WILLEMSTAD – The Dutch government will decide in August whether funding will remain available after 2026 for the Country Package (Landspakket) and the Temporary Work Organization (TWO), a decision that will determine whether reform programs in Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten can continue.
Dutch State Secretary for Kingdom Relations Eric van der Burg made the announcement during his visit to Curaçao on Friday, noting that he had discussed the issue with Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas the previous day.
According to Van der Burg, the Netherlands must first complete its own budget negotiations before it can commit funding for the continuation of the reform program.
"We first have to ensure in the Netherlands that the Temporary Work Organization and the Country Package can continue," he said, adding that the Dutch cabinet faces challenging budget discussions in the coming weeks.
If funding is approved, the Netherlands will begin negotiations with Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten on new agreements and the allocation of future reform projects. Van der Burg expressed confidence that the Netherlands and Curaçao would be able to reach a new agreement.
Although he described his meetings in Curaçao and Aruba as positive, he stressed that no final decision has yet been made on extending the program.
Van der Burg also outlined a new approach in which Curaçao would assume greater responsibility for implementing and financing its own reform projects, while the Netherlands would provide support for a more limited number of initiatives.
Using a hypothetical example, he said Curaçao might identify 15 priority projects, with the Netherlands choosing to help finance only some of them while the remainder would be carried out by Curaçao itself. He emphasized that the numbers were merely illustrative.
Finance Minister Charles Cooper agreed that, as an autonomous country within the Kingdom, Curaçao should take primary responsibility for its own development. At the same time, he said Dutch support remains valuable within the framework of the mutual agreements and the Country Package.
According to Cooper, Curaçao should retain control over its development agenda and persuade the Netherlands to participate in individual projects where appropriate. Government funding, he said, is particularly important for initiatives that generate significant social or economic benefits but cannot be fully financed through commercial returns.
The Country Packages were established in 2020 and 2021 as a condition for Dutch financial assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. They include reforms in public finances, economic development, healthcare, education and public administration.
The Temporary Work Organization supports the implementation of those reforms and monitors progress. However, the current agreements are not open-ended, meaning that new political agreements and financial commitments from the Netherlands will be required if the reform program is to continue beyond 2026.