Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade RGOB
At the invitation of the Friends of Bhutan Association in the Netherlands, Ambassador Pema Choden and officials from the Royal Bhutanese Embassy in Brussels along with a visiting delegation headed by Mr. Kesang Wangdi, Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs attended the Annual Bhutan Day on 25th November 2017 in Amsterdam.
Present at the event were Mr. Cornelius Klein, Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Bhutan to the Netherlands, Mr. Harry Zonder, founder of the friendship association and over 40 Dutch members of the friendship association as well as Bhutanese nationals living and studying in the Netherlands.
Members of the association made presentations on their projects in Bhutan. These include the Naturalis Biodiversity Agency project on invertebrate species, Bhutan Film Trust help to Bhutanese film makers; Innocis Foundation project on mental health care with the Bhutan Youth Development Fund and the Bhutan Music Foundation scholarships at the Kilu Music school in Thimphu.
Ambassador Pema Choden thanked the members of the association for their friendship and support and for promoting Bhutan in the Netherlands. She noted the longstanding friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Bhutan and the Netherlands.
The Friends of Bhutan in the Netherlands was founded in 1989 by Mr. Harry Zonder and his friends Mr. Gerald Velthuis and the late Mr. Henk Scholten. Mr. Wim Van Gelder is the President of the friendship association.