MaartenCamps: solving Agricultural problems through Innovation

The picture shows MaartenCamps, secretary-general of the Dutch Ministry of economy. (photo source: photo by Liang Bin of Sina Finance)

Sina Financial News "2015 fourth China International Agricultural and Business Summit Forum" was held in Beijing on May 17th. The picture above shows MaartenCamps, secretary-general of the Dutch Ministry of economy.

The following is a transcript of the speech:

Maarten Gamps: good morning, everyone. I am very honored to share my views on agricultural affairs.

We are very pleased to be able to establish a close and frequent relationship with China (from the lowest to the highest levels).

We are very honored to be received by President Xi Jinping in 2014. in the presence of our king, we explained to the leaders of China the current situation of agriculture in the Netherlands. President Xi chose the Netherlands on his first stop in Europe. During this visit, we also discussed opportunities in China's agricultural sector, and this year our Prime Minister and 17 Dutch companies visited China. Our oath is that the door is open, we must maintain close contact, and entrepreneurs are willing to actively cooperate with the fund, invest in China and trade with China. Huawei recently opened three offices in the Netherlands, and Huawei's Dutch CEO also told us about their vision, about our open mind and the atmosphere of innovation in the Netherlands that attracted Huawei.

For many years, the Netherlands and China have been working hard to cooperate. The Netherlands is constantly building fields to prevent the sea water from rushing into my farmland. We must use the spirit of optimism, cooperation and innovation, which has always been the survival instinct of our country. Because 2/3 of the land area of this country is below sea level. We not only have tulips, our mentality is an open international economic mentality, of course, we have a lot of Chinese friends, not to mention that all our cities have Chinatowns, and our supermarkets have a variety of good Chinese products, we also have a global economic position.

Although our country is only 2.5 times the size of Beijing, although we cannot reach 1.3 billion of China's population, we will not have 120 major cities with a population of more than one million, and our largest city has only 700000 people. but we cannot achieve China's economic growth rate of 7%. The Netherlands is the second largest exporter of agriculture in the world, and we are also the largest vegetable seed in the world. Exporters of tomato seeds. The port of Rotterdam has access to all over Europe. Now the business data on our website is also very large. we have a good system to encourage all kinds of innovation and hope that they can share knowledge and innovation with each other. Dutch companies know the potential of China's economic economy. and this potential is constantly increasing, of which more than 1000 Dutch enterprises have invested and set up factories in China.

China's innovation is also very good. China is already the largest economy in the world, and the degree of internationalization is quite good. The Netherlands is China's second largest trading partner in the EU and the third largest EU investor in China. More than 500 Chinese companies, including Huawei, have invested in the Netherlands, while Chinese companies have been increasing their investment in the Netherlands, and some well-known Dutch brands have been owned by Chinese investors.

We are faced with some global challenges. If the problems of climate change and food security are not well solved, and the world's population has increased from 7 billion to 9 billion, where will the food come from? Some people say that by 2050, 70% of the world's population will be urban, including many countries in the world. How will food be distributed? Whether we have enough food or not, these problems will not be solved in time. We cannot solve them through trade alone. We need to deal with these problems together through innovation and cooperation. We call it the Dutch solution to global challenges.

The economic policy of the Netherlands is to develop through innovation and cooperation. It includes cooperation in three areas to create opportunities, including cooperation among Dutch entrepreneurs, policies and scientists. They all share their expertise openly, sharing their expertise as much as possible, and successful cooperation, which is why we have won the first place in the world in nine economic areas. At the same time, we carry out innovation activities, there are some very good innovation plans and companies as well as scientists. We attach great importance to these nine industries, including energy, logistics, life sciences, chemical industry, water resources, agricultural products and horticulture.

So our economic center has also become a center of knowledge, cooperating with scientists from all over the world. Now a Dutch scientific research institution is helping China's chemical and extractive industries to develop safely. At the same time, we have a wealth of experience in water resources, and we are now working together on all continents, and our engineers and urban planners share with other countries how to deal with floods, and how we should store water scientifically. How to treat water, how to carry out hydropower, and so on. Chinese dairy enterprises are also working with our universities to improve the quality of their dairy products. A good example is that the Holland House Program provides a good platform for cooperation between Chinese and Dutch enterprises in the field of agricultural products. Including China and Europe Business School also participate in our cooperation.

We invest together in agriculture and horticulture, and this investment is long-term, and these industries are now the most innovative industries in the world. About 40% of Dutch agricultural products and horticultural products, including seeds and flowers, are our export competitive products, and we are very competitive in flower stems and agricultural seeds. We also have expertise in the construction of greenhouses, including irrigation, logistics, information consulting and information communication, and I can say that we can meet the food needs of the growing population.

China, like other countries, is facing a serious food problem, which is a global challenge, and the Netherlands has its own solution. We improve our lives through agricultural innovation. A Dutch company uses an inductive technology to understand the growth of crops, providing farmers with a variety of operating systems. Dutch farmers operate through computers on tractors. Sometimes they use data provided by satellites to know the location of each field. At the same time, they can also control the use of chemical fertilizers. Such innovations have been made in areas such as Tudou and others.

At the same time, we still have some blank space, which is very important for gardening, and we can also grow and grow agricultural products in office buildings through infrared technology, as well as a new mechanical technology. they will be able to open up their own economic fields, at the same time, some of our farmers have some mobile dairy equipment, not farmers to find milk stations, but milk stations to provide door-to-door services. These boxes contain special skills to protect crops. There are bees in this box. Through this innovation, they can reduce or avoid the use of pesticides.

Another example is to improve and be more intelligent in packaging. For example, a company can test all fresh products, while the seed company is constantly innovating, and innovation in the seed industry is very important. Tens of thousands of our relevant data and personnel are involved in this research, enabling us to provide a wide variety of seeds to promote the growth of agriculture, which is also a very good innovation-driven development. At the same time, we can protect seeds from fungi and other bacteria.

At the same time, we have also carried out a series of projects with local partners to meet the needs of local agricultural products. In China, Dutch enterprises have created a very interesting project. Scientists from Dutch universities have been working together in China Agricultural University. They are willing to share their knowledge. I think the food problem can be better solved if we take a series of measures. If Dutch seed companies can invest more easily, or Dutch products can be distributed more efficiently in China, if we can make full use of the close relationship in the past, at the same time create new partnerships, including new partners through e-commerce.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Netherlands has been hit by floods since the 17th century, which is a part of our lives. We have always attached great importance to innovation and cooperation. If our predecessors did not cooperate well in the 17th century, our future generations will not have the opportunity to cooperate and come to China. I want to solve global challenges through team spirit. China and the Netherlands can join hands, and the Dutch government attaches great importance to innovation and cooperation between the government, the business community and the intellectual community, including some cooperation projects that can complement and promote each other, including cooperation projects with China. I think the most important thing is that I learned from Chinese friends and Chinese people in Holland that we are all very optimistic people. I hope our optimism can also be well reflected in today's summit forum.

Thank you.