Bangladesh Ambassador to the Netherlands Sheikh Mohammed Belal on Tuesday handed over the letter of commission to Maarten Verbruggen, newly appointed Honorary Consul of Bangladesh in Emmeloord at a function held at the Embassy of Bangladesh.

Maarten Verbruggen has been associated with Bangladesh over the last eighteen years owning to his professional work in the medical sector of Bangladesh in the early years and later through businesses with Bangladesh in agriculture and light engineering sectors, said the Embassy.  

Jan-de Boer, Senior Policy Officer Asia and Oceania Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Representatives from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), Dutch Development Bank (FMO), Dutch agriculture entrepreneurs and members of Bangladesh community living in the North-Holland and Flevoland provinces also joined the occasion.

Ambassador Belal hoped Maarten Verbruggen would be instrumental in introducing the Dutch agricultural innovation and creativity in agriculture sector, especially in the areas of technology-based agricultural production, farm produce processing and agribusiness given his extensive experience in the agriculture sector of both Bangladesh and the Netherlands. 

He appreciated the Netherlands Enterprise Agency as well as the consortium partner companies of the Netherlands for their undertaking Potato Impact Cluster project worth of Euro 900,000 to find an integrated solution to address the high post-harvest losses in the potato sector of Bangladesh. 

The newly appointed Honorary Consul narrated his long association with Bangladesh and appreciated highly the development spree that has taken place in Bangladesh over the last one decade. 

The Senior Policy Officer of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs highlighted the continued deepening of bilateral relations between Bangladesh and the Netherlands and assured his Ministry’s support to the Honorary Consul in the discharge of his mandate.