THE AMBASSADOR OF COLOMBIA TO THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS, JUAN JOSÉ CREDENCE TO H.M. THE KING WILLEM-ALEXANDER

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1 April 2015 No 19

2 Newsletter No. 19 THE AMBASSADOR OF COLOMBIA TO THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS, JUAN JOSÉ Q U I N TA N A, P R E S E N T E D T H E L E T T E R O F CREDENCE TO H.M. THE KING WILLEM-ALEXANDER On 22 April 2015, the new Ambassador of Colombia to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Juan José Quintana, presented the Letter of Credence to His Majesty the King Willem-Alexander. In accordance with traditional Dutch protocol, Ambassador Quintana was taken to the Noordeinde Palace by royal carriage and received with honors by the Royal Guard. Following their rendering of the Colombian national anthem, the Ambassador greeted the military formation and entered the Palace, where he was received by H.M. the King Willem-Alexander. 1 In a cordial environment, H.M. the King Willem-Alexander and Ambassador Quintana had a conversation about the main subjects of the bilateral agenda. The Ambassador took advantage of this opportunity to reiterate the interest of the Government of President Juan Manuel Santos in continuing to strengthen the friendly and cooperative relations between Colombia and the Netherlands. Ambassador Quintana was accompanied by his wife, Mrs. María del Rosario Navia Díaz, as well as by four diplomatic officers from the Embassy and the Consulate of Colombia in Amsterdam.

3 KLM RETURNS TO COLOMBIA On 28 March at 11:30 a.m., KLM s Boeing took off from Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands towards El Dorado Airport in Bogotá, Colombia. The President and CEO of KLM, Pieter Elbers, a n d t h e M i n i s t e r Plenipotentiary of the Embassy of Colombia to The Netherlands, Álvaro Gutiérrez Botero, together with thirteen journalists from nine European countries, composed the group of participants on board the inaugural flight KL754. After the arrival of the KLM flight, a ceremony took place at El Dorado Airport with Government officials, including the Colombian Deputy Minister for Tourism, Sandra Howard, and the Vice-president of Tourism Promotion of Procolombia, Enrique Stellabatt. the participants attended different business and cultural activities, evidencing the actively growing bilateral relations among both countries. The direct flight following the route Amsterdam-Bogotá-Cali operates on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. For further information see: nacional/aerolinea-klm-vuelve-volarcolombia-despues-de-20-anosarticulo noticias/klm-ya-aterrizo-suelo-caleno AMSTERDAM/article/detail/ /2015/03/28/KLM-blijft-ondanksbezuinigingsoperatie-bestemmingentoevoegen.dhtml 4 April

4 OUTSTANDING PARTICIPATION OF COLOMBIA IN THE GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON CYBERSPACE (GCCS 2015) The Kingdom of the Netherlands hosted the Fourth Global Conference on Cyberspace (GCCS 2015), which took place in The Hague from 16 to 17 April The Deputy Minister of Technology and Information Systems of Colombia, María Isabel Mejía Jaramillo, attended this event. The National Police of Colombia was also represented in the event by Lt. Col. Fredy Bautista García, Chief of the Colombian Police s Cyber Center, and Lt. Col. Carlos Alfredo Currea Barrera, Head of the AMERIPOL Unit. The Embassy of Colombia was part of the delegation and provided support to the Colombian participants throughout the event. Deputy Minister Mejía was invited to participate in the panel of experts during the session Exploring the best (and most fun) tools in cyber security education, where she had the opportunity to present her project enticconfio - Cyber Security Children awareness Sesame Street "Monstruos en Red". For their part, Cols. Currea Barrera and Bautista García participated in the panel of experts during the session Cybercrime - Improving international cooperation. Representatives from governments, private sector, as well as civil society and academia from many different countries, gathered to address issues such as capacity building in cybersecurity and possible ways of regulating responsible use of cyberspace, among others. During the closing ceremony, Mexico was announced as the host of the next Global Conference on Cyberspace, to be held in

5 LUNCH BETWEEN GRULAC AND THE DIRECTOR OF THE WESTERN HERMISPHERE DEPARTMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE NETHERLANDS On 24 April 2015, the Latin American and Caribbean Group GRULAC met in a working lunch with the Director of the Western Hemisphere Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Fuente: PUM Holanda. the Netherlands, Maryem van Fuente: PUM. den Heuvel. The Ambassador of Colombia to the Netherlands, Juan José Quintana, was among the attendees at the event during which the recent Summit of the Americas held in Panama, in which the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, participated as observer, was discussed. CYCLING: THE CHEAPER, HEALTHIER AND ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLIER WAY OF TRANSPORTATION bicycles as an alternative transport to transform cities worldwide. The fourth edition of the World Bicycle Forum took place in Medellin between 26 February and 1 st March, with the presence of attendees from 39 countries and 75 Colombian During the forum, the challenges and opportunities of urban cycling, considered an important factor for the productivity, competitiveness and quality of life of %2520CBI/subweb/integratedcountry-programme-colombia-/ city inhabitants, were discussed Although Colombia is interested in cycling, there are still gaps in the coordination between civil society, the private and public sectors, as well the need for a boost from local governments. In this sense, four aspects April

6 should be taken into consideration in order to promote massive bicycle use in cities: infrastructure, civil society participation, policy and regulatory aspects, as well as operational aspects. On 20 April 2015 the Dutch Enterprise Agency (RVO), administered by the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands, presented the results of a research it conducted on this sector in Colombia, identifying opportunities for c o l l a b o r a t i o n, a n d t r a n s f e r o f knowledge and technology between both countries in this area. MEASUREMENT OF RURAL PROPERTY VIA MOBILE PHONE: DO-IT-YOURSELF! In fact, one of the biggest challenges of Colombia s rural areas is formalizing title to rural properties and the accuracy of territorial information already gathered. These are essential conditions in order to develop economic activities in the rural areas of Colombia and create a favourable investment climate for companies and entrepreneurs. The Kadaster office and the IT Department of the University of Twente, both from the Netherlands, conducted research on the study carried out by Popayán s Secretariat of Agriculture s regional office on its Formalizing Programme. The study concerns data collection and analysis methods in the countryside. Once the research was finished, the abovementioned entities held a meeting in Bogota in order to discuss the measurements accuracy level. In May, the Kadaster office will explore an expedient and inexpensive method to measure the boundaries of parcels of rural properties with sufficient precision for these purposes. The method will be available in a mobile application and landowners will be able to make the delimitation of their property by themselves. These data will also be combined with aerial photographs and the evaluation of the results will be presented at the end of this year. 5

7 Moreover, a cooperation agreement on land management was signed between several Colombian and Dutch institutions: On the Colombian side, the national Geographical Institute Agustin Codazzi (IGAC), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), and the Office of Civil Registration (SNR); and on the Dutch side, the Agency of Cadastre, Land Registry, and Mapping (Kadaster) and the University of Twente. The parties agreed to collaborate on the project "Rural Property Formalization: Update of techniques for multipurpose cadastre". This project is funded by the Dutch Enterprise Agency (RVO). Newsletter No. 19 EVENTS Under the Promotion Plan of Colombia Abroad of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Embassy of Colombia will join the Netherlands tour of the Dutch trumpeter, Maite Hontelé, who s residence is in Medellin. Her first concert will be on the 4th of June at Paard van Troje in The Hague. The recognized trumpeter of Salsa Dura was nominated on 2014 in the category of Best Salsa Album with her single Déjame Así for the Latin Grammy s Award. integrated-country-programme-colombia-/ The Tall Training Ship of the Colombian Navy, ARC GLORIA, will participate in the ninth edition at one of the most attractive sailing events of the world, SAIL AMSTERDAM, from the 19th to the 23rd of August More information: 5 April