India and Netherlands
have signed an agreement for Technical Cooperation in the field of “Spatial
Planning, Water Management and Mobility Management.”
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on Tuesday
between Minister for Urban Development & Parliamentary Affairs, Kamal Nath and
Melanie Schultz van Haegen, Minister for Infrastructure and Environment, at a bilateral
meeting held in Hague.
In the meeting, Kamal Nath spoke about the
Urbanization challenge being faced by India and the determination of the
Government of India to address it in partnership with the technical and
professional experts and business leaders of both countries. He also reiterated
that addressing the urbanization challenge provided a huge opportunity for
cooperation including in the area of Private Public Partnership.
The MoU will enable greater cooperation in the areas
of - Spatial planning, urban and regional planning and development and
architecture; Water management in terms of Water supply and sanitation and
governance structures; Transport management and transport systems and
infrastructure; Energy-efficient and sustainable built forms, a PIB release
said.
Under the MoU, a Joint Working Group would be set up
that would prepare annual work programmes. It was decided that the first
seminar under the MoU would take place in June 2013 at Rotterdam to be followed
by another seminar in India later in the year.
Earlier Kamal Nath met Lilianne Ploumen, Minister
for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs on
Monday. While noting that the bilateral trade between India and Netherlands has
been increasing at a brisk pace, it was agreed that there is a need to expand
the trade basket to other important areas such as Urban Development. Minster
Ploumen is likely to visit India with a trade delegation later in the year,
which would also include representatives of the urban sector.
