April 2015

No 19

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Newsletter No. 19

THE AMBASSADOR OF COLOMBIA TO THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS, JUAN JOSÉ QUINTANA, PRESENTED THE LETTER OF 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.  

In a cordial environment, H.M. the K i n g W i l l e m - A l e x a n d e r a n d A m b a s s a d o r Q u i n t a n a h a d a conversation about the main subjects o f the b i la te ra l agenda. The Ambassador took advantage of this opportunity to reiterate the interest of the Government of President Juan Manuel Santos in continuing to s t r e n g t h e n t h e f r i e n d l y a n d cooperat ive re lat ions between Colombia and the Netherlands.   A m b a s s a d o r Q u i n t a n a w a s 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.

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On 28 March at 11:30 a.m., KLM’s Boeing 777-200 took off from Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands towards El Dorado Airport in Bogotá, Colombia.   The President and CEO of KLM, Pieter E l b e r s , 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 th i r teen jou r na l i s t s f rom n ine 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.   During their stay in Bogota and Cali,

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: http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/nacional/aerolinea-klm-vuelve-volar-colombia-despues-de-20-anos-articulo-552406   http://www.elpais.com.co/elpais/cali/noticias/klm-ya-aterrizo-suelo-caleno   http://www.parool.nl/parool/nl/4/AMSTERDAM/article/detail/3932250/2015/03/28/KLM-blijft-ondanks-bezuinigingsoperatie-bestemmingen-toevoegen.dhtml

KLM RETURNS TO COLOMBIA

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 2015. 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 2017.  

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OUTSTANDING PARTICIPATION OF COLOMBIA IN THE GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON CYBERSPACE

(GCCS 2015)

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Fuente: PUM. Fuente: PUM Holanda.

Newsletter No. 19

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 the Netherlands, Maryem van den Heuvel. The Ambassador of Colombia to the Netherlands, Juan José Quintana, was among

LUNCH BETWEEN GRULAC AND THE DIRECTOR OF THE WESTERN HERMISPHERE DEPARTMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE NETHERLANDS

The fourth edition of the World Bicycle Forum took place in Medellin between 26 February and 1st March, with the presence of 6.495 attendees from 39 countries and 75 Colombian cities. This event promotes the use of

bicycles as an alternative transport to transform cities worldwide. During the forum, the challenges and opportun i t ies of urban cycl ing, considered an important factor for the productivity, competitiveness and quality of life of 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 n e e d f o r a b o o s t f r o m l o c a l governments. In this sense, four aspects

CYCLING: THE CHEAPER, HEALTHIER AND ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLIER WAY OF TRANSPORTATION

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.

should be taken into consideration in order to promote massive bicycle use in cit ies: infrastructure, civi l 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.

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Newsletter No. 19

MEASUREMENT OF RURAL PROPERTY VIA MOBILE PHONE: DO-IT-YOURSELF!

                          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 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. 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 del imitation 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.

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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 Minist ry 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

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 2015.

More information: https://www.sail.nl/en-2015/ships-sail-2015/participatingtallships/arc-gloria?lpg=5963

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.