A new consul general of the Netherlands arrived in Atlanta this week, filling the top Dutch diplomatic post covering five Southern states just a few days after his predecessor’s departure.
Jacobus Johannes (Jacob) Veerman is settling in now that former Consul General Ard Van der Vorst, who inaugurated the new diplomatic office in 2019, has left to take up his new position as Dutch ambassador to New Zealand and a variety of Pacific island nations. Mr. Van der Vorst will be based in Wellington, the Kiwi capital.
With so little a gap between their assignments in Atlanta, the two may have passed in the air over the Pacific: Mr. Veerman and his partner, Petra, were coming from Manila, where he served as the Dutch representative to the Asian Development Bank.
The Consulate General of the Netherlands welcomed the new consul general on its website and on LinkedIn page, highlighting aspects of his 30-year diplomatic career in a posted biography.
Born in Volendam, the Netherlands, Mr. Veerman holds a master’s in social economic history for Amsterdam University and has a bachelor’s degree in education, having started his career as a high school geography teacher in Hoorn.
Before his role in Manila, he served as senior policy advisor at the Dutch Embassy in Paramaribo, Suriname. On previous assignments to the United States, he served as deputy consul general in the Dutch consulates in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
This is his first time serving as a head of mission, though another foreign posting included a stint as deputy ambassador at the Dutch embassy in Mexico City. Back home in the Netherlands, Mr. Veerman ran the documentary information systems department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to the consulate, Mr. Veerman has accumulated broad expertise in economic diplomacy with a keen focus on traditional Dutch strong suits like water management, agriculture/horticulture, life sciences, logistics and other sectors.
The consulate helps meet the needs of Dutch nationals living in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, offering consular services and focusing heavily on the mutually beneficial economic engagement that served as the rationale for the mission’s opening as Atlanta’s newest career consulate.
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