His Majesty in Netherlands
By Liza Mohd in Amsterdam

His Majesty disembarks from the plane soon after arrival at the Schipol International Airport. INFOFOTO

His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam arrived yesterday morning at the Schipol Airport, Amsterdam to begin an official visit to the Netherlands.

Present at the airport to greet His Majesty were Mr William Cosjoin, Grand Chamberlain to Her Majesty the Queen; Mr Johannes Jansing, Ambassador of the Netherlands to Brunei Darussalam; Mr Peter Voser, Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Dutch Shell and other senior officials from the government of the Netherlands.

His Majesty also received a static guard from the Royal Military Police of the Netherlands.

His Majesty is scheduled to visit Royal Dutch Shell headquarters in Hague, which is about 50 kilometres from Central Amsterdam. The ruler will also meet Her Majesty Queen Beatrix Wilhelmina and Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands during the all-day visit.

The visit aims to enhance bilateral relations between both countries since diplomatic relations were established in 1984.

The official visit will start at the Royal Dutch Shell headquarters in The Hague to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the partnership between His Majesty's Government and the Royal Dutch Shell. At the headquarters, His Majesty will grant an audience to senior officials of the company.

His Majesty is also expected to visit the Shell Exploration and Production International Centre where the ruler will view the technical exhibition and "Virtual Reality Centre (I-Scope)" demonstration.

Several Bruneians working at BSP and are currently on cross-posting at the Royal Dutch Shell headquarters in The Hague will also have the opportunity to mingle with the ruler.

The Royal Dutch Shell has been operating in Brunei Darussalam since 1929 and it expressed pride of the successful joint venture partnership for over 80 years between His Majesty's Government and Royal Dutch Shell.

The oil and gas company also produced 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent in 2010 - adequate to supply Brunei's needs for more than 48 years - and is the leader in the supply of liquefied natural gas with BLNG being the first LNG plant in the Asia-Pacific region. BLNG has also reliably delivered more than 6,000 LNG cargoes to date.

After the visit to Royal Dutch Shell headquarters, His Majesty is scheduled to attend a four-eye meeting with Her Majesty Queen Beatrix Wilhelmina at Noordeinde Palace.

At the palace, Her Majesty the Queen will also host a luncheon banquet in honour of His Majesty's first official visit to the Netherlands. His Majesty will be led to meet with other members of the Dutch royal family, His Royal Highness Prince Wilem-Alexander Prince of Orange and Her Royal Highness Princess Maxima.

During the luncheon, Her Majesty Queen Beatrix will deliver a titah in conjunction with His Majesty's visit.

Lastly, His Majesty is scheduled to meet with Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands at his official residence in Heerenkamer, Catshuis. - Borneo Bulletin (13th January 2011)


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