Picture by Peter Potman, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Minbuza).
5 October 2015, Kingdom of the Netherlands: Lao People’s Democratic Republic and the Kingdom of the Netherlands have marked 40 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Although the contacts between Laos and The Netherlands are quite old, they have been and remain limited diplomatically, economically as well as the people-to-people exchanges. However one should know that the very first European to meet a Laotian monarch, King Souligna Vongsa of Lan Xang (then the name of Laos) was the Dutchman Gerrit van Wuysthoff from the United East Indies Company (VOC) in 1641.
The major fields of collaboration between Laos and The Netherlands occur at EU level since 2003 when The Netherlands cut off development aid to the Asian country; in any case such aid was limited to sustainable forestry and human rights.
The Royal Dutch embassy in Thailand is co-accredited to Laos whereas the mission of Laos responsible for The Netherlands is based in Brussels. However there is a Dutch honorary consul in Vientiane, Ms Megan Ritchie. Yet Laos has no consulate in The Netherlands.
For more information:
Embassy of Laos to the Benelux countries, the EU and the Nordic countries (HE Ambassador BOUNTEUM Khamkheuang): www.ambalao.be
Royal Dutch Embassy to Thailand: http://thailand.nlambassade.org/organization
Dutch Honorary Consul in Vientiane: http://thailand.nlambassade.org/organization/honorair-consulaten-thailand/honorair-consulaat-in-vientiane.html
