Creatives from the UK and the Netherlands came together in a virtual session on 25 November 2020 to discuss opportunities for, and threats to, future Anglo-Dutch cultural collaboration. In less time than it takes to drive from London to Birmingham, the nearly thirty participants from all over England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Netherlands had concluded a very successful session, coming up with some excellent analyses of what is required to maintain strong international cultural connections. It shows there are positives to the 'new normal' of meeting each other online. The useful input that was gathered during this meeting helps the Dutch Embassy in the UK, organiser of the event, to focus its efforts on facilitating bilateral cultural exchange.
Read more at:
Creatives from UK and NL discuss how to adapt to Brexit and Covid | News item | netherlandsandyou.nl
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Showing posts with label cooperation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cooperation. Show all posts
November 30, 2020
December 5, 2019
The Netherlands-USA Relations - Global Warming - Tampa Teams Up With Netherlands to Deal With Climate Change - by Dalia Dangerfield
The Bay Area and the Netherlands are teaming up to raise awareness on climate change.
"When you're riding around the country, it looks like any other country, but when you know what you're looking at, you're like 'wow that's a neat project," Bennett said.
The Netherlands is very vulnerable to floods and storm surge. Their answer includes using natural resources as a defense. Something Bennett agrees with.
"Lets use nature as much as possible instead of putting more infrastructure in place," Bennett said.
Read more at: Tampa Teams Up With Netherlands to Deal With Climate Change
- Tampa working with Netherlands on climate change
- Tampa Chief of Staff John Bennett toured Netherlands to get ideas
- Tampa to develop action plan with ideas
"When you're riding around the country, it looks like any other country, but when you know what you're looking at, you're like 'wow that's a neat project," Bennett said.
The Netherlands is very vulnerable to floods and storm surge. Their answer includes using natural resources as a defense. Something Bennett agrees with.
"Lets use nature as much as possible instead of putting more infrastructure in place," Bennett said.
Read more at: Tampa Teams Up With Netherlands to Deal With Climate Change
April 20, 2019
The European Union: Benefits of being a member state of the EU: Ten EU policies that have changed Europeans' day-to-day lives
Eurosceptics frequently lambast the EU by portraying it as a
bureaucratic monolith that pays little attention to the concerns of
ordinary citizens, as it interferes needlessly in petty affairs.
However, the decisions taken in Brussels and the laws passed by the
European Parliament in Strasbourg have concrete effects on Europeans’
day-to-day lives.
Here is an overview of ten such EU policies put in place over the past five years making a key difference to the lives of every citizen of its member states. :
Getting rid of plastic bags
In France, single-use plastic shopping bags have been banned since July 2016, whether they are free or paid for. Instead, bags must either be made of paper or reusable and thicker than 50 micrometres. Since the start of 2017, this ban has been extended to “fruit and vegetable bags”. Thus, only biodegradable or paper bags can now be used.
These French laws are a direct product of a 2015 EU directive that imposed new rules to limit the consumption of plastic bags and reduce the amount of packaging on goods. MEPs aim to reduce the average number of lightweight plastic bags used, from 90 per person over the course of the year in 2019 to 40 per person by 2025.
The right to be forgotten
As well as acting on environmental concerns, Brussels is also focused on the protection of personal data. In a 2014 decision, the European Court of Justice ruled that EU data protection law applies to search engines. This means that people can get companies to take down any links that violate their privacy, according to the conditions set out in the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights. So far Google has reviewed 91,000 removal requests, for a total of 328,000 links.
Banning roaming charges
MEPs have taken legal steps to prohibit mobile phone companies from forcing customers to pay extra when they travel from European country to another. This applies to all mobile and landline phone calls, SMS messages and the use of data services abroad.
Cheap flights and compensation for overbooking
By imposing competition laws to stop airlines from restricting fares and schedules, the EU has allowed new companies to spring up and disrupt the industry, with their “low cost” and “no frills” flights undercutting established players and forcing them to reduce prices.
Food safety
The well-known “E numbers” – preservatives, dyes, antioxidants and flavourings listed as part of food products – are subject to strict standards and tightly regulated by the EU. Before being placed on the market, any additive is rigorously scrutinised by the European Food Safety Authority to ensure that it does not present a health hazard.
In addition, the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed has been set up to take any food that constitutes a health risk off the market as quickly as possible. It responds to thousands of alerts every year to deal with immediate risks, often detected in meat and fish.
Sport broadcast free of charge
EU legislation ensures that sport matches considered to be of major importance for society must be broadcast on free TV channels.
Putting more snow on ski slopes
Seeing as it’s quite a prerequisite for skiing, it’s rather a shame that snow is not always abundant on Europe’s ski slopes. The EU’s Horizon 2020 programme is funding research on snow production that includes a new snow gun that uses 15 percent less energy to produce 8 percent more snow and is also less noisy. Brussels is also supporting a project to create a weather forecasting system for the ski industry to predict the amount of snow from a week to several months in advance.
Free wifi in public areas
There are few things more frustrating than being out and about and finding it impossible to connect to the Internet. However, the EU’s WIFI4EU programme provides support to local authorities to help them provide free wifi to people passing through open-air spaces, public buildings, libraries or hospitals.
Protecting online shoppers’ rights
The EU ensures that products can be ordered without customs duties and additional taxes from other European countries and allows customers to return any product they have purchased within 14 days, without justification.
New EU rules should also come into effect over the coming years – for example, prohibiting online vendors from automatically redirecting customers to another site (on which prices are often higher), and the reduction of sometimes hefty delivery costs.
Funding films
Half of all European films were partly financed by the European Union Media Program. In 2014, seven of the 18 films competing for awards at the Cannes Film Festival benefited from this scheme, including “Two Days, One Night” by the Dardennes brothers and Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “Winter Sleep”, winner of the 2014 Palme d’Or.
The EU also has the Creative Europe 2014-2020 programme to support culture across the continent. With a budget of €1.5 billion, this fund will support cinema, TV, music, literature, heritage and the performing arts in 38 countries and will fund 250,000 people in the culture industry.
Ten EU policies that have changed Europeans' day-to-day lives
Here is an overview of ten such EU policies put in place over the past five years making a key difference to the lives of every citizen of its member states. :
Getting rid of plastic bags
In France, single-use plastic shopping bags have been banned since July 2016, whether they are free or paid for. Instead, bags must either be made of paper or reusable and thicker than 50 micrometres. Since the start of 2017, this ban has been extended to “fruit and vegetable bags”. Thus, only biodegradable or paper bags can now be used.
These French laws are a direct product of a 2015 EU directive that imposed new rules to limit the consumption of plastic bags and reduce the amount of packaging on goods. MEPs aim to reduce the average number of lightweight plastic bags used, from 90 per person over the course of the year in 2019 to 40 per person by 2025.
The right to be forgotten
As well as acting on environmental concerns, Brussels is also focused on the protection of personal data. In a 2014 decision, the European Court of Justice ruled that EU data protection law applies to search engines. This means that people can get companies to take down any links that violate their privacy, according to the conditions set out in the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights. So far Google has reviewed 91,000 removal requests, for a total of 328,000 links.
Banning roaming charges
MEPs have taken legal steps to prohibit mobile phone companies from forcing customers to pay extra when they travel from European country to another. This applies to all mobile and landline phone calls, SMS messages and the use of data services abroad.
Cheap flights and compensation for overbooking
By imposing competition laws to stop airlines from restricting fares and schedules, the EU has allowed new companies to spring up and disrupt the industry, with their “low cost” and “no frills” flights undercutting established players and forcing them to reduce prices.
Food safety
The well-known “E numbers” – preservatives, dyes, antioxidants and flavourings listed as part of food products – are subject to strict standards and tightly regulated by the EU. Before being placed on the market, any additive is rigorously scrutinised by the European Food Safety Authority to ensure that it does not present a health hazard.
In addition, the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed has been set up to take any food that constitutes a health risk off the market as quickly as possible. It responds to thousands of alerts every year to deal with immediate risks, often detected in meat and fish.
Sport broadcast free of charge
EU legislation ensures that sport matches considered to be of major importance for society must be broadcast on free TV channels.
Putting more snow on ski slopes
Seeing as it’s quite a prerequisite for skiing, it’s rather a shame that snow is not always abundant on Europe’s ski slopes. The EU’s Horizon 2020 programme is funding research on snow production that includes a new snow gun that uses 15 percent less energy to produce 8 percent more snow and is also less noisy. Brussels is also supporting a project to create a weather forecasting system for the ski industry to predict the amount of snow from a week to several months in advance.
Free wifi in public areas
There are few things more frustrating than being out and about and finding it impossible to connect to the Internet. However, the EU’s WIFI4EU programme provides support to local authorities to help them provide free wifi to people passing through open-air spaces, public buildings, libraries or hospitals.
Protecting online shoppers’ rights
The EU ensures that products can be ordered without customs duties and additional taxes from other European countries and allows customers to return any product they have purchased within 14 days, without justification.
New EU rules should also come into effect over the coming years – for example, prohibiting online vendors from automatically redirecting customers to another site (on which prices are often higher), and the reduction of sometimes hefty delivery costs.
Funding films
Half of all European films were partly financed by the European Union Media Program. In 2014, seven of the 18 films competing for awards at the Cannes Film Festival benefited from this scheme, including “Two Days, One Night” by the Dardennes brothers and Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “Winter Sleep”, winner of the 2014 Palme d’Or.
The EU also has the Creative Europe 2014-2020 programme to support culture across the continent. With a budget of €1.5 billion, this fund will support cinema, TV, music, literature, heritage and the performing arts in 38 countries and will fund 250,000 people in the culture industry.
Ten EU policies that have changed Europeans' day-to-day lives
April 10, 2019
Poland: Agriculture - Blue Berries are now produced worldwide and Cooperation was the slogan of The VII International Blueberry Conference in Poland March 7 - 8
Delegates from 27 countries and over 900 participants in total visited the VII International Blueberry Conference. This event confirmed that blueberry producers can work together to achieve common goals. They must continue to do so – there are still many challenges in cultivating and trading blueberries.
Blueberry production is growing in various European countries. One of them is Ukraine, where, as Taras Bashtannyk from Ukrainian Berry reported, the area of blueberry cultivation increased rapidly and in the last 3 years it grew three times to the level of 2100 ha. In 2018, blueberry harvest in Ukraine amounted to 5,000 tons, and it is expected that exports will grow by about 2000-2500 tons in each subsequent year. This means that in 2020, blueberry harvest in Ukraine may exceed 10,000 tons.
In China it is estimated that the area of blueberry cultivation in 2020 will reach 70,000 ha, and the fruit production will amount to 1 million tons in 2025.
A new selection of blueberry varieties gives a chance for further development of the industry. Their features were presented by Andrea Pergher from Fall Creek Farm and Nursery Europe. Fall Creek has started the breeding program almost 20 years ago. The selections have undergone very selective comparison trials before they were released.
Before becoming commercial, the variety must prove to be better than the existing varieties. Fall Creek is managing trial sites in different climatic area where we compare new releases with standard varieties. The plants are planted together at the same age for consistency in data
output.
Based on the the calculations presented by Hans Liekens from Fall Creek Europe, it is justified to say that blueberry market in Europe has a chance to grow, provided that it is possible to increase consumption and penetration of the market. Great Britain, where the average citizen eats 860 g of blueberries annually, sets an example. Meanwhile, the average European citizen consumes 180 g of blueberries annually.
"If we could increase consumption in Europe to the level of Great Britain, an additional 500,000 t of blueberries would be needed. To achieve these goals it is necessary to provide the market with high quality, hard, firm and tasty blueberries. The most important thing is
that the consumer who once buys blueberries will come back for more.
When they are disappointed, because of quality issues, he will cease to be our client. We all are blueberry producers. We all need to look after quality and keep working on it," said Hans Liekens.
During the second day of the 2 day event there were pruning demonstrations and workshops dedicated to establishing blueberry plantations. They were led by Paweł Korfanty, nurseryman and enthusiast of blueberries and Leon Schrijnwerkers - a nursery worker from Netherlands.
He showed how to form ‘Bluecrop’ blueberry bushes and which shoots are the most valuable, how many of them should remain in the bush to ensure good fruit quality.
For the complete report go to:
Cooperation is a key to success for all blueberry growers"
Blueberry production is growing in various European countries. One of them is Ukraine, where, as Taras Bashtannyk from Ukrainian Berry reported, the area of blueberry cultivation increased rapidly and in the last 3 years it grew three times to the level of 2100 ha. In 2018, blueberry harvest in Ukraine amounted to 5,000 tons, and it is expected that exports will grow by about 2000-2500 tons in each subsequent year. This means that in 2020, blueberry harvest in Ukraine may exceed 10,000 tons.
In China it is estimated that the area of blueberry cultivation in 2020 will reach 70,000 ha, and the fruit production will amount to 1 million tons in 2025.
A new selection of blueberry varieties gives a chance for further development of the industry. Their features were presented by Andrea Pergher from Fall Creek Farm and Nursery Europe. Fall Creek has started the breeding program almost 20 years ago. The selections have undergone very selective comparison trials before they were released.
Before becoming commercial, the variety must prove to be better than the existing varieties. Fall Creek is managing trial sites in different climatic area where we compare new releases with standard varieties. The plants are planted together at the same age for consistency in data
output.
Based on the the calculations presented by Hans Liekens from Fall Creek Europe, it is justified to say that blueberry market in Europe has a chance to grow, provided that it is possible to increase consumption and penetration of the market. Great Britain, where the average citizen eats 860 g of blueberries annually, sets an example. Meanwhile, the average European citizen consumes 180 g of blueberries annually.
"If we could increase consumption in Europe to the level of Great Britain, an additional 500,000 t of blueberries would be needed. To achieve these goals it is necessary to provide the market with high quality, hard, firm and tasty blueberries. The most important thing is
that the consumer who once buys blueberries will come back for more.
When they are disappointed, because of quality issues, he will cease to be our client. We all are blueberry producers. We all need to look after quality and keep working on it," said Hans Liekens.
During the second day of the 2 day event there were pruning demonstrations and workshops dedicated to establishing blueberry plantations. They were led by Paweł Korfanty, nurseryman and enthusiast of blueberries and Leon Schrijnwerkers - a nursery worker from Netherlands.
He showed how to form ‘Bluecrop’ blueberry bushes and which shoots are the most valuable, how many of them should remain in the bush to ensure good fruit quality.
For the complete report go to:
Cooperation is a key to success for all blueberry growers"
February 25, 2018
Post Brexit EU Budget: EU agrees budget to focus on defence, security and migration - by Eszter Zalan
After leaders held their preliminary discussion of the first post-Brexit budget, Tusk told reporters that many European heads of government were ready to contribute more money to the next budget cycle, that runs 2021-27.
"All the leaders approached [the budget] with open minds, rather than red lines," he stated.
Tusk however said that the EU Commission's ambitious deadline for reaching an agreement by the end of this year seemed "really difficult".
The EU executive wants to conclude talks by the next European elections in May 2019, however, haggling over the budget usually takes more than two years.
Germany's Angela Merkel said the debate was "constructive", and said leaders will decide how fast to move with agreeing to the EU budget after the commission's proposal will be published in May.
The German chancellor also warned cuts will have to be made to "bureaucratic" policies, like agriculture.
One of the countries that does not want to pay more after the UK leaves the EU, the Netherlands' PM Mark Rutte, said the bloc needs to modernise and reform existing programs to finds more money.
"We, in any case, do not want our contribution to rise," he said.
EU leaders also discussed the possibility of linking EU funds to migration and respecting the rule of law.
Donald Tusk told reporters the discussion was less toxic than many had speculated in the run up to the summit.
Member states that benefit from cohesion funds earlier warned against using EU money aimed for reducing economic differences across the EU for integrating migrants or for punishing countries that breach EU rules.
After the discussions Tusk said that he had only heard "positive reactions", and that the concept was not questioned by any leader who spoke.
Tusk said that Poland's premier Mateusz Morawiecki also said he was ready to support conditionality, adding that it should be built a very objective criteria.
"The possible conditionality was less controversial than expected," Tusk said - adding that the debate at this point was very general.
France's president Emmanuel Macron had a strong warning to those who infringe EU values, something Poland had been accused of by the commission.
"It would be matter of good sense to halt the payment of some [EU] funds where is there is a breach of our values," Macron said.
Read more: EU agrees budget to focus on defence, security and migration
May 31, 2017
Germany: Trump's anti-German stance is stupid and dangerous-by Fred Kaplan
The fallout from President Trump’s disastrous trip to Europe
continues to poison the trans-Atlantic climate. His comments about
Germany have been particularly toxic—and, beyond that, stupid,
reflecting no understanding of the country’s strategic importance or its
dreadful history.
Chancellor Angela Merkel stated the matter plainly in a speech on Sunday in Bavaria. Europeans “must take our fate into our own hands,” she said, because the “times in which we could rely fully on others … are somewhat over.” This, she added, “is what I experienced in the last few days”—a reference to Trump’s behavior in Brussels and Rome, where, among other bits of rudeness, he declined to pay even lip service to the pledge, enshrined in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, that the United States would defend any member of NATO that comes under attack.
As if in piqued response, Trump tweeted on Tuesday, “We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO and military. Very bad for U.S. This will change.” While overseas, Trump had reportedly told Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Union, “The Germans are bad, very bad. Look at the millions of cars that they’re selling in the USA. Horrible. We’re gonna stop that.” Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied the report, which appeared in Der Spiegel, but Trump’s Tuesday tweet undercut the denial and underscored his complaint. It wasn’t some loose remark, he seemed to be saying; he meant it.
Chancellor Angela Merkel stated the matter plainly in a speech on Sunday in Bavaria. Europeans “must take our fate into our own hands,” she said, because the “times in which we could rely fully on others … are somewhat over.” This, she added, “is what I experienced in the last few days”—a reference to Trump’s behavior in Brussels and Rome, where, among other bits of rudeness, he declined to pay even lip service to the pledge, enshrined in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, that the United States would defend any member of NATO that comes under attack.
As if in piqued response, Trump tweeted on Tuesday, “We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO and military. Very bad for U.S. This will change.” While overseas, Trump had reportedly told Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Union, “The Germans are bad, very bad. Look at the millions of cars that they’re selling in the USA. Horrible. We’re gonna stop that.” Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied the report, which appeared in Der Spiegel, but Trump’s Tuesday tweet undercut the denial and underscored his complaint. It wasn’t some loose remark, he seemed to be saying; he meant it.
But Trump’s ire is misplaced or unwise on several levels.
First, yes, Americans buy a lot of German cars, but this isn’t because
Germany is dumping BMWs and Volkswagens on the U.S. market; it’s because
a lot of Americans like those cars. Second, as my colleague Daniel Gross
has pointed out, lots of those German cars are made in the United
States; a BMW plant in South Carolina—the company’s biggest plant in the
world—churns out 400,000 cars a year.
The thing is, Trump knows this. When Merkel visited Washington in March, she brought along the CEOs of BMW, Siemens, and Schaeffler, an industrial-parts manufacturer, who met with Trump for an hour, briefing him on their $300 billion investment in the American economy and the 750,000 American jobs that their plants had created. By all accounts, Trump was impressed.
Perhaps the most wondrous thing about the world that took form after World War II has been the absence of war between the longstanding rivals in Europe—not just the absence of wars but the disappearance of the notion that European wars were inevitable. This feat didn’t come about by some miracle or accident. It was the result of painstaking effort to build an alliance based on shared values and common interests, requiring trillions of dollars in aid and investment, the maintenance of massive military bases, and—in particularly trying times—a crisis or two that risked another, far more cataclysmic war. It is this alliance—and the international order on which it stands—that Trump’s tantrums and indifference are endangering.
European leaders realized last week (you could see it on their faces as they watched Trump speak)—that the alliance will be in some degree of abeyance as long as this guy is president.
It may be no coincidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s chief foreign-policy goal is to restore the old Soviet Union. He can do that only if the European Union is weakened and the ties between the United States and Europe are severed. He may have reason to believe that his dream might come true. Whatever the probes reveal about Trump’s ties or obligations (or lack of any connections whatever) to Russia, his signs of indifference to the fate of Europe are no doubt causing Putin to salivate more than he thought he ever would.
Read more: Trump's anti-German stance is stupid and dangThe thing is, Trump knows this. When Merkel visited Washington in March, she brought along the CEOs of BMW, Siemens, and Schaeffler, an industrial-parts manufacturer, who met with Trump for an hour, briefing him on their $300 billion investment in the American economy and the 750,000 American jobs that their plants had created. By all accounts, Trump was impressed.
Perhaps the most wondrous thing about the world that took form after World War II has been the absence of war between the longstanding rivals in Europe—not just the absence of wars but the disappearance of the notion that European wars were inevitable. This feat didn’t come about by some miracle or accident. It was the result of painstaking effort to build an alliance based on shared values and common interests, requiring trillions of dollars in aid and investment, the maintenance of massive military bases, and—in particularly trying times—a crisis or two that risked another, far more cataclysmic war. It is this alliance—and the international order on which it stands—that Trump’s tantrums and indifference are endangering.
European leaders realized last week (you could see it on their faces as they watched Trump speak)—that the alliance will be in some degree of abeyance as long as this guy is president.
It may be no coincidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s chief foreign-policy goal is to restore the old Soviet Union. He can do that only if the European Union is weakened and the ties between the United States and Europe are severed. He may have reason to believe that his dream might come true. Whatever the probes reveal about Trump’s ties or obligations (or lack of any connections whatever) to Russia, his signs of indifference to the fate of Europe are no doubt causing Putin to salivate more than he thought he ever would.
May 27, 2016
Greece: Putin Arrives In Greece On First Visit To EU This Year
Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Greece on his first
visit to the European Union this year as the bloc weighs whether to
extend sanctions against Russia amid continuing tensions over Moscow's
intervention in Ukraine.
Putin arrived in Athens on May 27 to begin a two-day visit. He is due to meet Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras for energy and investment talks later in the day.
Putin's visit -- his first to the EU since December -- comes as the bloc's leaders are to discuss next month whether to renew sanctions on Russia's banking, defense, and energy sectors that expire in July.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said on May 27 that the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) economic powers have agreed that sanctions imposed against Russia over its actions in Ukraine must be extended next month.
“The G7 has agreed on the vital importance of sanctions rollover in June,” Cameron said following a two-day G7 summit in Japan. “Ukraine is the victim of Russian-backed aggression. We must never forget that fact.”
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on May 27 floated the possibility of a "step-by-step" reduction of EU sanctions against Russia if there is progress on implementing peace accords on Ukraine.
"I hope that by the end of June there will be progress and then we can see if we can reduce the sanctions step by step, or if we stay with the measures we have right now," Steinmeier told reporters in Tallinn.
Read more: Putin Arrives In Greece On First Visit To EU This Year
Putin arrived in Athens on May 27 to begin a two-day visit. He is due to meet Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras for energy and investment talks later in the day.
Putin's visit -- his first to the EU since December -- comes as the bloc's leaders are to discuss next month whether to renew sanctions on Russia's banking, defense, and energy sectors that expire in July.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said on May 27 that the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) economic powers have agreed that sanctions imposed against Russia over its actions in Ukraine must be extended next month.
“The G7 has agreed on the vital importance of sanctions rollover in June,” Cameron said following a two-day G7 summit in Japan. “Ukraine is the victim of Russian-backed aggression. We must never forget that fact.”
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on May 27 floated the possibility of a "step-by-step" reduction of EU sanctions against Russia if there is progress on implementing peace accords on Ukraine.
"I hope that by the end of June there will be progress and then we can see if we can reduce the sanctions step by step, or if we stay with the measures we have right now," Steinmeier told reporters in Tallinn.
Read more: Putin Arrives In Greece On First Visit To EU This Year
March 9, 2016
Dubai - Netherlands: DEWA visits Netherlands to strengthen ties
 |
| HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer |
The delegation includes Hussain Lootah, Executive Vice President of Transmission, Waleed Ali Salman, Executive Vice President of Strategy & Business Development, Dr. Yousef Al Akraf, Executive Vice President of Business Support & Human Resources, Matar Suhail Salem Al Mehairi, Vice President of Distribution Asset Management, Mohamed Al Shamsi, Vice President of Water & Civil Projects and Water Maintenance, Moza Al Akraf, CIO, Faisal Al Dashti, Senior Manager of Information Security, Ahmed Belarti, Senior Manager of Smart Services, Mohamed Abdulkarim Al Shamsi, Senior Manager of Sustainability & Climate Change, and Ahmed Abdullah, Senior Manager of External Communications.
During the visit, Al Tayer commenced his first meetings with Ahmed Aboutaleb, Mayor of Rotterdam, HE Abdallah Hamdan Al Naqbi, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and high-profile representatives of Dutch companies operating in energy, water and environment. Al Tayer praised the efforts of the UAE Embassy in the Netherlands.
In his speech, Al Tayer highlighted opportunities for cooperation between Dubai and the Netherlands, the potential of the energy and environment sectors in the UAE, and cooperation on renewable and clean energy projects, and plans that Dubai has for the future.
"Our nation is blessed with leaders who have a real vision of a brighter future that incorporates sustainability at the heart of our daily lives. HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, have both mandated that Solar Energy and sustainability are essential to the future of our nation," said Al Tayer.
"The UAE's commitment to combatting climate change and developing renewable energy is already well-established. As well as supporting the COP21 accords in Paris, the UAE hosts the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency. Dubai intends to generate 75% of its total power output from clean energy by 2050. This target is part of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum last November," added Al Tayer.
"This strategy has defined our efforts to develop the efforts of our Emirate and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority to bring solar power to our citizens and residents. The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park, which is the largest single-site solar park in the world, will generate 1,000 megawatts by 2020 and 5,000 megawatts by 2030, which will save approximately 6.5 million metric tons per year in carbon dioxide emissions," added Al Tayer.
Read more: DEWA visits Netherlands to strengthen ties - Zawya
January 14, 2016
EU Economy: To Avoid A 2016 Crash, The Major Powers Need To Pull In The Same Direction - by Anton Muscatelli
It looks already as if 2016 will be a pivotal year for the world
economy. RBS has advised investors to “sell everything except for
high-quality bonds” as turmoil has returned to stock markets. The Dow
Jones and S&Pindices have fallen by more than 6% since the start of
the year, which is the worst ever yearly start. There is a similar story
in other major markets, with the FTSE leading companies losing some
£72bn of value in the same period.
These declines have come on the back of a major shock to the Chinese stock market. China’s stock exchange is very different from that of other major economies, as Chinese companies don’t rely on it to fund themselves to the same extent, using debt instead. All the same, the repeated suspensions of trading as the Chinese circuit-breakers came into operation (as they do when share prices fall too sharply) spooked investors around the world.
On top of that we are seeing commodity prices continuing to retreat. Oil prices have dropped towards $30 per barrel and don’t look likely to increase soon, with Iranian and Saudi oil production continuing to sustain supply. We are seeing many emerging economies dependent on petroleum revenues suffering (Brazil, Russia), and there is speculation that many oil producers (and perhaps even Saudi Arabia) are having to abandon their currencies’ link with the US dollar.
It would be good if, in 2016, we began to see greater macroeconomic cooperation between the G20. In an ideal world, the G20 economies would seek to share out the effort of sustaining world demand through targeted public investments designed to restore business and consumer confidence. We saw this very briefly immediately after the financial crisis. Since 2009 there have been no attempts to act collectively on fiscal policy. Those days seem unfortunately very distant now.
Read more: To Avoid A 2016 Crash, The Major Powers Need To Pull In The Same Direction
These declines have come on the back of a major shock to the Chinese stock market. China’s stock exchange is very different from that of other major economies, as Chinese companies don’t rely on it to fund themselves to the same extent, using debt instead. All the same, the repeated suspensions of trading as the Chinese circuit-breakers came into operation (as they do when share prices fall too sharply) spooked investors around the world.
On top of that we are seeing commodity prices continuing to retreat. Oil prices have dropped towards $30 per barrel and don’t look likely to increase soon, with Iranian and Saudi oil production continuing to sustain supply. We are seeing many emerging economies dependent on petroleum revenues suffering (Brazil, Russia), and there is speculation that many oil producers (and perhaps even Saudi Arabia) are having to abandon their currencies’ link with the US dollar.
It would be good if, in 2016, we began to see greater macroeconomic cooperation between the G20. In an ideal world, the G20 economies would seek to share out the effort of sustaining world demand through targeted public investments designed to restore business and consumer confidence. We saw this very briefly immediately after the financial crisis. Since 2009 there have been no attempts to act collectively on fiscal policy. Those days seem unfortunately very distant now.
Read more: To Avoid A 2016 Crash, The Major Powers Need To Pull In The Same Direction
March 25, 2015
Greece - Germany : A different vision, but the same goal: Merkel and Tsipras agree to cooperate
In his first official visit to the German capital, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras pledged to honour his country’s commitments following almost five years of austerity measures.
He said it was important to move away from stereotypes about the two nations, adding that Greece’s economic problems were not the fault of any one country or institution.
Speaking from a press conference in Berlin, both Tsipras and Merkel agreed Athens needs to make big structural reforms in order to fight widespread tax evasion and corruption in Greece.
Such reforms, combined with a solid Greek budget would provide the foundations for a return to growth and a rise in employment, they added.
Read more:A different vision, but the same goal: Merkel and Tsipras agree to cooperate | euronews, world news
He said it was important to move away from stereotypes about the two nations, adding that Greece’s economic problems were not the fault of any one country or institution.
Speaking from a press conference in Berlin, both Tsipras and Merkel agreed Athens needs to make big structural reforms in order to fight widespread tax evasion and corruption in Greece.
Such reforms, combined with a solid Greek budget would provide the foundations for a return to growth and a rise in employment, they added.
Read more:A different vision, but the same goal: Merkel and Tsipras agree to cooperate | euronews, world news
September 28, 2014
China - EU: Chinese FM, EU foreign policy chief meet on closer strategic partnership - by Ren Zhongxi
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met here Friday with EU foreign policy
chief Catherine Ashton on the sidelines of the annual high-level debate
of the UN General Assembly.
During their talks, Wang said that the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership, which has laid a solid foundation and opened a bright prospect for the development of bilateral ties, ushers in a second decade this year.
During a trip to Europe in March this year, Chinese President Xi Jinping and European leaders decided to deepen their partnership for peace, growth, reform and civilization, which has charted the course for the future development of China-EU ties, said Wang.
China and the EU need to accumulate mutual trust and strengthen cooperation on the basis of mutual respect so as to further advance their comprehensive strategic partnership, said the Chinese foreign minister.
For her part, Ashton said that the EU-China relationship, which has made rapid progress over the past 10 years, enjoys great potential for further development.
Read more: Chinese FM, EU foreign policy chief meet on closer strategic partnership - CCTV News - CCTV.com English
During their talks, Wang said that the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership, which has laid a solid foundation and opened a bright prospect for the development of bilateral ties, ushers in a second decade this year.
During a trip to Europe in March this year, Chinese President Xi Jinping and European leaders decided to deepen their partnership for peace, growth, reform and civilization, which has charted the course for the future development of China-EU ties, said Wang.
China and the EU need to accumulate mutual trust and strengthen cooperation on the basis of mutual respect so as to further advance their comprehensive strategic partnership, said the Chinese foreign minister.
For her part, Ashton said that the EU-China relationship, which has made rapid progress over the past 10 years, enjoys great potential for further development.
Read more: Chinese FM, EU foreign policy chief meet on closer strategic partnership - CCTV News - CCTV.com English
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