In august 2007 Hugo Gajus Scheltema was appointed Consul General of the Netherlands in New York. His main tasks are the advancement of Dutch economic and commercial interests, the promotion of the cultural relations between the Netherlands and the United States and the more traditional consular tasks such as the protection of the interests of Dutch nationals in the United States of America.

The Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York covers the north-eastern part of the United States (New England and the tri-state area).

Hugo Gajus Scheltema arrived in New York from Amman, Jordan where he served 4 years as Ambassador of the Netherlands. In addition, from November 2006 till April 2007 he also served as a political adviser to ISAF Regional Command South in Kandahar, Afghanistan  Previous diplomatic assignments include Deputy Director at the Department for Security Policy at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in The Hague (2000 – 2003), Ambassador, Personal Adviser to the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Mr. Max van der Stoel (1999 – 2000), Chargé d’Affaires and subsequently Ambassador in Bratislava, Slovakia (1994 – 1999), Counsellor at the Netherlands Permanent Representation to the OSCE in Vienna (1992 – 1994), as well as various other positions in The Hague and abroad.

Hugo Gajus Scheltema studied Civil Law at the University of Leiden. He was awarded several foreign decorations and is author of several articles on political/military matters (as well as Archaeology and History of Art) in Dutch and English.