Netherlands Business Mission

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton) (14:15): My question is to the Minister for Investment and Trade. Can the minister provide details about a business delegation from the Netherlands visiting South Australia?

The Hon. M.L.J. HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Minister for Investment and Trade, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Defence Industries, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (14:15): I thank the member for Colton for the question. Yesterday, the South Australian government did have the pleasure of welcoming an inbound business mission from the Netherlands, led by Her Excellency Ms Lilianne Ploumen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation. This was the largest Dutch business mission to ever visit South Australia and was cooperatively supported by the Department of State Development, Primary Industries and Regions, and the Department of the Premier and Cabinet.

I was honoured to attend the official launch of a business mission at the National Wine Centre. I addressed approximately 95 members of the Dutch delegation, involving companies from the agriculture and food industries, horticulture, Smart Cities, water, logistics and infrastructure sectors, along with local companies taking part in a business-matching event. The Netherlands is the sixth largest economy in the EU and South Australia's 21^st largest export market, with merchandise exports valued at around $130 million in 2015-16.

Major South Australian export goods to the Netherlands include beef, red wine, white wine and almonds. There is great potential for South Australia and the Netherlands to increase this trade and to do business across a range of sectors. We should be doing far more together. Following the official launch, I met with minister Ploumen to discuss issues of mutual interest, including water resource management, horticultural innovation and defence industries, the Netherlands being one of the biggest food producers and exporters in the world.

I later met with key executives from the Netherlands' Damen Shipyards Group, having seen them in Euronaval in Europe just the week before last. Damen is a bidder for the offshore patrol vessel program, which is the first of the national naval shipbuilding projects set to start at our shipyard at Techport. Should they be successful in their bid, the company will be building infrastructure at Techport swiftly. This is part of a broader story, and I will brief the house on that later in the week.

The South Australian government intends to visit the Netherlands on a business mission to Europe in 2017 to further develop the relationship with the Netherlands and for new business introductions to gain momentum, the aim being to create as many jobs, in both countries, as possible. I thank minister Ploumen and all members of the Netherlands delegation for their interest in South Australia and look forward to further strengthening the trade relationship.