Dutch PM addresses Flemish Parliament
The Speaker of the Flemish Parliament Jan Peumans (national) said that Mr Rutte making a speech before the Flemish Parliament is “an important statement and is recognition that Flanders is an equal interlocutor.”
During his speech, Mr Rutte place great emphasis on the special bond between The Netherlands and Flanders.
Speaking about the recent joint trade mission to Atlanta, Mr Rutte said “It is unique that countries and regions promote themselves together abroad”.
"We are good neighbours on all levels and without any shadow of a doubt good economic neighbours.” Belgium is The Netherlands’ second most important trading partner after Germany. It is exceptional to see how the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam have gone from being competitors to concullegas. With this I don’t mean that a merger is on the cards, but rather that there is a growing realisation that one party’s strength can contribute to the strength of another. We are complimentary to each other in a number of fields and I think that developing our common brand is a good thing.”
Mr Rutte went on to warn of the limited scale of our region. "In China they don’t see separate ports, but just a dot on the map that is bursting with knowledge and skills. We see that there is a border, but the Chinese don’t see it. I think that we could improve things further by better coordinating our infrastructure projects.
The Dutch Prime Minister ended his speech with a reference to football. “Next summer the whole of the Netherlands will be cheering for you during the European Championship.