On June 3 ‘’Georgia meets Heerlen’’ event took place in Schunck, Heerlen. It was the first ever in the history of diplomatic relations between the Netherlands and Georgia official visit of the Georgian Embassy in the Hague to Limburg. Mr. George Sharvashidze, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the Kingdom of the Netherlands visited Heerlen with his diplomatic team and met with the Mayor of Heerlen Mr Emile Roemer, alderman Martin de Beer and entrepreneurs from Heerlen, region Parkstad and surroundings.
Mr. Aloys Bruggeman, RE RA entrepreneur the initiator of the event.
Why Heerlen
Parkstad as a winner of Tourism of the Future Award and a region with strong international profile is an interesting partner for Georgia whose one of the biggest business sectors is tourism, too. Besides, Georgia is as well as Parkstad a regional hub, namely Georgia has a gateway market function to the rest of the Caucasus and Central Asia. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Russia.
Trade mission
The visit was a trade mission targeted on presenting potential of both sides and establishing further international cooperation. ‘’Georgia meets Heerlen’’ consisted of two parts: official with presentations and networking. Mr Emile Roemer, mayor of Heerlen welcomed all the guests and introduced Heerlen to the Georgian delegation.
Audience listened to presentation of H.E. Ambassador of Georgia Mr. George Sharvashidze about Georgia as a promising market for investments.
Ms.Anya Niewierra, General Director South Limburg Tourist Board talked about the tourism potential of Parkstad.
Mr. Aloys Bruggeman, RE RA entrepreneur and initiator of the event elaborated on the potential of the regions and possibilities of cooperation.
The alderman Mr Martin de Beer was moderating all the presentations.
After the presentations three happy winners won the Georgian wine from the hands of the child Mayor of Heerlen, Victoria Bruggeman.
There was also a surprise digital visit of Jesper Zwart, Dutch tourist who was the 6th million tourist of Georgia and who was welcomed in a truly amazing way by Georgia while arriving in Tbilisi. See here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj3v_UPRauY
Jesper is now a true celebrity in Georgia and he recorded a message for all the guests and a special invitation to the Mayor of Heerlen, Mr Emile Roemer: watch it here: https://youtu.be/TmGWWnMhUVA
During the networking part audience could meet in person with the Georgian delegation, try Georgian snacks and wine. Georgian is a cradle of wine and Georgian wine has been produced for about 8,000 years in Georgian Qvevri wine-making method, which is recognized by UNESCO as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The event was attended by around 60 guests.
Aloys Bruggeman, RE RA: ‘’We can learn from Georgia how you can use your tradition and reinvent yourself into a popular tourism destination. At the same time I am happy that Georgian delegation noticed the potential of our region and offered our entrepreneurs new possibilities of cooperation’’.
Heerlen in Georgian news
The Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs will publish news about this historic visit to Heerlen and our region. Georgian Embassy in the Hague and Central and Eastern Europe Center located in Heerlen took the media patronage of the event, too. You can find more information here: https://www.facebook.com/GeoembNetherlands/
Text: Communications-Unlimited.nl
Photos: Harrie Lambrichts with publication permission for Communications-Unlimited © Copyright
Harrie Lambrichts, 2019. All rights reserved.
See more photos in the photo reportage prepared by the Embassy of Georgia in the Hague here:https://www.facebook.com/pg/GeoembNetherlands/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2485555134810934&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARDwj6B7Z8oPzxdHO7yeWVZAxF0eu0e7ALXdngQ8nkcIdsVs24JrSLJgH7s4y0kLq9FxXyvOa83T-gZfbUFnFEeW7MSrQBvdjDIv3lMSi-KmhWZcTisg_5Y1LoeX8OUzW1VwKH-XOs8S7kp0QTIUKRodoNPHBsTxMsBNKwKePmaax6tIBZqWdBn9fj_Ril55jGJJIY4tvUasPLLUCsvUAlJiLtW8WmH78P4hcYMKtlbaKIioCqOkFfdB4kklLGP0Nvowr8lvRCr92TSNMbEAo0DDzM7_zSSoWKxZFtnm6ckfl27_F_Ei2-zFzlCWZ6Jjs8Ob3yk34Wk-4-S5JI80D65-qw&__tn__=-UC-R













































