Caption: Dr Rodgers with Ms Kopp Parliamentary Secretary for State and Members of the Bundestag, who are on the Development Committee.
Secretariat of the Pacific (SPC) Director-General Dr Jimmie Rodgers ended his tour of SPC’s funders based in Europe with a series of high-level meetings in Germany.
Dr Rodgers met with Ms Gudrun Kopp, Parliamentary Secretary, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). This was followed by a meeting with the Parliamentary Secretary and five members of parliament who are also members of the Federal Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development. Ms Kathrin Oellers, Head of South East Asia and the Pacific Division for BMZ, also attended the meeting.
The meetings show Germany’s high level of commitment and interest in SPC’s work for the development of the Pacific region. The focus of the meetings was on key development challenges faced by small developing Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs). Climate change, an issue of key importance to PICTs, was a major theme of the discussions.
Ms Kopp said ‘in recognising that we are all citizens of one world and acknowledging the important role the SPC has in assisting the Pacific region in development efforts, Germany will remain at SPC’s side in a way that is acceptable to all.’ She further highlighted the importance of close contact between SPC and German officials with regard to Pacific issues.
Dr Rodgers thanked Germany for its support, including EUR 19.2 million in funding for climate change adaptation work through the partnership between SPC and the German technical cooperation agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and additional funding of EUR 6.0 million for a cooperation project that is soon to be finalised.
PRESS RELEASE