On Monday 22 January, we were honored to celebrate Dujat’s 40 year anniversary with many cherished members and relations, at the beautiful Theater Amsterdam.
Our Chairman Mr. Luc Houben and Managing Director Mrs. Christa de Kemp welcomed the crowd to not only commemorate 40 years of Dujat, but also the long-lasting trade relation between Japan and the Netherlands.
For our ceremony we had the pleasure of hearing the warm words from guest speakers H.E. Mr. Hiroshi Minami, Ambassador of Japan, and Mr. Takaharu Ikeda – Chairman of JCC – The Japanese Chamber of Commerce in The Netherlands, and a wonderful video message all the way from Japan, by Mr. Theo Peters, Acting Ambassador of the Netherlands in Japan.
For the part in our programme Dujat back to history, Mr. Evert Louwman – Co-founding member of Dujat, Mr. Takashi Takeya – Group Executive Canon, and Mr. Hiroshi Narita – President and Representative Director Yakult, all submitted a congratulatory video message, also highlighting their long history with Dujat and the relation between Japan and the Netherlands.
For Dujat in the present, it was an honor to receive video messages from our current advisory board members in Japan: Mr. Teiichi Goto – President & CEO FUJIFILM and also Chairman of the Dujat Advisory Board, Mr. Hideaki Takase – Managing Executive Officer MUFG, and Ms. Shiori Nagata – Chief Strategy Officer YANMAR.
Then, for a look ahead at Dujat in the future, we heard the interesting presentation “Change, Choices, and Cooperation: A vision for the future” by Mr. Maarten Smidts, deputy Director-General Business & Innovation Policy at the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy.
The programme was concluded with our final speaker, Mr. Hiroyasu Matsubara – Managing Director Yakult Europe and Vice Chairman of the Dujat Board of Directors, and of course a spectacular Taiko performance show by Yamato Taiko School, followed by a networking reception and Japan-themed ‘walking dinner’.
Thank you to everyone who joined this special event. We hope you had a wonderful evening and we look forward to celebrating more milestones together in the future!
This event is for Dujat members and invitees only.
If your company is member of Dujat and you did not receive the invitation, please contact our office.
On 17 January 1984, Dujat was founded with the aim to strengthen the trade relation between the Netherlands and Japan. Since then, it has grown into a large networking organization with a member community of over 170 companies.
We are pleased to invite members to celebrate our 40 year anniversary with us on Monday 22 January, at Theater Amsterdam. For this event, it is our honor to welcome H.E. Mr. Hiroshi Minami, Ambassador of Japan to the Netherlands, and Mr. Maarten Smidts, Deputy Director General Business Policy & Innovation at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate as our guest speakers. In addition, we will have a special programme in store that highlights the history and future of Dujat, followed by a networking reception and a walking dinner.
It will not only be an opportunity to celebrate 40 years Dujat and the development of the relation between Japan and the Netherlands, but of course to also wish each other a happy new year. We hope to see you there!
