“Dutch companies would be keen to collaborate on the construction, design and management aspects of the deep sea port in the state,” Hiensch said while speaking at an interactive session organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce here today.

He said that Dutch companies are also interested in the modernisation of the Kolkata airport.

Responding to a question on whether Dutch companies are interested in setting up a quality certification centre in India that would facilitate export of numerous products of Indian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), Hiensch said that a renowned Dutch company, KEMA that specialises in quality certification had approached the Netherlands embassy on the possibility of setting up in

India. “We recognise the problem. KEMA is a company that is very active in China and is keen to come to India. But it would be difficult to comment at the moment on how feasible the project would be,” said Hiensch.

Netherlands is also hoping to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian government on joint collaboration in the field of science and technology.