Dutch Prime Minister Dr Jan Peter Balkenende will be in Malta on a working visit tomorrow.

During his visit Prime Minister Balkenende will open the new Chancellery of the Royal Netherlands Embassy that was established in Malta in 2002.

After the inauguration, talks with the Prime Minister will be held, followed by a joint press point at the Auberge de Castille.

Jan Pieter Balkenende was born in Kapelle on 7 May 1956.

After completing his secondary education he went on to the Free University of Amsterdam where he studied history (graduating in 1980) and Dutch law (graduating in 1982). He obtained his doctorate in law in 1992 with a thesis on government regulation and civil society organisations.

From 1982 to 1984 he was a legal affairs policy officer at the Netherlands Universities Council. He then served on the staff of the policy institute of the Christian Democratic Alliance (CDA) until 1998.

Dr Balkenende was a member of Amstelveen municipal council from 1982 to 1998, and leader of its CDA group from 1994. From 1993 to 2002 he was professor (part-time) of Christian Social Thought and Economics at the Free University.

From 1998 to 2002 he was a member of the House of Representatives of the States General for the CDA, and leader of the CDA parliamentary party from 1 October 2001.

He has also been a member and vice-chairman of the board of the broadcasting organisation NCRV, a member of the Amsterdam Regional Forum, chairman of the Association of Christian Lawyers, member of the group on socially responsible business practice in the Royal Association MKB-Nederland which represents employers in small and medium-sized businesses, and a member of the board of the Parliamentary History Group.

On 22 July 2002 Dr Balkenende was appointed Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs in the first government to bear his name. He was appointed to the same posts in the second Balkenende government on 27 May 2003.