On March 27, AmCham members and their guests were welcomed at the iconic vessel the ss Rotterdam. This beautiful landmark of the city of Rotterdam has served for many years as an important and well-known connection between Rotterdam and New York City. Considering this rich U.S. - NL history, the AmCham Rotterdam Chapter picked this location to host the Welcome Dinner honoring the arrival of U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra. Over 140 members and their guests were present to meet the new Ambassador in person. A strong representation of American companies, amongst many others, including Dow, DuPont, DLA Piper, ExxonMobil, FedEx, Greenberg Traurig, Philip Morris International and Pfizer were present.
The Chairman of the AmCham Rotterdam Chapter, Maarten Verburg, and AmCham President Wouter Paardekooper, addressed the new Ambassador and welcomed him to the AmCham community. As a token of appreciation, the Ambassador was gifted a special 1867 lithograph of the map of Wassenaar, the city were the new U.S. Embassy opened its doors this week.
The Ambassador, a born Dutchman, praised the AmCham community for its warm welcome to the Netherlands. He and his wife Diane truly enjoyed the first weeks being here. The already great transatlantic trade relation has not gone unnoticed however Ambassador Hoekstra emphasized that, especially in the current political climate, diplomacy is key. He closed of his speech by telling the audience that he's here to make the already great relationship between the U.S. and the Netherlands even better.
Besides the presence of the Ambassador, we also had the honor of welcoming a Congressional Delegation of five representatives. Congressman Bill Huizenga (Republican-Michigan, 2nd District), Congressman John “Judge” Carter (Republican-Texas, 31st District), Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen (Republican – New Jersey, 11th District), Congressman Gregory Meeks (Democrat-New York, 5th District) and Congressman Lloyd Doggett (Democrat-Texas, 35th District) were present and seated together with many AmCham members.
For an overview of the pictures please click here.
