Hans Wijers
Hans Wijers | |
---|---|
Minister of Economic Affairs | |
In office 22 August 1994 – 3 August 1998 | |
Prime Minister | Wim Kok |
Preceded by | Koos Andriessen |
Succeeded by | Annemarie Jorritsma |
Personal details | |
Born | Gerardus Johannes Wijers 11 January 1951 Oostburg, Netherlands |
Political party | Democrats 66 (since 1976) |
Domestic partner | Edith Sijmons (since 1988) |
Children | 2 |
Residence(s) | Amsterdam, Netherlands Zoutelande, Netherlands |
Alma mater | University of Groningen Erasmus University Rotterdam (PhD) |
Occupation | Politician · Civil servant · Economist · Businessman · Professor |
Gerardus Johannes "Hans" Wijers (born 11 January 1951) is a Dutch retired politician of the Democrats 66 (D66) party, and businessman. He is the chairman of the supervisory board of ING Group since 2018.
Early life
After secondary school at
Civil service
From 1982 till 1984, Wijers worked as a civil servant at the ministry of Social Affairs and Labour and later at the ministry of Economic Affairs. Subsequently, he became a management consultant at, amongst others, Horringa & De Koning, which later became part of Boston Consulting Group.
Politics
Wijers, a member of D66 since 1976, was asked in 1994 by his party colleague Hans van Mierlo to take up a ministerial post in the First Kok cabinet. As Minister of Economic Affairs he was responsible for the law change regarding the extending of shop opening hours, and he formulated the Competition Regulation law which triggered the foundation of the Dutch Competition Authority. An important event in his ministry was the bankruptcy of the Fokker aircraft factory in March 1996. When Wijers refused further state aid due to a lack of a clear future perspective, German company DASA withdrew as parent company.
By the end of the cabinet period, Hans van Mierlo had decided not to stand for re-election. The party leaders exercised strong pressure on the popular Wijers to take on the party leadership. When the second purple cabinet was formed after the election in 1998, Wijers expressed that he had no interest in a second term as minister.
Life after politics
In 1999 Wijers picked up his old career as a consultant: he became senior partner and chairman of the Dutch branch of the consulting firm The
Wijers has been non-executive director at Royal Dutch Shell since January 2009; he later became vice-chairman. He is President of
From 2021 to 2022, Wijers was a member of the Trilateral Commission’s Task Force on Global Capitalism in Transition, chaired by Carl Bildt, Kelly Grier and Takeshi Niinami.[4]
Personal
Wijers lives with his partner, and has two children.
Decorations
Honours | ||||
Ribbon bar | Honour | Country | Date | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|
Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau | Netherlands | 30 October 1998 |
References
- ^ "Hans Wijers, Chief Executive Officer". AkzoNobel. 2009. Archived from the original on 28 December 2008. Retrieved 12 March 2009.
- ^ "Dr. G.J. Wijers". Parlementair Documentatie Centrum (PDC UL) of Leiden University. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
- ^ "AkzoNobel CEO Hans Wijers to leave 2012 – Ton Büchner to succeed" (Press release). Akzo Nobel NV. 10 June 2011. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
- ^ Task Force on Global Capitalism in Transition Trilateral Commission.
External links
- Official
- (in Dutch) Dr. G.J. (Hans) Wijers Parlement & Politiek