Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, visited Rotterdam to meet Damen Shipyards Group and other Dutch maritime industry leaders on January 28, 2019.
At this major event, Minister Van Nieuwenhuizen heard presentations from Damen, Van Oord and other key representatives of the country’s thriving maritime industry.
The presentations took place on a Damen vessel, FCS 2610, which transported the minister, officials and maritime industry representatives from the head office of Hatenboer-Water in Schiedam, along the Nieuwe Maas, to the head office of Van Oord in Rotterdam.
René Berkvens, CEO of the Damen Group , said: “We were happy to welcome Minister Van Nieuwenhuizen to Rotterdam today, and we appreciate her continued interest in, and strong support of, our maritime sector. Face-to-face meetings like this help to inform the government policies, programs, regulations and infrastructure changes needed to foster new technologies and business growth.”
Three industry leaders gave the minister presentations on innovations and developments in:
The maritime sector is part of the top sector ‘Water and Maritime’ – one of the Government’s nine priority, high growth, export-oriented sectors of the economy.
The Netherlands has long been a world leader in maritime engineering and water management, which encompass activities such as shipbuilding, hydraulic engineering, waterway engineering, land reclamation, dredging, flood protection, water treatment, and energy generation.