The King and Queen’s visit to California underscores the Dutch belief that transatlantic cooperation is essential for safeguarding the security and prosperity of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The United States is the Netherlands’ most important partner within NATO and is also a major partner when it comes to global challenges like climate change, energy transition, mobility, urbanization, and healthcare. California and the Netherlands take a leading role in many of these issues. For example, the Netherlands and California have been working together for years to address climate change, and this visit will broaden their cooperation beyond climate change to include circular economy issues.

While the King and Queen are in California, a trade mission of more than 100 Dutch companies from the fields of life sciences and health, urban mobility, and cycling will be on a parallel visit to San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Economic Ties

The Netherlands and the United States enjoy a long-standing and robust partnership that creates jobs, sound investments, and opportunities for both nations. When examining US trading partners on a global scale, the Netherlands is the trading partner with which the United States has the largest trading surplus.

In 2021, Dutch-US economic ties supported an estimated 955,000 American jobs, and an estimated 77,000 of those jobs were based in California.

Each of these figures is an 11% increase from 2020. California is second on the list of the top 10 US states that export the most goods and services to the Netherlands. Many companies from California have their European HQ in the Netherlands. The Golden State is also the fifth largest economy in the world and an attractive partner for deeper economic cooperation with the Netherlands.

“The Netherlands and California have been working together for many years in areas such as technology, climate change, and innovation. And cities in the Netherlands and California are at the forefront of the transition to create healthier urban living,” stated Dutch Ambassador André Haspels. “This visit by His Majesty King Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty Queen Máxima highlights this cooperation and charts the way for future opportunities in technology, higher education, and healthcare.”

The Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Liesje Schreinemacher will accompany the King and Queen on the visit. Several members of the Dutch government, including the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport Ernst Kuipers; Dutch Minister of Education, Culture, and Science Robbert Dijkgraaf; Aruban Minister of Economic Affairs, Communication, and Sustainable Development Geoffrey Wever; Curacaon Minister for Economic Development Ruisandro Cijntje; and Dutch Minister for the Environment Vivianne Heijnen will also participate in the visit.

Media opportunities

We invite media to register to cover the following events:

September 6:

• Castro District: The Netherlands was the first country to legalize same-sex marriage in 2001 and is together with California on the forefront of promoting LGBTI+ rights worldwide. The royal couple will walk through the Castro District with supervisor Rafael Mandelman, and speak with community leaders who advocate for equal rights for LGBTI+ people. The King and Queen will make stops at the GLBT Historical Society Museum, the Castro Theatre, and the Twin Peaks Tavern to learn more about the history of the LGBTI+ community in San Francisco and exchange experiences on supporting LGBTI+ rights on a local and international level.  Media should contact Sietze Vermeulen to register to cover this event by September 5.
• Cable Car Photo op: The King and Queen will take a ride on an iconic San Francisco Cable Car. Media should contact Sietze Vermeulen to register to cover the photo op by September 5.
• Urban Challenges Seminar:  California and the Netherlands share the same ambition to create more healthy, accessible, resilient, and inclusive cities. The King and Queen will join Mayor Breed for the opening of the Urban Challenges Seminar. This seminar (which is part of the parallel trade mission) will bring together California and Dutch representatives from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Rotterdam and Utrecht to discuss shared urbanization challenges in the areas of health, mobility and sustainability and solutions that will contribute to healthier urban living.  Media should contact Ron Linker to register to cover this event by September 5.

September 7

• Golden Gate Bridge Photo op: The King and Queen will visit the Golden Gate Bridge. Media should contact Sietze Vermeulen to register to cover this photo op by September 6. Further logistical details for these events will be provided upon media registration. End of media opportunities.

San Francisco Bay Area

The King and Queen will also meet Governor Newsom for a signing ceremony on climate action and circular economy between the Netherlands and California. After they will join sessions on economic ties and agtech collaboration.

The royal couple will also attend a seminar on digital health at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center. The King and Queen will visit Google’s headquarters to discuss the company’s ambitions in climate change, as well as the company’s role in the Netherlands. Other highlights of the royal visit will include meetings on startups and artificial intelligence at Stanford University; and a visit to HackerOne, a Dutch tech firm with headquarters in San Francisco.

While at the University of California in Berkeley, Education Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf will launch the Dutch Network for Academics in the US (DNA-US). This initiative will promote knowledge sharing between Dutch researchers in the United States.

Members of the media should contact:
Questions via e-mail, please use the contact form