Dear Facebook friends, 2014 is coming to an end. An important year for South Africa: celebrating 20 years of democracy and the first year in which South Africa has to continue its path without its inspirational leader: Nelson Mandela. 2014 also marks the year that I moved to South Africa as the new Ambassador of the Netherlands. With great interest I am learning as much as possible about this country, meeting lots of people, attending all kind of events and following with interest the lively debates in media and parliament. I also visited Namibia, where I presented my credentials and followed the elections. Trips to Botswana, Swaziland and Lesotho are on my diary for 2015. Looking forward now to my first tropical Christmas: sun, no snow! Enjoying a good braai. What a beautiful country with nice people. Thank you for a warm welcome. 2014 was a good year! The visit of our Minister Ploumen (International Trade and Development Cooperation) with a trade mission of 55 companies from different sectors was one of the highlights Another highlight was ‘Department of Design’ the Dutch contribution to ‘Cape Town World Design Capital 2014, a three-week event where lively debates took place, long-term partnerships were forged and #cocreateSA was founded. We hosted ‘Dialogues on Peace and Justice’, an outreach programme for the Presidents of the international tribunals in The Hague (ICC and others) who visited SA for exchanges of views on international justice with scholars, students and government officials. The exhibition Signs of Solidarity about the Dutch support for the anti-apartheid struggle started its tour both in South Africa and the Netherlands and led to more insight in the strong bond between our countries. This exhibition was an initiative of the former Ambassador of South Africa in the Netherlands, Peter Goosen, and was taken up by our two Embassies in close cooperation. This exhibition will continue its tour in 2015 (check our website for places and dates). Last but not least, the Dutch NUON solar team was supported by the embassy and we were more than proud when they won the Sasol Solar Challenge this year. These are just a few highlights in an intense year full of celebration and all sorts of activities. So time for a summer holiday to recharge the battery for a new year of action. In 2015, we will work on another ministerial visit, come up with a new format to showcase Dutch, innovative solutions in the different ‘topsectors’, actively participate in the Design Indaba, use our exhibition Signs of Solidarity to organize discussions on topical issues, will explore new ways of cooperating with South African organizations and think-tanks and continue to organize all kind of events and offer excellent services to Dutch and South African citizens. Also in 2015 we will keep you ‘posted’ on all these activities here in South Africa on this Facebook page. Please follow us, give us your comments and join our events. On behalf of all the Embassy staff in Pretoria, our Consulate General in Cape Town, our Regional Service Organisation and our Honorary Consuls in Durban, Windhoek, Gaborone, Maseru and Mbabane: we wish you a relaxed summer holiday. Compliments of the season and a Happy New Year! Marisa Gerards
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 13:48:10 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015