Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende will be visiting Singapore and Japan from 22 to 27 October. Minister of Economic Affairs Maria Van der Hoeven, Minister of Education, Culture and Science Ronald Plasterk and members of the Innovation Platform will be accompanying him. The main aim of the trip is to discover joint opportunities for sustainable economic recovery. There are opportunities to be found in reciprocal investments, intensification of relations and enhanced cooperation aimed at stimulating innovation. This year Japan and the Netherlands are also celebrating 400 years of trade relations.

The Netherlands’ role as a landing field for Asian companies wanting to invest and expand in Europe will be discussed. Just as Singapore is the gateway to Asia for many western businesses, so is the Netherlands the gateway for Asian businesses in Europe. In Singapore and Japan there are close ties between science and business, and the delegation will participate in various meetings to learn more about their economic growth and recovery programmes. Both countries are high on the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index. The Netherlands currently occupies 10th place, but aims to re-enter the top 5; the delegation will be eager to learn where opportunities lie.

Mr Balkenende has several engagements in Singapore on Thursday 22 October, including meetings with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and President S.R. Nathan. Ms Van der Hoeven and members of the Innovation Platform will join the Prime Minister on his visit to the Marina Barrage. A number of Dutch companies were involved in the development and construction of this dam. In the evening there will be a working session with members of the Singaporean government and the Innovation Platform.

On Friday the delegation will attend a working breakfast with Dutch entrepreneurs. Mr Balkenende will then deliver the Singapore Lecture, entitled ‘Towards new global partnerships – economics, governance and values’. His visit to Singapore will close with a visit to the Aquatic Science Centre. The Centre, a pioneering institute bringing Dutch water knowledge to Singapore, was set up with the involvement of a number of institutes including Deltares, a Dutch institute for delta technology.

The official visit to Japan begins on Saturday 24 October. On Monday 26 October Mr Balkenende will have a number of meetings, including with the Emperor and Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. He will also lay a wreath at the British Commonwealth War Cemetery in Yokohama in memory of Dutch victims of the Second World War. On Tuesday 27 October he will be receiving an honorary doctorate from Keio University. In his acceptance speech he will address the need to link moral values with economic development. During his visit to Japan Mr Balkenende and members of the Innovation Platform will also have the opportunity to hear about innovation and investment at companies such as Fujifilm, Océ, DSM and Mitsubishi Motors.

Ms Van der Hoeven, who will be participating in the Singapore leg only since she has to attend the upcoming parliamentary debate on the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ budget, will be delivering the opening speech at a seminar on innovation in water technology. The seminar marks the launch of the Netherlands Waterhouse in Singapore. Ms Van der Hoeven will also be visiting Keppel Seghers, a company which offers a wide range of environmental solutions, and will meet with the chair of the Singaporean government agency responsible for stimulating SMEs.

During a visit to the Biopolis biomedical park Ms Van der Hoeven will call at Merck's translational medicine research centre. She will also visit Hyflux, a company specialising in water-treatment techniques. During a boat trip around the port the Minister will learn about the activities of a number of Dutch companies, including Van Oord, Vopak, Smit Internationale, PA and Keppel, before visiting the Shell refinery and ending her programme at Philips Singapore.

Mr Plasterk will be visiting the Dutch school in Singapore on Thursday 22 October. He will then meet his Singaporean counterpart, before travelling to Japan the same evening. His first appointment in Japan will be at the former Dutch trading post Deshima, which witnessed the initial contacts between the Netherlands and Japan 400 years ago. Mr Plasterk will then visit the Nagasaki Museum of History and Culture and the Dutch Studies Department at the University of Nagasaki. On Sunday 25 October his itinerary will focus on game design and will include meetings with the designers of world-famous video games such as Donkey Kong and PacMan and the Wii gaming console.

On Monday 26 October after the wreath-laying ceremony in Yokohama and the meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister in Tokyo Mr Plasterk will visit two universities (creative and biomedical industries) and a university medical centre (DNA analysis). On Tuesday 27 October the focus will shift to culture, and Mr Plasterk will visit the ‘De Liefde’ windmill, attend the opening of a Dutch Design exhibition and be given a cultural tour of Tokyo.

The Innovation Platform brings together members of the government and key figures in business, science and education. Its aim is to strengthen the Netherlands’ innovative capacity and knowledge economy. Prime Minister Balkenende chairs the Innovation Platform. The following members of the Platform will be accompanying the Prime Minister and Ministers Plasterk and Van der Hoeven on this trip: Hans de Boer, Piet Borst, Robbert Dijkgraaf, Wiebe Draijer, Suzanne Hulscher, Marjan Oudeman, Feike Sijbesma, René Smit, Kees Tetteroo, Melek Usta, Bas Verhart and Claudia Zuiderwijk.

RVD, 08.10.2009