On June 24, 2022, the Netherlands released its new development cooperation strategy, ‘Doing what the Netherlands is good at.’ The strategy centers on the intersection between trade and development priorities, putting US$90 million, or roughly 8%, of the increased 2023 ODA budget (US$1.1 billion in total) toward the nexus of these two areas. The strategy’s self-proclaimed keyword is ‘focus,’ which covers both a geographic focus of 25 priority countries, and a thematic focus of traditional policy areas of expertise, including water, agriculture, and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Digitalization and sustainability appear as cross-cutting themes throughout the strategy. Dutch civil society has criticized the further shift towards trade, the lack of detail outlined in the strategy, and its donor-centered perspective.
The new strategy, ‘Doing what the Netherlands is good at,’ elaborates on the development policy priorities of the Rutte IV cabinet, which entered office on January 10, 2022. Under the coalition between the liberal-centrist People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the progressive liberal-democratic party Democrats 66, the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), and the Christian Union (ChristinUnie), the position of the Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation is held by Liesje Schreinemacher (VVD), who oversees implementation of the strategy.
The strategy describes its policy priorities as follows:
- Trade: Dutch trade policy with developing countries will concentrate on a smaller number of markets, focusing on strengthening Dutch earning capacity and, together with trade partners, strengthening sustainability, digitalization, economic resilience, and the protection of entrepreneurs against unfair competition. Within the EU, the Netherlands aims to maintain its position as a driver for international corporate social responsibility (ICRSR) legislation.
- Development cooperation: Tackling the root causes of poverty, terrorism, irregular migration, and climate change, as well as reaching the United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs) remain the focus areas of Dutch development cooperation. Additional investment is dedicated to strengthening global health systems, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Traditionally strong areas of thematic expertise for the Netherlands, including water, agriculture, and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), also remain of high importance.
- Strengthening the link between trade and development cooperation: Dutch businesses are set to become much more involved in achieving SDGs in 14 emerging economies. The core of this effort is increased investment in sustainability and digitalization, as well as a stronger connection between Dutch organizations and local partners. Public-private partnerships (PPP) focused on export and innovation policy are particularly important.
Civil society has noted that ever since the Dutch government started to combine trade and development policy, the priority has increasingly shifted towards trade over development. Minister Schreinemacher is said to have put an even greater focus on trade than her predecessors, notably promoting opportunities for what’s known as ‘tied aid,’: meaning that recipient countries may be obliged to purchase goods and services from the Netherlands as a condition to receiving development assistance. As the strategy fails to cite evidence that combining trade and development leads to a ‘win-win’ situation, the focus on trade symbolizes a continued effort to appeal to a broader constituency who are more concerned about domestic fiscal growth than development.
On June 24, 2022, the Netherlands released its new development cooperation strategy, ‘Doing what the Netherlands is good at.’ The strategy centers on the intersection between trade and development priorities, putting US$90 million, or roughly 8%, of the increased 2023 ODA budget (US$1.1 billion in total) toward the nexus of these two areas. The strategy’s self-proclaimed keyword is ‘focus,’ which covers both a geographic focus of 25 priority countries, and a thematic focus of traditional policy areas of expertise, including water, agriculture, and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Digitalization and sustainability appear as cross-cutting themes throughout the strategy. Dutch civil society has criticized the further shift towards trade, the lack of detail outlined in the strategy, and its donor-centered perspective.
The new strategy, ‘Doing what the Netherlands is good at,’ elaborates on the development policy priorities of the Rutte IV cabinet, which entered office on January 10, 2022. Under the coalition between the liberal-centrist People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the progressive liberal-democratic party Democrats 66, the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), and the Christian Union (ChristinUnie), the position of the Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation is held by Liesje Schreinemacher (VVD), who oversees implementation of the strategy.
The strategy describes its policy priorities as follows:
- Trade: Dutch trade policy with developing countries will concentrate on a smaller number of markets, focusing on strengthening Dutch earning capacity and, together with trade partners, strengthening sustainability, digitalization, economic resilience, and the protection of entrepreneurs against unfair competition. Within the EU, the Netherlands aims to maintain its position as a driver for international corporate social responsibility (ICRSR) legislation.
- Development cooperation: Tackling the root causes of poverty, terrorism, irregular migration, and climate change, as well as reaching the United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs) remain the focus areas of Dutch development cooperation. Additional investment is dedicated to strengthening global health systems, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Traditionally strong areas of thematic expertise for the Netherlands, including water, agriculture, and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), also remain of high importance.
- Strengthening the link between trade and development cooperation: Dutch businesses are set to become much more involved in achieving SDGs in 14 emerging economies. The core of this effort is increased investment in sustainability and digitalization, as well as a stronger connection between Dutch organizations and local partners. Public-private partnerships (PPP) focused on export and innovation policy are particularly important.
Civil society has noted that ever since the Dutch government started to combine trade and development policy, the priority has increasingly shifted towards trade over development. Minister Schreinemacher is said to have put an even greater focus on trade than her predecessors, notably promoting opportunities for what’s known as ‘tied aid,’: meaning that recipient countries may be obliged to purchase goods and services from the Netherlands as a condition to receiving development assistance. As the strategy fails to cite evidence that combining trade and development leads to a ‘win-win’ situation, the focus on trade symbolizes a continued effort to appeal to a broader constituency who are more concerned about domestic fiscal growth than development.
