the Ambassador

With pleasure I welcome you to the website of the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Wellington.

Our two countries share a long and deep history starting some 370 years ago with Abel Tasman who became the first Westerner to sight Aotearoa and gave the country its name after the Dutch province of Zeeland.

New Zealand - Dutch bilateral relations were however in particular further strengthened just after the Second World War when a very large number of Dutch nationals emigrated to this country. There are almost 50.000 Dutch passport holders living here currently and the number of people in New Zealand with Dutch ancestral roots is estimated at around 150.000.Our excellent bilateral relationship is based on this long history, shared values and strong people-to-people links.

Since September 2010 I am the Netherlands Ambassador to New Zealand. From profession an anthropologist with a strong focus during my study on the Pacific. Before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I worked for the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and was lecturer at the Anthropological and Sociological Centre of the University of Amsterdam.

Over the past thirty years I was employed in different policy functions as staff member of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During my career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs I was primarily involved with development cooperation both in the field and at headquarters. Since 1998 I served as ambassador to Mozambique 1998 - 2002, Ghana 2002 - 2006, Nigeria 2006 - 2010 and currently in New Zealand.

I stay in Wellington together with my wife Mathilde van Heugten.

Arie van der Wiel