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1971 - 1973: Cornelis (Kees) Boertien van Stichting NICC

Kees Boertien was the Minister for Development Cooperation in the Biesheuvel I and II cabinets. During Boertien's tenure, the budget norm of 1%, which had been fought for by Udink, was abandoned. Only budget amounts that were not linked to national income were agreed upon, which meant that in times of high inflation, the amounts did not increase, and hence the real value of aid decreased. It is noteworthy that this happened silently and was never discussed in the Dutch parliament. With his appointment, Boertien attempted to gain control over the various aspects of the policy. He tried to transfer the policy responsibility for UNCTAD issues to Development Cooperation, but this brought him into conflict with the Ministry of Economic Affairs. However, during the third conference of this organization held in Santiago (Chile) during this period, he played a minor role, even though the Dutch public was highly interested in what was happening in UNCTAD at the time. Furthermore, he announced a reorganization of the Interdepartmental Coordination Committee on Aid to Less Developed Countries(Coördinatie Commissie inzake Hulpverlening aan Minder Ontwikkelde Landen) to intensify central-level deliberations and promote the integration of financial and technical aid.

An important step taken by Boertien was to bring the co-financing program entirely within the government sphere and to tighten the criteria. After a meeting in 1972, private organizations proposed refinements to the existing agreements, which Boertien accepted. However, approval of co-financing projects by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was made dependent on an agreement by the government of the recipient country.

The biggest challenge during his tenure was the erosion of his budget due to high inflation. In July 1972, Boertien fought against an attempt to cut the budget. He believed that a budget problem should not be an obstacle to aid, and furthermore, the ministry had calculated that half of the funds flowed back to the Netherlands through orders for Dutch businesses. However, he did advocate for a decrease in funding for Suriname and the Dutch Antilles, inspired by the view of the Kingdom Commission (Koninkrijkscommissie) (1972) that ties with the West should be loosened.

Udink had previously established the NCO. However, tensions around the NCO escalated to the point where Boertien announced that the mandate of this commission would be terminated by the end of 1973. However, this was corrected by the new Den Uyl cabinet.

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