OREANDA-NEWS. April 19, 2013. The Netherlands-Russia Year 2013 celebrates our long standing and solid economic relationship. Therefore in the framework of the opening of the bilateral year Netherlands-Russia Business meet was held in the capital of the Netherlands – Amsterdam. Organized by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ING and KPMG, it represented one of the key events in the Netherlands.

Arkady Dvorkovich, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Lilianne Ploumen, Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands, Henk Kamp, Minister of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands, together with a number of representatives of the Russian and Dutch business communities  acted as speakers.

This meet was devoted to important issues associated with deepening trade and economic cooperation as well as the large volume of investment between Russia and the Netherlands, and brought together government officials, business people, entrepreneurs and public sector representatives from both countries. The meeting featured a plenary session with keynote speakers from both the public and private sectors, where special attention was paid to health care, natural resources, agri & food, telecom,  technology, transport and logistics spheres.

William Connelly, Board member of ING, in his closing remarks mentioned that "The Russian market is growing and becoming more open, whilst at the same time the Dutch business environment is becoming more attractive for Russian entrepreneurs. We hope that the Netherlands-Russia year 2013 will strengthen these ties even further and bring about new business opportunities for both countries".

The Russian economy is becoming more and more attractive to foreign players. ING expects it will grow by 2-4% in the coming years, whilst Russia's potential growth rate should be 5% over the long term. Rob Ruhl, Head of Business Economics, ING CB participated in the session, touching upon business opportunities in Russia and the Netherlands by presenting his latest report on the Russian economy.

Interest in this event was overwhelming, with nearly 700 participants from both Russia and the Netherlands.