Lecture from Dutch Ambassador Renée Jones-Bos at RANEPA
On April 24, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Russia Renée Jones-Bos spoke at the Presidential Academy, giving a public lecture on Prospects and Examples of Dutch-Russian Business Cooperation.
RANEPA Rector Vladimir Mau introduced the Dutch diplomat and politician: “I am very grateful to Ms. Ambassador for agreeing to give a lecture at our Academy. We have very good warm relations, and a special thanks to Mr. Bartsits for organizing the event.” Ms. Renée Jones-Bos said it was her third visit to RANEPA including the Gaidar Forum.
The politician stressed the importance of education and urged students to “contribute to the future”: “There are common problems that we must address together, cooperating and helping each other — drugs, viruses, water supply, recycling, and much more. We must fight with maximum effort. It is important to understand what values we can create through our countries’ interaction. ”
She said she travels a lot around Russia, “adores the Russian culture, classic and modern writers,” and shared some experiences of cooperation between our countries, citing various Dutch projects implemented in Russia. Russia and the Netherlands have been cooperating for centuries, developing economic and trade ties.
“A difficult political situation has developed, but we are striving for dialogue and further development of our bilateral relations,” the lecturer emphasized. Answering questions, she explained that a lot depends on media coverage, which can have a negative effect like some Russophobic publications in European news sources. “Those who have been to Russia love it and we need to think about how to find solutions to the issues related to Ukraine,” Renée Jones-Bos said.
According to the Dutch Ambassador, we need to develop a long-term partnership in the development of technology, the energy sector, in business, agriculture, culture and certainly in education. “We have a great interest in cooperation, and we maintain a political dialogue, are interested in further academic student exchanges between our countries,” the politician added. “So we are setting relevant goals, identifying and resolving issues.”
Director of the RANEPA Institute of Public Administration and Civil Service Igor Bartsits thanked Ms. Renée Jones-Bos for her cooperation, noting that Holland is Russia’s major trade partner and an important partner for cooperation. “I very much hope that our cooperation will lead to more intensive student contacts so that the Academy students have the opportunity to take courses or programs at Dutch universities and there will be more students from the Netherlands in our programs,” he said.
On May 20, a presentation of opportunities for Academy students as part of the education partnership with the Netherlands will be held in Room 327 of Building 5 on RANEPA campus on Prospekt Vernadskogo.