On March 26, 2019 the Minister Plenipotentiary and her Cabinet hosted a reception themed “Building Partnerships”, in honor of the visit of the Governor of Sint Maarten, His Excellency (H.E.) drs. E. M. Holiday.
The venue chosen for this event was Domo Eclectica, an art gallery in the City Center of The Hague. The owner of this unique location, Mrs. Mariella van der Net not only has direct family ties to Sint Maarten through Sint Maarten’s representative in the Council of State, Mrs. Maria Plantz, but she is also very much involved in the promotion of arts from the Dutch and French Caribbean as well as the African and Asian diaspora.
The Minister Plenipotentiary welcomed the invited guests to the event by reminding them of the purpose of the gathering. The theme “Building Partnerships” entailed not only the area of diplomacy, but includes economic, social and educational partnerships.
Sint Maarten having much to offer in these fields, and even much more to acquire, the Minister stated, can only become a fundamental reality through strong ties and partnerships.
His Excellency drs E.M. Holiday, in addressing the guests reiterated this sentiment in his speech themed “Building Partnerships of cooperation for socio-economic sustainability”.
He briefly touched on the challenges where Sint Maarten, like many small island developing states, is more vulnerable to the external global developments, and of which a number have translated into real threats for the financial systems and social economic stability of small island developing states like Sint Maarten.
For example, the increasing level of global warming resulting in the increase in the strength of hurricanes.
The contacts and partnerships formed now will play an important role in building expertise and mutual respect and understanding, consequently resulting in an increase in shared values and ideals.
This, His Excellency stated, is especially important in building societies on shared principles of democracy, equality, the rule of law, peaceful co-existence and international solidarity.
Believing in mutual benefits to build partnerships and cooperation will greatly assist in the recovery of Sint Maarten after the devastating hurricanes of 2017, he stated.
In closing His excellency emphasized that in our globalized world, where countries are highly interconnected, there is an imperative for us to build partnerships of cooperation for social-economic sustainability in the interest of our people, through friendship and dialogue which are the bedrock for a sustainable, interconnected global community.
Also, on the program was the launching of an auction for paintings made by Sint Maarten youth in the “Too Cool to Loot” campaign.
Guests were able to bid on 14 paintings, and all proceeds generated from the auction will go directly to the participating schools and after-school projects as a contribution to strengthen their arts and crafts departments and classes.
The auction was a huge success, with 10 of the pieces having been auctioned off on the spot. The combined total amount generated through this auction amounted to 5.700 Euros.
The auction is ongoing and will be opened to online bidders within short.
The “Building Partnerships” reception in honor of H.E. Governor Holiday has been deemed a great success by all guests in attendance, ranging from ambassadors, representatives of the Second Chamber, representatives of international Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) organizations, of schools who donated to our local schools, the private sector, local Sint Maarten entrepreneurs and young professionals, Sint Maarten students, retired Sint Maarten professionals, and friends of Sint Maarten.