The Minister Plenipotentiary Ady Thijsen continued with his meetings to seek cooperation near municipalities in the Netherlands and thus paid a visit to the mayor of Tilburg Theo Weterings.
In his introduction Minister Thijsen took forward his vision and management to make Aruba more visible in the Netherlands. Not only in The Hague, where the Government of the Netherlands is based, but also with municipalities and provinces. This is how he spoke about the five pillars on which his management and vision are concentrated. Next to The Hague and the municipalities, it seeks to approach institutes, Hogeschool and universities.
Also in his contacts with embassies, Minister Thijsen looks for ways of cooperation that could be beneficial for Aruba. Finally, Minister Thijsen said that Arubahouse is for the Aruban community in the Netherlands. Taking this into account, the president asked mayor Weterings what the situation was like for student rooms/housing in Tilburg. Mr. Weterings replied that the situation in Tilburg is the same as other cities with many students in the Netherlands and that this has a high priority near the municipal government of Tilburg. The challenge according to mayor Weterings is to find localities to build more student housing. Mayor Weterings said that in the so-called knowledge quarter in Tilburg West there is room to build 25 thousand housing units, a large part for students.
In his conversation with Minister Thijsen, the mayor said that Tilburg was known for the textile industry. After this industry closed, Tilburg experienced a lot of unemployment. What happened is that Tilburg chose important aspects of the textile industry and made good use of this technique. A very strong sector was also created in metals as well as transport and logistics. At the same time, Tilburg invests heavily in companies that develop new technologies. Tilburg was expanded on the grounds of horticulture and most of all the “floriculture” which is exported all over the world to embed squares and gardens.
Minister Thijsen said that Aruba also chose the path of innovative and new technologies, such as the use of LNG and then for hydrogen with the establishment of a Hydrogen Valley in Aruba that should become the trendsetter for the Caribbean and Latin America region. Burgemeester Weterings invited Minister Thijsen to come once again to Tilburg in the form of a working visit, where he could show Minister Thijsen the changes that had taken place in Tilburg. In this regard, it would also be useful to visit some educational institutes in Tilburg. Minister Thijsen thanked mayor Weterings for the pleasant invitation and reception at the state house of Tilburg and presented a gift to Mr. Weterings as a souvenir of Minister Thijsen’s visit to the mayord of Tilburg.