Personal Profile Jos Jong
Dutchman Jos Jong is well known in the European lubricant industry, having been involved in many of the industry’s support organisations over the years. He is well respected by his international colleagues and from personal experience I can say he is never afraid to get involved to help others and to represent his country in any key European debates or initiatives. I have known Jos for many years and Jos has attended the BLF / UKLA Annual Dinner for more years than I can remember.
On a point of interest, I asked Jos to explain what was the correct name to describe his country, was it Holland or The Netherlands? For the record, Holland is part of The Nederland (Dutch use the singular, and a different spelling, whereas the English add an ‘s’ and call it The Netherlands), so now you know! At present, the Kingdom of the Netherlands consists of three separate countries: the Netherlands, Aruba (in the Caribbean) and the Netherlands Antilles (also in the Caribbean). Work on the Kingdom's new constitutional structure is in hand. The Netherlands Antilles consists of five island territories: Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius.
For our worldwide readers here are some facts on the country. Full name: The Kingdom of the Netherlands Population: 16.3 million (UN, 2005) Capital: Amsterdam; seat of government: the Hague Area: 41,864 sq km (16,164 sq miles) Major language: Dutch Major religion: Christianity Life expectancy: 76 years (men), 81 years (women) (UN) Monetary unit: 1 euro = 100 cents Main exports: Metal manufacturing, chemicals, foodstuffs GNI per capita: US $36,620 (World Bank, 2006) Internet domain: .nl International dialling code: +31
Jos started in his family’s business in 1966, a Lubricant and Fuels Company, which had been renamed Jong Alkmaar BV the previous year. The company was established in 1938 as West Frisian Oil Import company by his father. As the business expanded and traded more widely, local laws required the company to have a Dutch name, so the name was changed.
In 1972 Jong Alkmaaar BV joined another business organisation - UNIL, Union National des Industriels et Imporateurs des lubrifants. UNIL was set up in France by three experienced industry people as a co-operative limited liability company consisting of independent lubricants manufacturers. UNIL acted as a buying group and a centre of expertise for each of its shareholder member companies.
UNIL, Jong Alkmaar BV continued to expand into metalworking fluids and other industrial oils, benefiting from UNIL’s collaborative expertise.
Jos and the company are also active members of Vereniging Smeerolieondernemingen Nederland (VSN) founded 27th June 1952, the Dutch Lubricants Industry trade association and he joined the board of VSN in 1979. He was elected Chairman in 1990 and will continue in the role until 2009, as he was reconfirmed as Chairman in 2006 for a further three- year term.
VSN is based at Adriaan Goekooplan 5 in the Hague, Marysia Piësla is the Director and Cynthia Lock is the secretary. VSN had a similar constitution to BLF/UKLA and it wasn’t until 2005 that both UKLA and VSN were able to join UEIL, the European Lubricant Industry organisation. Despite these restrictions Jos and a group of 7 others representing Dutch independent lubricant manufac- turers formed a Dutch Delegation to UEIL. Over time this was incorporated in a Benelux Delegation. Benelux stands for Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg.
Initially, UNIL comprised of six companies that were set up in different regional centres of France and over the years the organisation gradually expanded until in 1972 Jong Alkmaaar BV joined as its Dutch affiliated member company. Jong Alkmaaar BV was the only UNIL shareholder company to also sell fuels. Eventually, one of the three original French member companies decided to sell up and following negotiations Shell bought this company. This raised a few concerns, as Shell isn’t seen as an independent, but they acquired the company and things settled for a number of years. During these initial years with
Also, earlier this year – 2007, Jos was elected as President of Europalub, the European Lubricants Statistical Reporting organisation having represented The Netherlands on the General Assembly meetings for a number of years.
Jos’s hobbies and interests include skiing and tennis and his little known involvement with a local charity. The charity has raised funds locally, which it uses to support activities in Nepal, officially the world’s poorest country. He has recently been over there undertaking restorative work in local schools and villages, helping supervise the charity’s work on these vital Nepalese projects.
Rod Parker
24
LUBE MAGAZINE JUNE 2007
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36
