Netherlands offers a hand to Indian agriculture
Wednesday, 05 March 2003, 20:30 IST
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CHENNAI: From the land of flowers, windmills, wooden shoes and water have come offers that could revolutionise Indian agriculture. The Netherlands has called for partnerships in the food processing, biotechnology, IT and banking sectors. It has set up several institutions to facilitate business with Indian companies, said Ambassador P.F.C. Koch. He was here to inaugurate the new office of the Netherlands Business Support Office (NBSO). Before the inauguration of the NBSO office, the Confederation of Indian Industry hosted a seminar, "Doing Business With Netherlands". "I am sure you associate Holland with flowers, windmills, wooden shoes and water, field hockey and now with the World Cup too," Ambassador Koch said, pointing out that Netherlands was more than just dykes and diamonds. It was home to Philips, Unilever, Shell and AKZO, ABN-Amro, ING Banking, and was one of the most industrialised nations of the world. Recalling trade ties that began 400 years ago, he said, "There is scope for increasing the two-way trade" from $1.5 billion. Dutch dredging companies have always been active in India. Yet Dutch investment and trade with China was "20 times bigger", the ambassador said urging a "change in mindset". The Netherlands is on the list of top seven investors in India. However, less than 0.6 percent of its worldwide investment is in India. The Dutch focus at the seminar was on food processing systems and agricultural management. The Netherlands is the third largest exporter of agricultural and horticultural products in the world. The agricultural counsellor for the Royal Netherlands embassy Arnold Parzer gave an overview of agriculture in Holland and how online marketing has "done away with intermediary handling and added value to the small farmer's produce". He urged Indian producers to adhere to strict quality assessment. He said unless they were open-minded on quality control and preservation technology and ready to meet international standards, Indian fruits and vegetables could not come out of the cycle of glut-related price falls, wastage, low-grade production. An expert from Foodcert B.V., a Dutch food quality certification company, offered three internationally accepted quality certification processes to Indian agriculture, food processing and the hotel-hospitality industry. A biotechnologist from the Wageningen University, Seetharam Annadana, said, the university specialised in courses in biotechnology and had 91 such specialised courses. He said the university is now offering tie-ups to Indian universities and offering them web-based courses. It has also brought to India, DNA marker services for crop quality improvement, international plant research modules and DNA chip facilities. Chief representative of the NBSO in Chennai, Vijay Kumar, said his office would facilitate Indian companies interested in entering partnerships with Dutch companies in all sectors. In Tamil Nadu, Dutch officials said, advanced water management technologies would be their focus.
Source: IANS
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