AmChamNews - American Chamber of Commerce in the Netherlands

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2.
2. AmCham goes to Washington - ruud lubbers meeting with the uS Secretary of Commerce with AmCham president Dan piliero looking on.
to reinforce the existing ties between the two countries and
to create an opportunity for the American businessmen to
discuss with their Dutch counterparts and Dutch government
leaders the challenges and problems facing the international
business community. The social part of the program included
a reception by HM the Queen, a dinner hosted by the Minister
of Economic Affairs, plus receptions and dinners hosted
by AmCham and the cities of Rotterdam and The Hague.
Also a forum discussion was organized in June to debate
the opportunities and constraints for closer business ties
between the US and Europe. Forum participants included
the presidents of Philips (W. Dekker), Akzo (A. Loudon)
and Vroom & Dreesman (A. Dreesman).
AmCham President Dan Piliero attended the Bicentennial
celebrations in Washington and New York during the state
visit of HM Queen Beatrix and HRH Prince Claus in April. In
June Piliero was invited by the Dutch Government to participate
in the Netherlands Economic Mission to the United
States during Her Majesty's second visit. AmCham's General
Manager Adriana van der Graaf was also included in the
mission which visited Houston, Los Angeles and Chicago.
1986 - AmCham's 25 th Anniversary
No holds barred at this celebration. Two events marked
AmCham's Silver Anniversary.
On October 31 st over 400 Chamber members and guests
gathered in the beautifully restored Nieuwe Kerk in The
Hague. Jubilee addresses were made, among others, by
AmCham President Peter Legro, the Minister of Transportation
Neelie Smit-Kroes and Frank Popoff, Executive Vice
President of the Dow Chemical Company. Following these
speeches a grand cocktail reception was held in Kasteel De
Wittenburg to toast the AmCham. This was attended by
AmCham's Patron HRH Prince Bernhard.
On December 8 the doors of the Concertgebouw opened to a
black tie event for AmCham. All the seating in the Grote Zaal
had made way for tables and chairs for a grand dinner with
orchestral music and further entertainment by Tony Randall
- an American comedian and film star. A spectacular dessert
buffet was later served in the upper foyers with music and
dancing and further entertainment (including a magician)
in the Kleine Zaal - all ending at 1:00 a.m.
Speakers to the AmCham in the 1980s
Prominent names in this decade included:
ÌÌHRH Prince Claus (April 1981)
ÌÌJan Terlouw, Minister of Economic Affairs (October
1982)
ÌÌJoop den Uyl, Minister of Social Affairs (January, 1982)
ÌÌEdward Heath, former UK prime minister (March
1982)
ÌÌRuud Lubbers, Prime Minister (February 1983, May
1986, October 1987))
ÌÌWim Kok (as FNV Chairman - March 1983; as Prime
Minister - April 1990)
ÌÌOnno Ruding, Minister of Finance (January 1984)
ÌÌWim Duisenberg, President of Netherlands Central
Bank (January 1985)
ÌÌWalter Mondale, former US Vice President (December
1985, November 1990)
ÌÌMalcolm Baldrige, US Secretary of Commerce (April
1986)
Advocacy Issue of the Decade - the Vredeling Directive
Henk Vredeling - a Dutch socialist - was a reluctant (he would
have rather been posted for Agriculture) Commissioner for
Social Affairs of the EEC when the first draft of the Directive
was promulgated in 1980. The Directive was designed to
improve disclosure of relevant information to employees
and would be applicable to companies in the EEC with more
than 1000 workers. The purpose was to inform employees
about activities of the company and to encourage employee
participation in decision-making for the company. Information
was to be provided on an annual basis covering five
topics ranging from the economic and financial position
to the employment situation, and was to include explanations
in addition to bald figures. The Commission approved
an amended version in June 1983 which was submitted to
member countries then. The Social and Economic Council
(SER) in the Netherlands was divided on the directive and
could not submit a compromised opinion to the government.
The American business communities in the Netherlands -
and all over Europe - were adamantly against the directive.
"The employees are not going to tell me how to run this company!"
was the general management view.
AmCham's Legal Committee, chaired then by Willem Stevens,
coordinated a response by the US business community in
the Netherlands. The Committee met with the Minister of
Social Affairs in May 1984 to outline the specific concerns of
American business. The directive was eventually put to the
EEC back burner in 1986 and would not be examined again
before 1989. In the end it rose again in another substance in
1994 as the European Works Council Directive.
3.
1981
ÌÌReggae icon Bob Marley dies at the age of 36.
Other deaths in that year include rock & roller
Bill Haley, Albert Speer (Hitler's architect) and
Anwar al-Sadat (President of Egypt from 1970-
81).
ÌÌRonald Reagan inaugurated as the 40th President of the United States.
ÌÌThe TGV in France makes its first run clocking
381 km/h. Later that year a high speed rail
service between Paris and Lyon begins.
ÌÌAt the University of California at Los Angeles,
Dr. Michael Gottlieb describes a mysterious
new illness - AIDS.
ÌÌPrince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer.
ÌÌNetherlands field hockey men win the
Champions Trophy for the first time.
ÌÌNumber one hits included Every Little Thing
She Does Is Magic (The Police), 9 to 5 (Dolly
Parton), Woman and Imagine (both by John
Lennon), Physical (Olivia Newton-John), and
Endless Love (Lionel Richie and Diana Ross). All
pretty harmless stuff. But, an omen of things to
come - the thrash metal band Metallica forms
in Los Angeles.
ÌÌTop grossing films (US) were Raiders of the
Lost Ark, On Golden Pond, and Superman II.
But Chariots of Fire won the Oscar as Best
Picture.
ÌÌOn April 18 a Minor League Baseball game
between the Rochester Red Wings and the
Pawtucket Red Sox at McCoy Stadium in
Pawtucket, Rhode Island, becomes the longest
professional baseball game in history: 8 hours
and 25 minutes/33 innings (the 33rd inning is
not played until June 23).
ÌÌSimon & Garfunkel perform The Concert in
Central Park, a free concert in New York in front
of approximately half a million people.
3. 1982 - Queen beatrix and prince Claus being presented with a lithograph celebrating 200 years of uS-nl relations.
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