The Netherlands has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening ties with India, announcing plans to elevate their bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership in 2025.
Marisa Gerards, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to India, Nepal, and Bhutan, made the statement on Wednesday at the SemiConnect 2025 conference in Gandhinagar.
“In this geopolitically difficult time, we need trusted friends, and for us, India is a very trusted friend,” Gerards said. “We already have a strong bilateral bond, and 2025 is going to be an important year for us as we hope to elevate our bond to a strategic level.”
Addressing the importance of semiconductors in the partnership, she said, “Semiconductors are of very high importance to us in this strategic partnership. We have witnessed how India is making rapid strides in semiconductor manufacturing and design. There is strong government support through the digital Indian semiconductor mission.”
On the Netherlands’ role in the sector, Gerards stated, “The Netherlands is a global hub, is a semiconductor powerhouse, the home of ASML Holdings – the sole supplier of EUV lithography machines, which is critical to making advanced chips. We have NXP, which is now expanding in India. They are leaders in IoT (Internet of Things) and automobile chip design. In The Netherlands, we also have a strong ecosystem of chip manufacturers, research institutes and academia.”
Highlighting areas of cooperation between the two nations, she said, “India and The Netherlands have complementary strengths. India is strong in the area of semiconductor design software and a massive skilled workforce. The Netherlands has high-end manufacturing of semiconductor equipment and deep tech R&D (Research and Development). So, there are a lot of opportunities to strengthen the partnership. This brings me to my third point. Along with IESA last year, we have drawn up a report to do a scoping mission to see areas in which we can work together. We are now in the run-up to an MoU to have a leaders meeting (in The Hague) trying to see how we can make this practical as well.”
Gerards identified three key points of possible collaboration. “We think that we can actually step up and focus on chip design, on AI-driven semiconductor photonics and quantum computing,” she said, referring to potential partnerships between technical universities and research institutes.
She further emphasised talent development as a second area of focus. “We are exploring joint semiconductor training, development programmes. We already have one pilot programme running since last year where we set up a virtual school with research institutes and several IITs. We had experts from ASML and NXP and Tata delivering lectures and it was a big success. We will do it again bigger and better,” she said.
Gerards also pointed to supply chain and investment as another avenue for cooperation. “The third point is supply chain and investment. Dutch semiconductor equipment companies can support India’s ecosystem and I see an opportunity to strengthen India’s supply chain with Dutch expertise in lithography and high-precision manufacturing.”
She said India is one of the fastest-growing semiconductor markets and added, “Gujarat is leading in this sector,” reiterating that The Netherlands is committed to being India’s trusted partner.
Also Read: Parimal Nathwani Outlines Roadmap for Football’s Rise in Gujarat
