Minister-president pays official visit to Düsseldorf

  • November 18, 2014
Bourgeois_Kraft

On 18 November, Flemish minister-president Geert Bourgeois met Hannelore Kraft, minister-president of the German Land North Rhine-Westphalia. It was his second visit abroad.

Both the bilateral cooperation between Flanders and North Rhine-Westphalia and their trilateral cooperation involving the Netherlands too, were explicitly mentioned in the Flemish coalition agreement. This shows the particular attention of Flanders for its neighbouring countries and regions.

Minister-president Kraft also emphasized the close cooperation between North Rhine-Westphalia and Flanders: "Over the years, our mutual relationship has developed particular qualities. The cooperation in the field of science and innovation is in particular continuously growing, and creates a lot of opportunities for bilateral and trilateral exchanges. This is also noticeable in the sectors of bio-economy and the circular economy. Flanders and North Rhine-Westphalia cooperate with their neighbours in order to create a leading cross-border industrial region. Expansion of infrastructure is of the utmost importance. I'm looking forward to the continuation of our tradition of good dialogues with Flanders."

Furthermore, the minister-presidents discussed the reactivation of the Iron Rhine. According to minister-president Bourgeois, both of them are determined to achieve solutions for the issue of the transportations of goods over railroads between the Ruhr area and the Flemish ports.

During his stay in Düsseldorf, minister-president Bourgeois met both minister of transportation Michael Groschek and minister of the  economy Garrelt Duin. In the afternoon he paid a visit to the port of Duisburg.