Ruud van Wensen

The focus of all my career have been on international affairs. The first 25 years the focus has been on Atlantic and European relations. My first job has been at the Dutch diplomatic delegation at the NATO headquarters in Brussels. In particular I was dealing with international industrial cooperation. The next 10 years I have been responsible at the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs for the Dutch applications and negotiations for the EU structural funds and in particualr the ERDF. Following this I was working for 2 years at the Philips headquarters in Eindhoven, responsible for large investment projects in Russia and Asia. From 1991 up to 1994 I joined the EU Commission in Brussels. At the Directorate General for Regional Affairs, I have been responsible for the experimental URBAN programme. The last 12 years up to now the focus of my job changed more directly to the business world, although my earlier jobs with NATO and of course Philips I was also already deeply involved in international business world affairs. The first 5 to 6 years I was managing a B2B programme for Russia and other countries in Eastern Europe and more recently I manage a comparable B2B programme for Asia and more in particular for Indonesia, the Philipinnes and Sri Lanka. Although I am dealing with companies in almost all economic sectors my focus lies with the agri-business sector. This programme is called the PSOM programme financed by the Ministry of Development Cooperation in The Netherlands. All information on PSOM can be find at www.evd.nl/psom.

Finally I am married and have two grown-up sons, both having their own companies in Amsterdam. Since about 10 month I am even a grandfather of a grand son, called Lodewijk.