Dutch Foreign Minister, Bert Koenders , recently visited India at an interesting time, with France choosing a pro-EU President and China’s Belt and Road Initiative creating discomfort across various world capitals. In a free-wheeling interview with ET’s Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury , Koenders describes the French presidential poll results as a vote against xenophobia, an outcome that would boost Indo-EU ties. While the Minister suggests that China should make the OBOR initiative open, he believes that reforms such as the introduction of the Goods and Service Tax (GST) would encourage investments in India from Holland.
What does the victory for the Centrist candidate in the French polls mean for Europe and Indo-EU ties?
With the election result, France has voted for reforms, for Europe and against xenophobia. We look forward to cooperating with the new French President, and are eager to start a dialogue with him to collectively negotiate current challenges, such as migration, climate change, and maintaining a stable, prosperous economy. This election is a boost for Europe and for its international relations, including its relations with India as an important EU partner in Asia.
China is holding the OBOR or BRI summit on May 14-15. Does the Netherlands think that this is another vehicle for Beijing to extend its political influence?
In my view, OBOR is to a large extent a domestic initiative, with international dimensions, as the objectives of OBOR are also internal and economic. When it comes to OBOR, we believe it is important that China fulfils its declared aim of making it an open initiative, which adheres to market rules and international (and EU within the Euro zone) requirements and standards. Done in the right way, and carefully evaluated, more investment in cross-border infrastructure links would unleash growth potential with benefits for all.
The Netherlands is an investor in India. Do you believe that measures such as the GST would further increase investments?
Absolutely. The feedback we are getting from the industry is quite clear: The GST is a bold and important reform, and will be a game-changer. It will be cutting down on procedures and red tape: This is exactly what investors are looking for.
What additional economic reforms would the Netherlands encourage India to undertake?
We are happy to see improvements in India’s ’Ease of Doing Business’ landscape. Individual states are competing among each other to attract foreign investors, which is a very welcome development. In general, existing rules and regulations for exporters and investors from the Netherlands are somewhat complex. To name a few: Local sourcing requirements hamper business opportunities for Dutch companies. The same goes for import requirements in specific sectors such as alcoholic beverages and medical devices. Also, we believe that the procurement system could benefit from a degree of harmonization.
The plenary of the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) is coming up in June. How hopeful are you of India’s entry into export control regimes such as NSG, Wassenaar and the Australia Group.
The Netherlands’ support for India’s entry into export-control regimes, including the NSG, is well known. It was during the Netherlands chairmanship of the MTCR that India was welcomed as a member country. We support India all the way. We continue to support Indian membership of the NSG. We will continue to make our position known in discussions with other members. We also support Indian membership of the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) and Australia Group (AG). In due course, we expect the joint efforts by India, the Netherlands, and other partners to bear fruit.
What was the objective of your visit to India.
My visit aims to strengthen political and economic bilateral ties between the Netherlands and India. The Netherlands sees India as a great power with enormous potential. For us in The Netherlands, India is an important economic and political partner with whom we share key values such as democracy, rule of law, human rights and economic freedom. The cooperation between the Netherlands and India is currently seeing enormous progress. The Netherlands and India work together in many areas: trade, investment, innovation, culture, education and science. On all levels, exchanges take place. It includes crucial issues like social inclusion, employment and corporate social responsibility. Large companies like Unilever, Shell and Philips are involved. But increasingly also SME’s and start-ups.
There is great opportunity in India and The Netherlands joining hands together, for instance in the in water and waste water sector. The Netherlands has developed tremendous strength in the water sector - ranging from production and supply of water to its collection and treatment. It is interesting to see the Dutch multidisciplinary approach coming together with Indian knowledge in low-cost innovation, in order to contribute together to programmes such as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan/Clean India. Indo-Dutch cooperation in putting innovation and technology to use to improve waste and water management is the key ingredient of my visit.
Afghanistan is in a flux. What multi lateral approach would you suggest to stabilise the war torn country.
Similar to India, The Netherlands is closely following developments in Afghanistan. Afghanistan has been in conflict for over 40 years, we cannot expect the country to stabilize overnight. Like India, the Netherlands is in it for the long run; we have been a partner of Afghanistan since 2001 and will continue to be so. Our approach in Afghanistan is aimed toward comprehensiveness; secutiry and stability are closely intertwined with development and economic growth. Therefore, we have extended our development partnership with Afghanistan for another four years. With regard to security, we contribute troops to the Resolute Support Mission and we contribute to capacity building of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces. For this to be successful, we have to work closely together with Afghanistan and other partners. India plays a positive role as a partner for Afghanistan and, by extension, for other friends of Afghanistan, including The Netherlands. At the same time I would like to emphasize that in the end, Afghanistan is responsible for the stabilization of the country. It will not be easy, but the right approach is to continue our joint efforts with all partners, specifically in the region, to support the Afghan people in this endeavor in the coming years.
13 May 2017, 01:18 PM