international relations
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Raacida Amenzou, Honorary Consul to the Netherlands
going dutch cultural relationships shared Here in Gibraltar, the position of Honorary Consul is often taken as a formality, but Raacida Amenzou is excited about being placed in this privileged position and is determined to ensure her role, representing the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Gibraltar, is a proactive one such as creating a Dutch consulate website for individuals and companies. “Many people see the role as sorting out emergency situations, such as passports, and I can marry people here in Gibraltar under the Dutch regime, but I think there is much more to the position Honorary Consul than that and I am very interested in positively promoting Gibraltar to the Dutch citizens and the Dutch citizens to Gibraltar too,” she says.
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he relationship between the Netherlands and Gibraltar is very historic,” Raacida explained. “From right back to when the British claimed Gibraltar with the help of the Dutch Armada and later on, the Treaty of Utrecht, the Netherlands and Gibraltar’s paths have been intertwined. So I do feel it’s an honour to be in the position to help further the relationship between the two countries.” Raacida, of Moroccan descent, was born in the Netherlands and has very deep feelings for her country, the Netherlands. In traditional Dutch style, Raacida doesn’t like to beat around the bush and expects things to be up-front, open and efficient. These qualities, together with her wealth of experience as an international tax lawyer both in the Netherlands and Luxembourg, brought her to the Rock just two years ago to PricewaterhouseCoopers. “I find it interesting that before coming to the Rock, I was working from Luxembourg, which was often referred to as ‘the Gibraltar of the north’.” Research revealed it was the French politician and engineer, Lazare Carnot, who in 1795 coined the phrase, referring to the fortress as “the best in the world, except Gibraltar” after a siege during the French Revolutionary wars. The fortifications of Luxembourg City held out for seven months until it finally surrendered with its walls intact. The fort controlled the approached between France and Germany as well as the left bank of the Rhine up until 1867 when the walls were demolished under the Treaty of London, and Luxembourg was placed in perpetual neutrality. Since being appointed as Honorary Consul to the Netherlands in October last year, Raacida is pleasantly surprised at how well the role fits in with her employers. “The partners at PricewaterhouseCoopers are very supportive and proud that I have been chosen for the role of Honorary Consul and because PricewaterhouseCoopers has such a large local staff, I have a lot of colleagues on hand I can tap into for information as well as the network that I might need in my new role. Both positions make sense.” Raacida went on to explain how she is making the role of Honorary Consul more socially active: “For Dutch people first arriving here, it can be a little difficult to find your feet and make friends. Even before taking on the position of Honorary Consul, I was asked to meet a couple who had just arrived and it was great to be able to sit down and tell them all about the
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE • MARCH 2010