03 Jul 2016
Rob Zeldenrust succeeds Ate Oostra as vice chair
Ate Oostra
During its meeting on June 30, the Board of INS bid, with a somewhat sad feeling, farewell to Ate Oostra, who has been on board from the beginning of the Indonesian Nederland Society in 2012. But, to quote Ate himself: ‘having been a diplomat for many years, I’m so used to assignments of four years, that now the time has come to move on’. The INS calls itself lucky that Ate has accepted the membership of the Board of Trustees and thus still can make use of the capabilities and network of Ate Oostra.
Of course chair Jesse Kuijper held a short farewell speech, in which he praised the efforts and commitment of Ate to the various tasks of INS. Being vice chair with a vast experience in Asia and in maintaining diplomatic relations, the valuable contribution of Ate Oostra indeed was a big plus for the Board. Fortunately the INS can still count on him as member of the Board of Trustees.
Rob Zeldenrust
Welcome Rob!
Ate himself introduced his successor as vice chair: Rob Zeldenrust. Rob also has followed a diplomatic career within the Dutch Foreign Service, working on East and West Africa and being posted in Sri Lanka; the Balkans; Belgium and Lebanon. Rob dealt with multilateral financial institutions such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
At present Rob serves as sector coordinator for public services at PUM Senior Experts. In this role he advised the Governor of Central Java in April 2016 concerning Semarang Old Town and its possibilities for inscription in UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
In addition, Rob Zeldenrust is chair of the Board in the Unesco Centrum Nederland and the Sen Foundation for Research and Education in International Cooperation.
Rob is also a member of the Committee of Recommendation of the Dutch ngo Independent International Cadastre.
Being born in Bandung and throughout his career maintaining warm relations with Indonesia and Indonesian friends, Rob is determined to contribute to the aims of INS wherever he can. We think INS has found a worthy successor of Ate in Rob.