and the Netherlands established bilateral relations soon after the independence of Pakistan. The Dutch Embassy opened in Karachi in 1955 and shifted to Islamabad ten years later. Pakistan soon became a partner country for the Netherlands, receiving substantial Development Cooperation funds from the 1960s onwards, in particular in the areas of water management/environment, education and governance. In 2011, the Dutch government decided to terminate the structural development projects and to shift the focus on trade relations. Since 2004, the Netherlands has hosted to more than 100 junior diplomats of Pakistan who were educated and obtained degrees from the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael.
Diplomatic Representations
The Netherlands maintains an embassy in Islamabad and two honorary consulates in the cities of Karachi and Lahore. His Excellency Wouter Plomp is the current ambassador of Netherlands to Pakistan. Pakistan, on the other hand, operates an embassy in the Hague. His Excellency Shujjat Ali Rathore is the ambassador of Pakistan to the Netherlands.
*Lahore— the consulate provides general services for Punjab.
Trade and economic relations
Economic relations date back to the 17th century, when the Dutch East India Company established a small trading post in Thatta, Sindh. In March, 1652, Pieter de Bie sailed with his ship to Sindh and set up a trading post in competition with the Portuguese and British. This trading post however lasted only eight years, as it was not a commercial success. Several trading missions followed, among which a well documented one in 1757, led by merchants Wolphert Abraham Brahe and Nicolaas Mahue. After this a long period of decline in economic relations set in. Just before World War II, the Royal Dutch AirlinesKLM started to operate a hotel in Karachi, called Midway hotel, as this city was halfway between Amsterdam and Jakarta/Indonesia. The hotel still exists as the Ramada Plaza Karachi Airport Hotel. In 1948, Philips set up operations in Karachi, which subsequently developed into a manufacturing unit. Around the same time Unilever opened a company representative branch in Pakistan followed by Royal Shell Pakistan. In 1982, Pakistan and the Netherlands signed a bilateral Double Taxation Agreement, to promote business activities in both countries. Pakistan is the 6th largest non-European economic partner and 13th largest economic partner trading partner of the Netherlands in the world.
