Bucharest, 18 October 2011. The Dutch business community in Romania is strongly supportive of Romania's accession into the Schengen Area. The Netherlands-Romanian Chamber of Commerce and its sister organization in The Netherlands, the Dutch Romanian Network, are constantly engaged in dialogue with the Dutch authorities in order to determine a change of position in what concerns Romania's accession into the Schengen Zone. "More than 3000 Dutch companies are active in Romania and our overall investments in this country are well over 11 billion Euros. This is the best sign that the Dutch business community is optimistic about the economic perspectives of this country and we believe that it would be in the interest of both Romania and the wider EU for Romania to be allowed access in the Schengen Zone" stated Peter de Ruiter, President, Netherlands-Romanian Chamber of Commerce. "We understood from the Dutch authorities that The Netherlands will not link Romania's entry into the Schengen Zone with the progresses that Romania needs to do in what concerns justice and the fight against corruption. It is disappointing to see that such a connection was made in the end and we hope that the Government in The Hague will eventually change its position on this topic. However, our latest contacts with the Dutch officials give us reasons to be optimistic", declared Ben Jager, Executive President, Dutch Romanian Network. The Netherlands are the biggest investor in Romania, with Dutch companies very well represented in such areas as the financial sector, agriculture, food and beverages, transport and logistics and industrial production. Still, the Netherlands-Romanian Chamber of Commerce sees lots of potential and development opportunities in areas in which The Netherlands has a long history and strong capability, like water management, energy, agriculture and logistics. In order to fac