Ahmed Aboutaleb (1961) has been mayor of Rotterdam since 5 January 2009. Before he succeeded Ivo Opstelten as mayor, he was State Secretary of Social Affairs and Employment in the Balkenende IV government and alderman for education, youth, work, income and urban policy in Amsterdam.

Before stepping into politics, he was a reporter for Veronica Radio, NOS Radio and RTL Nieuws, press officer at the Ministry of Welfare, Public Health and Culture, head of Information at the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands (SER) and communications manager of the Central Statistical Office (CBS), among other things. 

Carola Schouten will succeed Ahmed Aboutaleb as mayor of Rotterdam as of 10 October. 

‘I like the whole port,’ Aboutaleb answers without hesitation. But gradually, a more specific and personal picture emerges. ‘Maasvlakte 2 evokes images in my mind of Morocco. Those enormous vast plains as far as the eye can see – wonderful. I was there when the final part of Maasvlakte 2 was “sealed”. I was at the ceremony alongside the then Queen Beatrix. I said to her, Your Majesty, Rotterdam is the only city in the Netherlands that can justifiably say that it has contributed to the literal growth of your kingdom. In this case, there was no question of colonialism. It goes without saying that the fact we can achieve something like this in the Netherlands and in Rotterdam fills you with pride.’

‘Above all, see the changes we need to make now as being in the interest of your company, not as something the government, the province or the municipality should arrange for you. Companies should be concerned about the climate, while it is sometimes still seen as a kind of leftist hobby. I advocate for a new climate realism. Not exaggerated messages of doom, but we should not ignore it either. Commit to climate proofing in case of too much or too little water in the Nieuwe Maas. We must adapt to the changing climate together. Also, when regarding clean energy of course. During my foreign trips for the port, I have emphasised the importance of (green) hydrogen. That’s where the future lies.’

Why does he say that? Because that’s where there’s a large number of potential employees for the port, Aboutaleb states. Among the new Dutch that live there – young and old, men and women. ‘There’s vast labour capital there. If there would be a good fibre optic network there, people could do many port tasks from home in the future. In the Port of Jebel Ali, in Dubai, I’ve seen for myself how Emirati women managed the port from a remote location. In a lovely chair with a cup of tea beside them. It could also easily be done from home. So, the ladies in Feijenoord are a vast capital of potential employees for the port of the future. But you do need a fast fibre optic network to prevent delays on the line.’

With that, Aboutaleb makes the leap to his own neighbourhood in the Rotterdam Kralingen. ‘I understand all too well that companies are prioritising installing fibre optics there because they believe the residents have the money to enter those subscriptions. But actually, it’s more important that fibre optics are installed in districts like Feijenoord.’

‘The port of Rotterdam is sexy, so show them that the work is sexy. I haven’t seen a single company in the port where I myself would not have wanted to work. It’s a fantastic environment to be able to work in. But even more importantly, we need to get young people, but actually people of all ages, to understand that you can earn good money here. And that the image of dirty and hard work is outdated. There are all kinds of things to do, not only physical work. Automated terminals demand an entirely different expertise. That requires people who understand automation and ICT, and people who understand batteries. And I think that people will be able to work remotely more in the port of the future.’

Yet the approach appeared to work, Aboutaleb states. ‘As a result of those discussions, customs did a really good job. It benefitted safety in the port. Of course, those measures initially cause some friction with businesses and shipping companies in the port. They believed that discussion should be conducted at the highest level, so I listened to that. Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the Belgian prime minister entered into dialogue with them. That strengthened my bond with the companies in the Rotterdam port. I could demonstrate my commitment, and that I was taking their concerns seriously. That’s important to everyone working in the port.’

A slight smile appears on the mayor’s face. ‘It was quite exceptional to see a VVD state secretary, who also deals with law and order and the fight against drugs, saying to you, “But you are going very fast now, mayor of the PvdA.” I liked that – I even enjoyed it.’

Aboutaleb mentions the problem of drug importation in the port as another difficult file. ‘That brought me into conflict with the then State Secretary Aukje de Vries from the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), which was of course influenced by the fruit traders’ lobby. They said they would be seriously inconvenienced by checks on 100% of the containers in the port.’

‘That was an extremely complicated file,’ says Aboutaleb. ‘After numerous discussions and many negotiations, I turned to Mister Odfjell at a certain point and said, you are being shut down. He then answered, as I had expected, that the province of South Holland is responsible his permits and not the municipality. I said, but I am responsible for this city. And the residents are breathing down my neck, not the delegate’s. Odfjell closed its doors that same evening. And indeed, I got into a disagreement with the province. The delegate justifiably said, you were sitting in my chair. All I could say was, that's right! There was no point in denying it, but I had to act. My gut feeling told me I had to do it that way. Afterwards, it led to improved agreements between the province and the Municipality of Rotterdam.’

Odfjell was eventually prosecuted for its failure to report a leak of 200 tonnes of butane, for allowing its staff to work unprotected in a hazardous environment and for not maintaining the fire-extinguishing and cooling facilities. In December 2013, Odfjell was fined three million euros for acting contrary to the safety and permit regulations for all those years. After various reorganisations, Odfjell’s Rotterdam terminals were eventually sold to the Dutch company Koole Terminals in 2018. 

That measure was preceded by a string of incidents and breaches of environmental regulations. The VRR, of which Ahmed Aboutaleb is thus chair, identified various shortcomings in the fire-extinguishing and cooling facilities and it appeared that the tanks had not been checked for years.

If we ask Aboutaleb about the file that kept him awake at night, he instantly comes up with the example of Odfjell. In July 2012, supervisors from the Rotterdam-Rijnmond Safety Region (VRR), Rijnmond Environmental Protection Agency (DCMR) and (formerly) Inspectorate SZW, completely shut down the activities of the Norwegian tanker and stevedoring company Odfjell in the Rotterdam Botlek.

That also applies to how he dealt with safety in the port, Aboutaleb comments. The companies were initially fearful that the mayor’s strict, innovative approach would be at the expense of companies. ‘Deltalinqs Chair Victor van der Chijs mentioned that at the Deltalinqs Annual Dinner earlier this year. He said that had caused some friction to start with but that everyone benefits from a safe port. We eventually became good partners.’

‘That’s part of being a mayor. Then it’s about dealing with water quality in the Nieuwe Maas or about air pollution. But in my experience, it was always possible to discuss those sometimes-difficult issues. I remember not long after taking office, we said we had to close the coal-fired power stations in the port. People in the port weren’t happy about that, but obviously they are closed now, and the last station is going to close. As mayor, you sometimes have to be a little ahead of the times. The energy transition was also such an issue of which the business community said, "If we have to start doing that now, we will lose our competitiveness.” But now you see that all ports are busy working on the transition.’

The mayor stirs his coffee and continues, ‘I think you could compare my role in the port with my role at safety, where people expect a mayor with a Labour Party background to be a gentle healer, with all the accompanying stereotypes, and I showed the opposite there. I laugh off prejudices. At the time, companies in the port may have expected me to be anti-capitalist. I believed it was extremely important for our port to represent the economic autonomy of Europe. It’s a place that substantially contributes to the certainties citizens need in terms of energy, food and employment. That applies to Rotterdam, but also to Europe and far beyond. Tens of thousands of people work in the port. Indirectly, the port ensures that millions of people can earn a living.’

‘Honestly, I think that, in the end, the business community was positively surprised by the relationship I built up with companies at home and abroad in the course of the years, and the significance of my role in that. Of course, there will always be those comments circulating in the business community when they hear there will be a new mayor with a Labour Party signature. Things like, “Oh, hear we go again!” But we built a great alliance over the years. As mayor, you then of course also have to show your commitment to those companies. If you now asked various companies in the port of Rotterdam what the relationship with the mayor has been like the past 15 years, I think you’d get mostly positive answers. I’m pleased about that.’

‘Not really. It was Eberhard van der Laan (mayor of Amsterdam between 2010 to 2017, ed.) who once said: “The port of Amsterdam is an arm of the port of Rotterdam.” That says enough about the association and relationship between the ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam. I knew what a port can mean to a city, but what I found in Rotterdam cannot be compared to Amsterdam of course. It’s on quite a different level. Rotterdam without a port and a port without Rotterdam? That’s inconceivable.’

‘I think I had a good general picture of the activity in the port of Rotterdam but no more than that. I did have experience with topics in the port. There are few people who know I was involved in the plans for the IJmuiden Sea Lock – the plans for that were already on my desk back in 2004. As alderman in Amsterdam, I often looked to Rotterdam to see what was happening there. And particularly at Rotterdam’s far-reaching specialisation in terms of containers, also because we underwent a rather unfortunate development with the container terminal in Amsterdam.’