A new Dutch investment will be launched in Malaysia during the Netherlands' Council for Trade Promotion chairman, Jochum Haakma's visit to Malaysia beginning March 25.

The event will be jointly launched by Haakma and The Netherlands Ambassador to Malaysia Lody Embrechts.

In a statement today, the Embassy here said during his three-day visit, Haakma will pay a courtesy call to the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade).

In recent years, The Netherlands has attracted RM80 million of investments from Malaysia.

In 2008, the Netherlands meanwhile invested RM1.8 Billion in Malaysia and was the 8th largest foreign investor in Malaysia.

The statement said bilateral trade was substantial as well.

Last year, The Netherlands accounted for 3.5 percent of Malaysia's exports.

The statement said that the current economic scenario will not stop Dutch traders and investors from looking into opportunities abroad, particularly in the Asian region.

This has been proved by the opening of at least four Dutch companies in different industries of Malaysia since the beginning of this year.

Later this year, Dutch trade delegations are also expected to visit Malaysia during the Oil and Gas Asia Conference and, in close cooperation with Matrade and the Netherlands Council for Trade Promotion, the EU-EAGA Partnership Matchmaking Event in Miri.

Furthermore, the "Best of Holland" event has been also scheduled for the second part of this year.

This event will bring Dutch companies, research & development institutes and regional investment agencies to explore opportunities for cooperation between Malaysian and Dutch organisations in all kinds of sectors.

The event will be organised by the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency and Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA).