Ahmed Aboutaleb, a Moroccan immigrant, has taken office Monday as mayor of Rotterdam, Holland’s largest economic pole and the world’s second-largest port after Shanghai, the Dutch press agency (ANP) has reported.

Aboutaleb, 47, is the first immigrant to hold this position in the history of The Netherlands.

He has resigned as deputy minister for social affairs in Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende’s government, to which he was named in February 2007, to take over in Rotterdam, a city that counts 585,000 immigrants, largest proportion of immigrants in Dutch city.

Talking to aldermen at City Hall, Aboutaleb called for building up trust between the citizens, and for an across-the-board debate on the fundamentals of the rule of law, mainly freedom of expression and of religion, gender equality and fight against discrimination and exclusion.

A former journalist, Aboutaleb is also the first person of Moroccan origin to hold a cabinet post in Holland.

He is a prominent figure in the association, cultural, audiovisual and communication realms. In 2002, he was appointed director of the sector of cultural, economic and social development of the city of Amsterdam, then deputy-mayor of the city.