The Dutch Queen landed Tuesday morning at the airport of the capital Muscat. She and her accompanying delegation will first visit the palace of Sultan Qaboos for a welcome ceremony.

The visit “comes within the context of the advanced bilateral relations and reflects the keenness of the leaders of Oman and The Netherlands to foster the interests of their peoples”, a Diwan of Royal Court statement said.

The Dutch queen’s delegation include Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and his wife Máxima; Maxim Jacos Marcel Verhagen, Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation; Dr Uriel Rosenthal, Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Marco Hiens, First Minister of Royal Court.

It is the second time within one year that the Queen is visiting the Gulf State.

The focus of this state visit is to boost trade and economic relations with the United Arab Emirates. For this purpose a number of agreements will be signed in the presence of the queen. Wednesday the Queen will visit the port city of Sohar.

Sultan Qaboos Bin Said bid farewell to the queen, Crown Prince William Alexander, Princess Maxima, his wife, and the accompanying delegation who will leave the Sultanate on Thursday.

The queen, Prince William and his wife expressed their sincere thanks and appreciation to His Majesty, the government and the Omani citizens for the generous reception during their visit to the Sultanate. His Majesty wished them a happy stay and a safe return to their country.

Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima also visited Oman and the United Arab Emirates in 2009. See video below.

The Dutch Queen and her accompanying delegation were welcomed by Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on Monday at Zaabeel Palace.

During the meeting, they reviewed the relations of friendship and cooperation between the UAE and the Netherlands and discussed ways of strengthening them at various levels.

Shaikh Mohammad reaffirmed the importance of Queen Beatrix’s visit, which sets up opening wider avenues of cultural, political and economic cooperation between the two nations.

Queen Beatrix praised the UAE and the qualitative urban development its witnessing under the its wise leadership, and pointed out Dubai’s global reputation and success story, which she said have become a model for development on the national level.

HRH Willem-Alexander Prince of Orange and his spouse HRH Princess Maxima of the Netherlands also attended the meeting.

The opening ceremony’s theme was based entirely upon sustainability and innovation. In order to emphasise the sustainable nature of the new production line, the plant was officially opened with a literal ‘green footprint’. The Prince of Orange and Mr Komori made their footprint in green clay to open the factory.

Minister Verhagen of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation praised Fujifilm for being a company operating in the top economic sector which is helping to solve social issues. Mr Komori stressed the importance of the Tilburg factory to Fujifilm: the first and largest production facility outside of Japan. The Japanese ambassador to the Netherlands, Mr Koezuka spoke about the importancy of the economic relation between Japan and The Netherlands. The Queen’s Commissioner for Brabant, Mr Van de Donk and the Mayor of Tilburg, Mr Noordanus also attended the opening.

The green factory
The opening of the new production line potentially makes the Tilburg factory the largest in the world for offset plates. Among the workforce, the production line is known as ‘the green factory’ for a number of reasons. It will, for example, produce environment-friendly offset plates (these plates require less chemicals during the development process at the printers). Additionally, the new production line has a CTO (Co-generative Thermal Oxidizer). This is a form of afterburner which is fed with natural gas and waste gases from the factory. The energy thus generated can be fully re-introduced into the production process.

As well as making the current products more sustainable, Fujifilm is also striving to create a 100% carbon-neutral business. The five wind turbines on the site are already contributing 20% to this goal. Furthermore, the new products which are being developed here are aimed at green markets. Hence Fujifilm is currently developing membranes which make it possible to generate ‘blue energy’: energy obtained from the flow between salt water and fresh water.

The line is 330 metres long, with an average width of 35 metres and a maximum height of 22 metres. It was constructed using 850 tons of steel and 5500 m3 of concrete.

About FUJIFILM Manufacturing Europe B.V.
FUJIFILM Manufacturing Europe B.V. in Tilburg, the Netherlands, is one of the largest FUJIFILM production companies outside of Japan. The company was founded in 1982, and employs around 900 people on a 63 hectare site. FUJIFILM Tilburg produces both offset plates and photographic paper, as well as having its own Research and Development team. FUJIFILM Tilburg has been producing offset plates for the graphics industry since 1991. Printers use these plates to print newspapers, magazines and packaging materials (in the offset process), for example.

Source: FUJIFILM Manufacturing Europe B.V. press release, 8 December 2011

In keeping with the climate of austerity, the Dutch Queen flew commercial during her trip to Aruba.

Queen Beatrix flew with Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima with a regular commercial flight to Aruba for an official visit. There she was welcomed for a visit to the Caribbean islands. No one on board knew of the royal visit, despite a hint of the captain, “We leave Schiphol Airport southward via Wassenaar.

The visit officially starts Friday. The royal family will travel to the other islands by government jet.

It is the second state visit by the Dutch Queen to Germany, in the theme of “the new Germany. ” The first state visit, was still in 1982 to West Germany.

Exactly twenty years ago, on April 25, 1991, Queen Beatrix was the first foreign Head of State who made an official visit to the reunited Germany.

Netherlands maintains both economic and political relations with Germany. Netherlands is the largest foreign investor in Germany and the trade volume between the two countries covering more than 130 billion Euros per year.

During this state visit there is a lot of focus on the development made by Germany since reunification in 1990.

The queen is also accompanied by a political delegation: Minister Rosenthal and State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Knapen and Minister of Economic Affairs Maxime Verhagen, will each attend a part of the program.

Photo By PeterXIII

From March 24 to May 20, 2011 the focus will be on Holland’s eastern neighbors with the theme “Germany: Land of Poets and Philosophers.” The most popular draw at this year’s Keukenhof is sure to be the flower bulb mosaic of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

25,000 Tulips, planted nearby the real “Brandenburger Tor,” will be in full bloom when Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, the Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima will be in Berlin during an official state visit in September of 2011.

“The Park is thankfully already in splendid shape. Most of the lawns are green and a great many bulbs are blooming,” said Mr. Walter Jansen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Keukenhof.

Van Gogh Tulip
World famous painter Vincent van Gogh also got his own tulip, about 120 years after his death. On Monday evening, March 21st, Mr. Axel Ruger, director of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, baptized this special tulip. The color of the Van Gogh tulip is red-brown. The cultivator of the bulb is J.S. Pennings-De Bilt from Breezand, the Netherlands. The Vincent van Gogh tulip grows to be approx. 50 to 60 cm (approx. 20 inches) in length. The baptism, in cooperation with the Keukenhof, coincided with the opening of the exhibit “Van Gogh in Bloom” at the Van Gogh Museum. Van Gogh never painted tulips, but he loved flowers.

Keukenhof was originally the herb garden (“keuken” means kitchen in Dutch) of the Countess of Holland, Jacoba van Beyeren (1401-1436). In 1840, the horticultural architects Zocher, a father and son, designed the park that forms the basis of the current Keukenhof. They also designed the noted Vondelpark in Amsterdam.

The Keukenhof Gardens, open to the public from March 24 to May 20, can be visited daily from 8:00am to 7:30pm (ticket office open until 6:00pm). Entrance fee is 14,50 Euro (approx. US $20) for adults and 7,00 Euro (approx. US $9) for children. Keukenhof can be reached by train and bus, or by car and combination tickets are available when traveling by bus from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

The annual flower parade from Noordwijk to Haarlem, the largest in Holland, will take place on Saturday, April 16th.

SOURCE Keukenhof Gardens

The betrothed couple send out the invitations late last month for their wedding on April 29. There are about 1900 people welcome at the ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London.

Among are a thousand friends and relatives of the couple, fifty members of the British royal family and two hundred foreign royals. Also welcome are two hundred politicians, including Prime Minister Cameron.

After the public part of the day follows a private reception at Buckingham Palace for six hundred guests, followed by a dinner for three hundred.

1,900 people will attend the wedding ceremony, only 650 have also been invited to the formal reception at Buckingham Palace.

The celebrations will end with a smaller party for around 300 close friends of the happy couple.

It is not know if Willem-Alexander and Máxima will also be at the reception and dinner after the wedding.

The day after the wedding it is Queensday in the Netherlands and the two will be expected in the Limburg Weert and Thorn.

On the website officialroyalwedding2011.org everything can be found about the upcoming wedding, which will take place on April 29.

Prince William breaks with an ancient tradition: he is not going to start wearing a wedding ring.

The Dutch royal couple travels together with Secretary of Economic Affairs along with many Dutch entrepreneurs. His colleague Atsma (Infrastructure and Environment), is about cooperation between the two countries in water management and climate.

Prince Willem-Alexander travels along because of his expertise, as water and delta technology is one of the important issues that will be covered.

Vietnam with its long coastline needs to improve many roads, waterways and harbors: a chance for the Dutch civil engineering.

March will be a busy month for the royal couple: Both accompany Queen Beatrix during her state visit to Oman on 6 and 7 March and on 9 and March 10 they go along on a state visit to Qatar and from 28 to 31 March they are in Vietnam.

Calderon welcomed the queen at a ceremony in Mexico’s National Palace, where he will host a dinner in her honor.

The queen arrived just before midday for a trip that will include meetings with Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, according to a schedule released by the Dutch embassy here.

Queen Beatrix is also scheduled to visit Mexico City’s famous National Museum of Anthropology and participate in a meeting on energy.

The royal will spend the last two days of the trip visiting the Mexican states of Guanajuato and Hidalgo.

In her toast during the state banquet the Queen praised the president and his government to tackle the crisis, which the SMEs are supported. “A strong and prosperous middle class constitutes the backbone of a democratic society.” Beatrix also expressed words of appreciation for tackling crime.

The queen is accompanied by Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, and his wife Princess Maxima.

The Dutch prince and princess were in New York last week to celebrate the 400 year anniversary of Dutch captain Henry Hudson’s discovery of New York. They brought a visit to the White House in Washington where the Royal couple was received by Michelle and Barack Obama. “The atmosphere was very relaxed and cordial,” according to the crown prince. The president, who last week announced plans for a new care system in the U.S., said Willem-Alexander to give an outline of health care in the Netherlands.

First Lady Michelle Obama met with the Prince and Princess first to have tea and exchange gifts. President Barack Obama joined later for a conversation with the Dutch royal couple.

Healthcare was an important theme of the meeting, which lasted around half an hour.

The President uses the Dutch healthcare system as an example in several occasions, said Willem-Alexander in a report on nu.nl.

He finds it “a good system, and there are certain elements he would like to take on.”

Healthcare has been a contentious issue for the US President, as opposition to an overhaul of the current system became louder over the summer. Tens of thousands of protesters marched on the U.S. Capitol against proposed his reforms Saturday.

President Obama thanked the couple for the Dutch cooperation in Afghanistan and asked Willem-Alexander as IOC member would support the candidacy of Chicago for the Olympic Games in 2016.

The Dutch prince and princess were impressed with the “Job Swap” program, an exchange between workers from New York and the Netherlands. A Dutch teacher and a Dutch fireman from the Netherlands worked along with their counterparts in the Big Apple.

The royal couple experienced “an incredible visit” in New York. “We had good relations emphasize four hundred years”, said Willem-Alexander. “All the energy we have invested in the celebration is definitely worth it.” Shared values of freedom and tolerance were key, but according to Princess Máxima of the Netherlands.