Honorary Consuls conference 2023

From Tuesday 14 to Thursday 16 November 2023 the Honorary Consuls conference will be held. Honorary consuls who work for the Netherlands worldwide will be coming to The Hague to attend. Honorary consuls and their consulates are an important part of the Netherlands’ mission network. They play an essential role in promoting the Netherlands’ interests abroad and assisting Dutch nationals abroad.

Topics at this conference

The conference – which takes places every 5 years – will be opened by Secretary-General Paul Huijts. This edition will provide honorary consuls with an opportunity to reflect on their work and discuss how cooperation and  the services provided can be further improved. The programme covers a broad range of topics.
It includes: 

  • the role of honorary consuls in the event of crises and natural disasters;
  • how they can play a part in making the world more sustainable;
  • what the newly updated policy memorandum on honorary consuls means for them;
  • the importance of honorary consuls for trade promotion and cultural exchange. 

There will also be sessions on security, (information) security and integrity.

Connecting with other ministries

The conference is not exclusively within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ministries of Economic Affairs & Climate Policy; Health, Welfare & Sport and Education, Culture & Science will be presenting their international strategies.

Company visits throughout the country

The honorary consuls will also travel to different parts of the country to visit companies from the Netherlands’ top economic sectors. The company visits have been organised in collaboration with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).

More about the work of MFA

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