Interview with Ambassador Joost Reintjes

My uncles used to travel a lot. I think I grew a certain interest in exploring new cultures from their hitchhiking tales. I remember being fascinated by the story of how my uncle had walked to France while he was still in school. So, at 15, I too started hitchhiking around Europe. By the time I was 19, I had taken a 10-month Trans-Saharan trip and had spent 4 months hitchhiking from Holland to Kenya. During these latter travels, I had passed through the Middle East. I developed an interest in the region. I even tried to register in the University of Jeddah to study Arabic, but getting responses back by mail was so difficult back then. So, I decided to graduate in business administration and the Arabic Language from the Netherlands instead and apply for jobs in international affairs.

As I mentioned, my aim was a career in international affairs. So, I applied to the ministry of foreign affairs and wrote to almost 20 different international companies. I only pursued government positions. When the responses came back, I joined the offer I received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I was interested as the work is quite diverse and you can work all over the world. Since then, I’ve served as the ambassador to Pakistan, Iraq and in Nairobi to Kenya, Somalia and The Seychelles.

I had applied to a few countries, and Saudi Arabia was on my list. I was very happy that my application was accepted here. I chose Saudi Arabia as it is a very important country from a political, economic and energy aspect. Also, this is Holland’s biggest embassy in the Middle East. And as I mentioned, I had visited Saudi earlier and it left a good impression on me. So here I am, 30 years later, very pleased to be back.

My day is usually starts with meetings. It could be with visitors to the embassy, a ministry official, a company or our staff. Then, I often spend 1-2 hours on commercial work with Dutch companies, 1-2 hours on political work and the rest of my time is spent planning events and conferences, writing reports and I make a lot of phone calls. So, for example, right now we’re working on the oil and gas mission in Dammam in November and the food, water and energy conference in Riyadh in November.

Holland was amongst the first countries here, we established our diplomatic ties in 1872. On my visit to the governor in Jeddah, I saw a photo from 1872 and there was only one flag in the back, it was the Dutch flag. Our consulate in Jeddah was important for processing Hajis from the then Dutch East Indies colonies (now Indonesia). Since then, we’ve developed a lot of other commercial relations. Holland is the second largest exporter of agriculture worldwide, we also have multinational companies like Phillips and Unilever and Saudi Arabia is a major exporter of these products. Also, one of our largest construction companies is involved in the Saudi metro. Likewise, Holland relies on KSA to import oil and SMEs. So, we feel the Dutch-Saudi commercial ties are very strong, for example, Saudi Aramco and Sabic have their European headquarters in Holland. And we believe there are more opportunities for the Dutch business here in the KSA.

We are also involved in the education sector. The embassy is very involved in the welfare of the 1.5 thousand Dutch citizens here, many of whom are students and lecturers, and the several hundred Saudi students there.

Holland is also involved in security and in regional, international, and human rights politics in the Kingdom. As you may know, the Netherlands is co-chair of the global counter-terrorism forum.

Lastly, we’re involved in sports. The Saudi football team has recently qualified for their 5th FIFA tournament and used to be led by a Dutch coach. We’re very interested to get more involved in Saudi sports, in particular, women’s sports; there is still a lot of room for growth there. We also do many events. We’ve had fashion shows or movie screenings in the Kingdom and have tried to take Hijazi music to Holland. In May, we also invited 8 female entrepreneurs to Holland and it was a very nice experience.

The climate is challenging, of course, but the work is always rewarding. I appreciate that the work is quite diverse and I look forward to travelling more around the country and region. But really, the most rewarding part is the hospitality of the Saudis – I’m always positively surprised.

And although there is always a good atmosphere for discussion, it can often be challenging to exchange views on politically sensitive issues. It takes time to make policies clear and with the Vision 2030 coming up, there are a lot of changes we can see coming.

Well I have lived outside the DQ earlier and now that we live inside, I enjoy that my wife and I can walk or cycle during the cooler months. On the weekend, it’s very quiet and relaxing. And of course, I really appreciate being able to walk to work now; I don’t have to spend time in traffic.

It really is a pity though that there is no large supermarket inside the DQ. In Holland, you can go shopping on your bicycle and it would be nice to be able to do that here.

Of course! One of the most interesting places here is the Globe restaurant at Faisaliah Tower – it has a magnificent view. Also, since my wife and I love Italian food, we’re very happy that there are good Italian restaurants in Riyadh. There are also some great Lebanese and Saudi restaurants we visit. And for activities, I don’t really enjoy the mall but I love riding dune buggies in the deserts here.

And if you want a Dutch recommendation, let me just say, you cannot live without Dutch cheese and chocolate sprinkles. They’re really the best!