A photo exhibition titled “50 years of Pakistan-German Development Cooperation” was inaugurated on Monday at the Goethe-Institut Pakistan by Consul General of Germany in Karachi Dr Tilo Klinner and Goethe-Institut Pakistan Director Dr Markus Litz.
The exhibition would run until the end of the current month.
Speaking on the occasion, the German consul general said half a century ago in 1961, the governments of Pakistan and Germany launched their development partnership.
Pakistan was therefore one of Germany’s first partner countries. Since then, this cooperation has formed an important dimension in the relationship between the two countries and has significantly contributed to deepening the ties between both the governments, as well as between the private sector and civil society of both countries. “Thus, when celebrating the 50 years of development cooperation, we also celebrate a rich history of institutional and human interactions which has laid a solid foundation for a long-standing friendship between our peoples,” he noted.
The consul general thanked all Pakistani partners at all levels, in particular the colleagues in the Economic Affairs Division in the Ministry of Finance, for many years of harmonious and fruitful cooperation.
“It is this positive experience that permits us to look ahead to the future with confidence for further joint efforts. Over the past five decades, Pakistan and Germany have implemented numerous development projects and it has been made possible to have selected examples and impacts of these projects presented in the photo-exhibition in words and pictures,” he said.
Today, the priority areas of Pakistan-German development cooperation are good governance, energy, health and basic and vocational education.
In addition, the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development supports Pakistan with refugee aid and in coping with natural disasters, most recently following the floods in 2010 and 2011.
In October last year, the parliamentary state secretary in the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Gudrun Kopp, visited Islamabad and announced that Germany would support emergency aid measures for the survivors of 2011 floods in Sindh and Balochistan provinces with 5.6 million euros.
