Dutch East India Company, trading company founded in the Dutch Republic (present-day Netherlands) in 1602 to protect that state’s trade in the Indian Ocean and to assist in the Dutch war of independence from Spain. The company prospered through most of the 17th century as the instrument of the Dutch commercial empire., The Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, VOC) was founded in 1602 and became one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. VOC played a key role in the economy of the Netherlands and in global trade during the 17th and 18th centuries. The company specialized in the trade of spices, cotton, tea, and other goods , The Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC in old-spelling Dutch) chartered by the States-General of the Netherlands to expand trade and assure close relations between the government and its colonial enterprises in Asia. The company was granted a monopoly on Dutch trade East of the Cape of Good Hope and West of the Straits of Magellan., The United East India Company (Dutch: Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie [vərˈeːnɪɣdə oːstˈɪndisə kɔmpɑˈɲi]; abbr. VOC [veː(j)oːˈseː]), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. [3] [4] Established on 20 March 1602 [5] by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing , Dutch East India Company 1602–1799 The Dutch East India Company had two important strategic advantages in the cut-throat competition for trade and constant naval skirmishing among European powers in south-east Asia in the 17th century. Its base at Batavia was ideally placed to defend the company's interests in the Spice Islands, and the , Oost (East) India Compagnie in 1602. At the same time, the political leaders recognized that a united company with military and governing powers in Asia would be a political and military asset to the Republic’s conflict with Spain. The VOC received a monopoly on all Dutch trade and shipping with Asia and had the.