A Positive Trend in Developmental Aid

Developmental aid activities of the German Technical Coorporation (GTZ) have been increased in 2002, especially in Asia, the Mediterranean and the Middle East, as the organisation’s current annual report shows.

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), i.e. the German Technical Cooperation, is a government-owned corporation for international cooperation with worldwide operations. It is, basically, the major device for Germany’s developmental aid, working primarily for the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. In more than 130 partner countries, GTZ is supporting ca. 2,700 development projects and programmes, chiefly under commissions from the German Federal Government. GTZ’s aim is to improve the living conditions and perspectives of people in developing and transition countries.

Fighting Terror with Developmental Aid

GTZ employees primarily offer technical expertise: they help construct schools in Sri Lanka, they support water management in Mali, or they promote private agricultural self-help initiatives in Azerbaijan. Due to the global economical crisis, developmental aid programmes have been under increasing pressure in recent years. In 2002, however, Germany’s federal government has increased the company’s budget. “Considering the difficult situation of Germany’s federal treasury, 2002 was a rather successful year for our cooperation”, said Wolfgang Schmidt, GTZ’s General Manager, at the presentation of the Annual Report 2002. “That has to do with the fact that we have profited – under tragic circumstances – of the federal government’s increased commitment in the field of developmental aid after September 11.”

It is especially the regions of Asia, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East in which developmental aid activities have been intensified in the course of the government’s anti-terror programme. GTZ’s turnover increased by a moderate 1.2% to a total of about 876 million euro, the major part of which still is contributed by Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul’s Federal Ministry of Economic Development and Cooperation. In recent years, however, various other organisations have made use of the German Technical Cooperation as well. “In our efforts to acquire commissions from the European Commission and yet another major organisation for development, the World Bank, we were remarkably successful in 2002”, said Schmidt. And that success is not just restricted to the traditional developing countries in Africa or Asia. In Europe, for instance, the European Commission has commissioned the GTZ to work on a project for the preparation of the Eastern expansion of the EU, a 35 million euros deal. In this project, GTZ employees support the public administrative bodies of the prospective EU countries to adjust the judicial systems to that of the European Union.

Yet another example is the United Arab Emirates – not really a developing country. Nevertheless, here too, key competencies of the GTZ are in demand: in the field of water management. In this case, however, the wealthy oil-exporting country pays the bill itself.

New Fields of Activity

The GTZ also strikes deals with partners in the business sector. The most widely noticed example is GTZ’s cooperation with DaimlerChrysler in South Africa. Here, commissioned by the automaker, the GTZ develops programmes in order to prevent the spreading of AIDS among the corporation’s staff. Cooperation with the business sector is only just being built up; Bernd Eisenblätter, GTZ’s Managing Director, however, sees a great future in this area.

One of the most important pillars of the GTZ’s activity, however, remains one of the never-ending issues of international developmental work and cooperation: fighting poverty. Together with various other international organisations, the GTZ aims to reduce the number of extremely poor people by half by the year 2015.

Kerstin Steinbrecher, Deutsche Welle, June 2003; translation: Lewis Gropp