The Netherlands ambassador John Groffen has praised the tremendous progress Qatar has made in the recent past and hoped relations between the two countries would reach new heights in the coming years.Addressing guests at his country’s National Day celebration organised at his residence, Groffen said Qatar was a dynamic country with an impressive economic performance, big ambitions and incredible potential.Minister of Education and Higher Education HE Saad bin Ibrahim al-Mahmoud was the chief guest at the function. Members of the diplomatic corps and other dignitaries were also present.The ambassador said Qatar was one of the most happening places in the world and said: “I have not stopped to be amazed by this country.”Referring to some of the milestones that Qatar has achieved, he said: “I have witnessed double digit growth of the GDP, celebrated in Ras Laffan the achievement of Qatar’s 77mn tonnes LNG per annum objective and seen it win the Fifa 2022 World Cup championship bid.” He also mentioned about Doha hosting the numerous international conferences and sports events.Groffen said change was also taking place in Qatar but in a quite different way from the others. “In Qatar we see a smooth process of transformation based on a vision. And from this position of stability and economic clout, Qatar plays an increasingly important role on the world stage, which was acknowledged by Queen Beatrix when she came here on a successful state visit last March.”He hoped the current upheaval in some Arab countries would lead to the “speedy fulfillment of the promises of this Arab spring.”.