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Stopping in on an Atlanta recording studio famous for its hip-hop pedigree and ending at Savannah’s fast-growing port, the Dutch royal couple will enjoy a unique program blending investment promotion and Black entrepreneurial empowerment when they touch down in Georgia next week.
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands will spend one day in each city before heading off to New York on what is being billed as a “working visit” focused on growing economic ties.
In Atlanta, they’ll deepen relationships with city and state officials, showcase Dutch prowess in art and industry and pay homage to the city’s civil rights heritage,
The king has a particular interest in advancing healthy race relations, having apologized last year for the Dutch role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The Consulate General of the Netherlands has picked up that banner, kick-starting an initiative to address the racial wealth gap by helping Black-owned businesses tap into international opportunities in the Netherlands and beyond.
The visit officially starts Monday morning with a meeting at the State Capitol with Gov. Brian Kemp, after which the king and queen will go to the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Change for discussions and a wreath-laying ceremony at the graves of Dr. King and his wife, Coretta Scott King.
They’ll then head to the Atlanta Beltline, where they’ll be joined for a walking discussion on affordable housing and urban design with Mayor Andre Dickens. Mr. Dickens has been under fire for his handling of last week’s water main breaks that shined a national spotlight on the city’s infrastructure. Dutch companies are among the world leaders in water management technologies, and the consulate has been pushing the country’s solutions in this industry, along with indoor agriculture and greenhouse technology.
The afternoon will begin with hip-hop and end with health, as the king and queen visit Patchwerk Recording Studios, where influential Atlanta hip-hop artists like Outkast and T.I. and other mega stars like Beyoncé and Madonna have recorded albums.
From there, the king and queen will head to McDonough, where they will inaugurate a plant recently opened by NewCold, a cold chain logistics provider that invested $333 million in a new food-focused warehouse with high bays and capacity for 85,000 pallets. Both the Dutch Ambassador to the United States, Birgitta Tazelaar, and the U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands, Shefali Razdan Duggal, will be on hand for the event, which will feature discussions among supply chain experts. Plans call for Georgia Tech to be involved in the programming, with a possible focus on generating internships at the Dutch company.
Their last stop of the day will come at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where they will tour a laboratory and learn about efforts to stem the transmission of malaria — the disease upon which the center was founded in the South.
Capping off the evening is a reception at the High Museum of Art, where the royal couple will tour “Dutch Art in a Global Age,” a new exhibit featuring “more than 100 paintings, prints, maps and decorative art objects from the 17th century and first half of the 18th century, by key Dutch artists from the period including Rembrandt, Jacob van Ruisdael and Frans Hals,” according to the Netherlands embassy. A reception at the museum will be held for the broader business community, including American companies that have invested in the Netherlands.
On June 11, in Savannah, they will meet with Mayor Van Johnson at City Hall, visit Savannah College of Art and Design to learn about its role in preserving the city’s historic downtown, then head to Savannah State University, the first public historically Black university in the state of Georgia, initiating a new collaboration with its Marine Science Center. Along with hearing presentations on that topic, they will speak with students about their entrepreneurial and international pursuits and take part in an artificial intelligence conference before taking in a cultural performance.
An afternoon visit to the Port of Savannah will include a tour of the terminal and attending the closing session of a business seminar on “sustainable port development and hinterland connectivity.”
Just as in Atlanta, the evening will close with a focus on art, as the king and queen visit the Telfair Museums for a networking reception.
June 12-13 will take the royal couple to New York, where they will visit the capital, Albany, and New York City.
Dutch trade and investment with Georgia is responsible for 33,000 jobs in the state, according to a report by the Netherlands Embassy.
