No Aid Cutbacks
January 28, 2009
Speaking in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka, Reinhard Silberberg, deputy minister in the German foreign ministry said his government would continue to meet its aid commitments to the south Asian country despite the global financial meltdown.
"My government said very clearly, we will keep our high level of assistance and we will increase it step by step as part of our promise for the millennium development goals policy," Silberberg said on Wednesday, Jan. 28, after holding talks with his Bangladesh counterpart Touhid Hossain.
"There is a strong commitment of our government that the countries we are working with should not suffer from the international financial crisis," Silberberg said.
Germany has provided 4.4 billion euros ($5.8 billion) in aid to Bangladesh over the past 37 years.
The two sides also discussed trade, investment and cooperation in the international organizations.
"I think something could be done to further improve the environment for investment in Bangladesh," Silberberg said.
Annual trade volume between Germany and Bangladesh is nearly 2 billion euros, with Bangladesh enjoying a trade surplus of more than 1.3 billion euros.
"We favor a lot Bangladesh exports and I said to my colleague that we are very much in favor of German trade deficit with your country," Silberberg said.
Germany is the second-largest export destination for Bangladesh after the United States.