on sustainability and water management.

Huijts also noted the contributions of some 150 Dutch companies operating in the Philippines while the Netherlands have welcomed "many overseas Filipino workers, including some 22,000 Filipino seafarers who sail on Dutch flagged vessels and help keep the global economy moving.”

The Netherlands’ Indo Pacific guidelines and the EU’s Indo-Pacific strategy “underscore the growing importance of the Indo Pacific region in which the Philippines is a strategic player,” Huijts said. “As a seafaring nation, we take a particular interest in freedom of passage and other topical issues in the region.”

Ambassador Karin Mossenlechner, director for Asia and Pacific in the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, underscored that the Netherlands and the EU are aware that the geopolitical and geo-economic balance of power in the world is shifting, noting that the Indo-Pacific region is increasingly becoming more strategically important for the EU. Thus, he said that "it is important that The Netherlands and the Philippines, and the countries in the Indo-Pacific, join hands and work together in bringing about a sustainable post-COVID-19 recovery with green growth.”

The Philippines recently assumed its role as country coordinator of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-European Union (ASEAN-EU) relations up to 2025.

“Both the Philippines and the Netherlands are maritime countries, and perhaps we can learn from the Dutch, most of whose land has been reclaimed from the sea. This knowledge is crucial in these times of rising sea levels and climate change,” said Philippine Ambassador to The Netherlands J. Eduardo Malaya, who also spoke during the program.

The two-day webinar is hosted by the Embassy of the Philippines in The Hague, in partnership with the Embassy of the Kingdom of The Netherlands in Manila, the Ateneo de Manila University and the Philippine Foreign Service Institute.

The second-day session will focus on the historical foundations of the relations.