India and the Netherlands complement each other in terms of technology and taken together, they make a great team.

This was stated by H.M. King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands while addressing the Inaugural Session of the India – Netherlands Technology Summit being organized by the Department of Science and Technology and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in New Delhi today.

He stated that in the Netherlands experience, India was a partner you could trust.

He stated that The Netherlands and India could work together in areas such as Agriculture and Food Security, Water Management and Climate Change.

Another area where he felt that the two countries could share their experiences and approach was in terms of Public Private Partnerships.

Recalling the centuries old partnership between India and Netherlands, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Science and Technology, Health and Family Welfare and Earth Sciences, Government of India stated that traditional items of trade between the two countries had given way to more high technology ones.

He added that India and the Netherlands were celebrating 10 years of cooperation in the Science, Technology and Innovation space especially in areas such as Urban Water Management, Smart Energy Grids, and anti-microbial resistance, among others.

He stated that Netherlands could help India in its quest to double farmers income by improving water technology in the farm sector.

In her address, Ineke Dezentje Hamming, Vice President, Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers VNO-NCW noted that the two countries could work together on areas such as dredging, agri and food processing and start-ups among others.

She stated that entrepreneurship and technology have no borders and Netherlands was ready to join India in its quest for development.

Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India stated that India has been using technology to try and achieve its aspirational goals.

He was of the view that the days of leap-frogging were long gone and the time was now right to “pole-vault”.

In this context, he felt that the Netherlands could help India and some key areas of cooperation could include affordable medical science, Big Data, Internet of Things, Water and Food Processing among others.

Vikram Kirloskar, President, CII stated that India and the Netherlands have entered into several meaningful collaborations such as the cleaning of the Ganga River and cleaning of the Barapullah drain in Delhi. He was of the view that the two countries had much to gain in collaborating on mutual projects such as these.

Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII highlighted the rising trade and cooperation between India and The Netherlands.