The Netherlands–Pakistan relations (cultural phrase: Dutch-Pakistani relations) refers to the

bilateral Bilateral may refer to any concept including two sides, in particular: * Bilateria, bilateral animals *Bilateralism, the political and cultural relations between two states *Bilateral, occurring on both sides of an organism ( Anatomical terms of ...

, economic, cultural and historical relations between the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. The Netherlands maintains a permanent

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

and honorary

consulates A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth count ...

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

and

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

. Pakistan has an embassy in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

Diplomatic history

and the

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 shift the focus to trade relations. Since 2004, the Netherlands has hosted more than 100 junior diplomats of Pakistan who were educated and obtained degrees from the

Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael The Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael ( nl, Nederlands Instituut voor Internationale Betrekkingen Clingendael) or Clingendael Institute (''Instituut Clingendael'') is a Dutch think tank and academy on international relat ...

Diplomatic Missions

The Netherlands maintains an embassy in

and two honorary consulates in the cities of

and

. Wouter Plomp is the current ambassador of Netherlands to Pakistan. Pakistan, on the other hand, operates an embassy in

. Shujjat Ali Rathore is the ambassador of Pakistan to the Netherlands Consulates of Pakistan and the Netherlands in their respective countries: *

— the consulate provides general services for

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

and

Balochistan Province Balochistan (; bal, بلۏچستان; ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southwestern region of the country, Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan by land area but is the least populated one. It shares land ...

. *

— the consulate provides general services for

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

Trade and economic relations

Historic 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 (

factorij Factory was the common name during the medieval and early modern eras for an entrepôt – which was essentially an early form of free-trade zone or transshipment point. At a factory, local inhabitants could interact with foreign merchants, ...

) 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 Airlines

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...

started to operate a hotel in Karachi, called Midway hotel, as this city was halfway between Amsterdam and Jakarta/Indonesia (the former Dutch colony). The hotel still exists as the Ramada Plaza Karachi Airport Hotel.

Post Independence

In 1948,

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...

set up operations in Karachi, which subsequently developed into a manufacturing unit. Around the same time

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...

opened a company representative branch in Pakistan (

Unilever Pakistan Unilever Pakistan Limited, formerly Lever Brothers Pakistan Limited( ur, ), is a Pakistani fast-moving consumer goods company based in Karachi. It is a subsidiary of the British multinational company. History The town of Rahim Yar Khan was t ...

) 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.

Notes