Eduardo González
King Felipe VI highlighted yesterday in The Hague, during the Business Forum between Spain and the Netherlands, the possibilities of cooperation that are opening up between the two countries in terms of energy security through green hydrogen and economic security through technology. and innovation.
Felipe VI and the King of the Netherlands, William Alexander, traveled yesterday to The Hague to preside over the Business Forum between Spain and the Netherlands, within the framework of the State visit of the King and Queen of Spain, which began this past Wednesday. The forum was attended by Prince Constantin; the Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant; the Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy of the Netherlands, Micky Adriaansens; and the Secretary of State for Commerce and CEO of ICEX Spain Export and Investment, Xiana Méndez.
The objective of this meeting was to bring Spanish companies closer to the investment and business cooperation opportunities that are opening up in the Netherlands in the cybersecurity and fintech sectors, and to put them in contact with Dutch companies to identify collaboration projects. The forum brought together more than 60 Spanish companies and more than 130 local companies and was attended by more than 260 attendees, according to ICEX.
The Netherlands is an important investor in Spain. According to data from the Investment Registry, in 2023 there were around 1,200 Spanish companies owned by owners from the Netherlands. Furthermore, an increase has been detected in the number of Spanish companies that set up shop in the Netherlands or acquire Dutch companies. According to the same source, there are about 430 companies in the Netherlands invested by Spanish owners. Likewise, there is a large colony of Dutch (active and retired) established in Spain.
In his speech, the King stated that, in the current “period of growing geopolitical tensions” and “profound and accelerated technological changes”, the choice of “economic security through technology and innovation” as the central theme of the meeting “enables knowledge sharing” to increase the “competitive potential” of companies, “while providing a much appreciated benefit to public policies that must address the main broader challenges we face today.”
The Monarch also recalled that King William Alexander’s last visit to Spain, in June 2023, “focused on the implementation of projects related to energy security and the effort to address climate change, in particular through projects in the field of green hydrogen”, projects “that bring us closer and help us create new synergies in areas that are and will be crucial for us, for Europe and for the rest of the world”. Precisely, the Kings of Spain and the Netherlands visited the port of Amsterdam this past Wednesday and spoke with representatives of Dutch and Spanish companies about the development of a maritime hydrogen corridor between the ports of Bilbao and Amsterdam.
According to the King, “this is, without a doubt, an excellent way to further strengthen our ties, as it serves as a good example of how to extend our collaboration to other areas, which are equally relevant to our common and future goals.” In this regard, he recalled, “The Netherlands has an innovation ecosystem that represents a global benchmark” and, on the other hand, “in Spain, several outstanding innovation and development hubs have been launched in various advanced technological specialties.”
“Thanks to recent events, there is now a new strategic approach to economic security, in which the EU has decided to map its technological supply chain and critical infrastructure dependencies, and work to reduce them in order to improve our security collectively and reduce to the extent possible the risk of our economic structures and interdependence,” he stated.
In the early afternoon, the King held a meeting with the president of the Senate of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Jan Anthonie Bruijn, and the president of the House of Representatives of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Martin Bosma. After the meeting, he moved to the Binnenhof, headquarters of the States General of the Netherlands, the Ministry of General Affairs and the Office of the Prime Minister of the Netherlands. Subsequently, Don Felipe and Doña Letizia spoke with members of the educational community and students who learn Spanish and learn about culture in Spanish through cinema, in primary and secondary schools in the Netherlands.
In the afternoon, Don Felipe and King William visited the Clingendael Institute, where they attended the meeting on the future of the European Union between the Elcano Royal Institute and the Clingendael Institute, which have been holding days of reflection on global current events since 2018. On this occasion, a round table titled ‘Spanish-Dutch cooperation in the midst of the economic and geopolitical transition’ was held.
