Dutch Jaffna and the Rise and Fall of the VOC – The World’s First Multinational Company
During the Dutch period in Asia, all Dutch colonial operations were overseen by the VOC, the “Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie” or the Dutch East India Company. When the Estates-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia, the VOC, the first multinational corporation in the world and the first company to issue stocks entered its activities in Asia in 1602. The VOC employed not only Dutch nationals, but also enlisted men from Belgium, Friesland, Read More
