Foreword by Her Excellency Mrs. Tanya van Gool, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Romania As a young member state of the EU, Romania with its large internal market, the need for investments, the availability of European funds, its well educated workforce and other comparative advantages, offers good opportunities for foreign investments and trade. We are happy with the longstanding commercial relationship between The Netherlands and Romania, which has developed rapidly in the last two decades. The approach in which the government and the private sector have joined forces proved successful in the past while we have no doubt it will also in the future contribute to this development. We are therefore pleased that you were interested to join this trade mission, organised on the occasion of the visit of our Vice Minister for Foreign Trade, Mr. Roderick van Schreven. The most important objective of this visit is to further strengthen the bilateral relations and show continued and lasting Netherlands commitment as one of the biggest foreign investors in Romania. Between 27 and 28 September Vice Minister Van Schreven will meet with high level representatives of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business Environment, the Ministry of Transports and Infrastructure, the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the Ministry of Public Finance and the Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism. Also part of the programme will be discussions with the Romanian National Bank and the private banking sector. In addition, Vice Minister Van Schreven will host a reception in the evening of the 27th September, paying tribute to the 130 years of diplomatic relations between Romania and The Netherlands. I warmly welcome the initiative of this trade mission that – I hope and trust – will broaden and deepen the economic ties between The Netherlands and Romania. I am looking forward to the identification of new possibilities for bilateral cooperation, from government to government, public private partnerships and even more important: in terms of private business. I therefore wish al participants a successful mission! Ambassador Tanya van Gool