Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Republic of Kazakhstan Dirk Jan Kop and Senior Economic Policy Advisor of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Kazakhstan Medgat Olzhayev visited S. Toraighyrov Pavlodar State University.

At the meeting with economists, political scientists, historians, there was talk of the social and economic development of the Netherlands and the successful 25-year cooperation with Kazakhstan.

The meeting passed into a live conversation, where everyone could ask the question of interest.

Questions related to a wide range of topics: digitalization, agriculture. Regarding the latter, Mr. Ambassador said that the population of Kazakhstan is comparable to the population of the Netherlands, but the territory of Kazakhstan is 65 times larger. He also added that Holland is the second country after the United States of America in amount of the food export, despite such a small territory.

In addition, the Ambassador paid attention on the needs of specialists in applied professions. As an illustrative example, he told about the situation with Dutch-made greenhouse complexes, for effective yield and profitability of which, agronomists with field-oriented specialization of work in hothouse complexes are needed. 

No less urgent need, according to the Ambassador, exists today in the market of specialists for operation of navigation on the Caspian Sea. Dirk Jan Kop noted that the lion's share of ships, floating hotels and other infrastructure was produced in the Netherlands. At the same time, shipping is carried out by specialists hired under a contract from Ukraine.

By these two examples, the Ambassador indicated the high importance of applied professions for the economy of Kazakhstan, saying that being a carpenter, mounter or water supply engineer is nothing to be ashamed of. In Holland, such professions are always respected and well paid.

Speaking about the environment, Dirk Jan Kop described how the burning of solid household waste and a number of wastes of large industrial production will allow to direct carbon emissions into greenhouses, thereby multiply raise the economic and ecological positive effect for Kazakhstan.