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November newsletter of the Consulate General of the Netherlands
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Dear reader,


There are moments when I’m proud to be Consul General of the Netherlands. The Social Capital Markets conference is one of those occasions. A delegation of 17 Dutch social enterprises presented themselves to investors and fellow social enterprises at SOCAP 2018. The Dutch delegation, wearing orange key cords and handing out stroopwafels, was the talk of the town, and many people asked me how the Dutch pulled it off. The Netherlands is a frontrunner when it comes to social enterprises. I think it’s our belief that social responsibility can go hand in hand with a profitable business. Combine that with an innovative spirit and you have a strong dynamic as well as an interesting group of businesses that not only want to make a profit but also do good.

From tech to fashion and infrastructure, Los Angeles is booming. To strengthen our business network and meet new contacts, we’ll set up a pop-up consulate in downtown Los Angeles. The move of the consulate from Los Angeles to San Francisco nine years ago had a big impact on people in the Dutch community in Southern California. They had to travel by plane to renew their passport. To make things easier, we’ll also bring the mobile passport station to the pop-up consulate, so people with an appointment can apply for a new travel document.

I’m looking forward to renewing our connections in LA and meeting you all there. Let me know who I should meet during that week!


Best,
 
Gerbert Kunst
Consul General

The Netherlands Consulate is coming to LA! 
Pop-up Consulate Los Angeles 
After the big move from Los Angeles to the Bay Area nine years ago, the Netherlands Consulate General is back in the City of Angels from December 3-7 for a pop-up consulate. You can visit the pop-up at the WeWork Fine Arts Building in downtown Los Angeles. In addition to a series of events – the opening of the Anne Frank exhibition and the launch of the Playbook Los Angeles – our Consular Affairs team is setting up a mobile passport station. This service is offered from December 3-6 to those who cannot reasonably be expected to visit one of our passport offices.
LA Playbook: A Guide to Success 

From tech to entertainment, sustainability, and fashion, Los Angeles is booming. More and more Dutch businesses are exploring opportunities in LA, which would be the world’s 16th largest economy if it was an independent country. With increasing investments in public transportation, infrastructure, and foreign trade, the city has a lot to offer Dutch entrepreneurs.

The Consulate General of the Netherlands presents Playbook Los Angeles, a roadmap for Dutch businesses that want to explore their chances in LA. With stories from successful Dutch businesses and tips and tricks on how to do business in La La Land.

The Playbook LA will be launched on December 4. Please follow our social media to discover it yourself!

Consular Affairs: The Mobile Passport Station

Good news for the Dutch community in Los Angeles: You can renew your passport at the pop-up consulate. We’ll bring a mobile passport station for your fingerprints. If you wish to sign up for an appointment, please fill out and submit this form. Make sure to carefully read the instructions to prevent a rejection of your appointment.

For information about Dutch nationality, passport applications, and other consular matters, please visit this link. For information or questions about the appointments, please email sfn-ca@minbuza.nl.

Pop-up Consulate General in Los Angeles!
The Dutch Social Impact Revolution Back at SOCAP

This year, 17 social enterprises represented the Dutch delegation at the Social Capital Markets conference (SOCAP). Last year, the Netherlands joined the conference for the very first time, and now, the success story of the Dutch social enterprises continues. Their businesses ranged from fossil-fuel free shipping worldwide to turning waste pickers into waste managers. Though the goals were specific for each business, they all hoped to connect to social impact investors and learn best practices from other social enterprises from all over the world.

“The San Francisco Bay Area tops the list of global startup ecosystems, and is the place where the world’s leaders in social entrepreneurship gather,” said Consul General Gerbert Kunst. “This is exactly where Dutch social entrepreneurs can excel and showcase their outstanding businesses.”

The Netherlands is a frontrunner when it comes to social entrepreneurship, having grown in the past decade from a social entrepreneurship landscape that was basically non-existent to one consisting of nearly 6,000 social enterprises. On top of that, the social enterprise sector in the Netherlands enjoyed a 75 percent growth in collective business revenues, which is worth up to 3.5 billion euros. This amount constitutes 3 percent of the total GDP growth in the Netherlands.

The Dutch social impact revolution returns to SOCAP! 
Closing the e-waste Loop at the Consulate

Remember your first cell phone? It could probably only save a handful of text messages. What to do with all those old phones and other electronic waste?

Following the success of its first edition during the Global Climate Action Summit 2018, Holland Circular Hotspot hosted another event at the consulate. This time, Closing the Loop, a social enterprise that rescues end-of-life phones from emerging markets and safely recovers the embedded materials, led the breakfast session. Providing participants with an interactive event surrounding the themes e-waste and urban mining, Closing the Loop demonstrated its ideas about the future of a circular economy.

The Netherlands aims to have a fully circular economy by 2050. Companies, governments, and organizations play a key role in achieving this. Social enterprises do, too. Ultimately, the purpose of this Holland Circular Hotspot event with Dutch social enterprise Closing the Loop is to encourage people to consider a circular economy as a necessary concept and a groundbreaking way of improving life worldwide.

From Anchorage to Kodiak: Visiting the Last Frontier
Alaska calls itself the Last Frontier, but when it comes to renewable energy it might be the first frontier! Consul General Kunst travelled to the island of Kodiak, the second largest island in the United States. Kodiak runs 100 percent on renewable energy generated by a hydro plant and a windfarm.

He also visited the fisheries and the processing industry of Kodiak Island. Exports from Alaska to the Netherlands consist mainly of fish. As for the processing industry, the Netherlands is the 6th largest trading partner. More than 90% of trade is in seafood, which is worth up to $180 million. Kodiak is an exporter of Alaskan Pollock, which is used for the Dutch kibbeling. In Anchorage, he met with the Dutch company Arcadis and several city and state officials
Consul General Gerbert Kunst visiting the processing industry in Kodiak
"Anne Frank, a History for Today" in Alaska
The Anne Frank expo travelled to schools in Anchorage and Fairbanks in October. By setting it up in libraries, students who are home schooled could also tour the exhibit. The exhibit launched in Anchorage Museum in the presence of the First Lady of Alaska and the mayor of Anchorage. It was on display the entire weekend and attracted more than 3,500 visitors. The exhibition now travels to Los Angeles and New Mexico in 2019.
Did you know...
  • Together with Dutch Tech San Francisco and StartupDelta, the Consulate hosted a tech dinner with Prince Constantijn in San Francisco. Aim was to connect the Dutch tech sector in Silicon Valley.
  • The Dutch are leaders in the social impact revolution. In the past five years, nearly 6,000 social enterprises have been established in the Netherlands!
  • Together, these social enterprises have a collective business revenue growth of 75% to 3.5 billion euros. This constitutes 3% of the total GDP growth in the Netherlands! 
  • The Netherlands is planning to prohibit the use of cell phones while cycling, focusing on further improving people's safety in traffic
What’s up next?
  • November 13-14: Visit to Innovation Summit Seattle
  • November 25: Economic team at Road to North America (Netherlands) 
  • November 27-28: Visit to Denver 
  • November-January: Anne Frank Exhibition in Los Angeles
  • December 3-7: Pop-up Consulate General in LA
  • December 4: Launch "LA Playbook" in Los Angeles  
  • January 8-11: CES 2019 
  • January 9-11: State Secretary of Economic Affairs visits Silicon Valley
Copyright © 2018 Consulate-General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, San Francisco, All rights reserved.

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Consulate General of the Netherlands in San Francisco · One Montgomery Street · Suite #3100 · San Francisco, CA 94104 · USA