In the period from 23 to 25 November Rotterdam delegation (the Kingdom of the Netherlands) headed by Mr. Ahmed Aboutaleb, the Mayor of Rotterdam, visited St. Petersburg. On November 25 in Smolny the meeting of G.S. Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, with Mr. Aboutaleb took place.
In the period from 23 to 25 November Rotterdam delegation (the Kingdom of the Netherlands) headed by Mr. Ahmed Aboutaleb, the Mayor of Rotterdam, visited St. Petersburg. On November 25 in Smolny the meeting of G.S. Poltavchenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg, with Mr. Aboutaleb took place.
During the meeting the outcomes and perspectives of cooperation between two cities were discussed. Next year the 30-th anniversary of partnership between St. Petersburg and Rotterdam will be celebrated.
G.S. Poltavchenko noted that Cross-Year of Russia and the Netherlands activated contacts between St. Petersburg and Rotterdam. He underlined that cooperation with the Netherlands is one of the priority directions in the international and external economic activities of St. Petersburg. (According to the results of the previous year its volume is amounted to US dollars 3.8 billion. The Netherlands is among five top countries invsesting in the economy of St. Petersburg.)
Ahmed Aboutaleb marked the important role of Russia and St. Petersburg in the international trade of the Netherlands. (More than 30% of all the oil transferred to Rotterdam port is the oil from Russia.)
During the discussion the following priority directions for the future cooperations were defined: to increase of cargo transportation volumes, to provide St. Petersburg residents with high quality food, to preserve the cultural and historical heritage of the Russian Northern capital, and also to develop mutual cultural, youth and student exchange programs. Apart from this, Rotterdam is ready to share its experience in city protection against flood damage.
For further improvement of mutually beneficial partnership the Regulation on the Cooperation Council between St. Petersburg and Rotterdam is approved. Such form of cooperation will be used in the practice of joint work between two cities for the first time.
One of the key points of the visit program of the Mayor of Rotterdam was also to participate in the Opening Ceremony of the Business Forum Culture and Business for the development of historic cities which was held on November 25 in the permises of the main museum complex of the State Hermitage. The main task of the forum was to consider modern architectural solutions and approaches and their influence on the existing architecture of the large cities.
On November 24 in the Concert Hall of Mariinsky Theater the concert of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by maestro V. Gergiev took place. The musicians palyed the music written by Mussorgsky and Stravinsky.