14 December 2021 12:00 am Views - 110
By Kelum Bandara
Ambassador of the Netherlands Tanja Gonggrijp, in an interview with Daily Mirror, said her country stands ready to support Sri Lanka in implementing its commitments to the UNHRC.
She said the Netherlands always aims to work to achieve the greater good for the global community and supports international efforts by the UN or other international mechanisms towards that goal. So yes, we would like to see a prosperous and stable Sri Lanka.
“As regularly underlined by the Netherlands, EU and the UN, this is possible only through genuinely addressing accountability issues and fostering true reconciliation. We appreciate the progress made by Sri Lanka since the end of the war and hope it will honour commitments it made before the international community in a timely manner,” she said.
Commenting on the success of the agriculture sector in her country, she said the Netherlands is not only the second-largest exporter of agricultural goods in the world, we are also regarded as a leader in efficient and sustainable agriculture. Nearly 20 years ago, the Netherlands made a commitment to work towards sustainable agriculture by aiming to produce twice as much food using half of the resources.
“Research and innovation facilitated by partnerships between government, farmers, industry, civil society and knowledge institutions like the University of Wageningen, have brought Dutch agriculture a long way. This has led to a reduction of dependence on water by 90 per cent and a considerable reduction of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, even almost eliminated in greenhouses. Today the Netherlands is aiming for circularity in agriculture, energy saving in the greenhouse sector and better animal welfare. I am convinced that sustainable and more organic farming is the only future-proof way of farming in the long run in any country; in the Netherlands, in Sri Lanka, anywhere. However, this transformation takes time and demands more research and innovation and long term planning and investments. No country can do it alone as supply chains are global. So indeed we aim to continue to improve our policy and support other countries like Sri Lanka on this road, too, and work together,” she said.