Barbara Schaefer, Head of Division Policy Issues of Cooperation with Asia, South Asia at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) was on a three-day visit to Nepal from 01 to 03 August 2022.

The visit aimed to discuss how to shape the future of bilateral development cooperation between Germany and Nepal. Prior the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the Prime Minister of Nepal, Sher Bahadur Deuba, agreed by exchange of letters that they would continue the long-standing development cooperation between the two countries.

Barbara Schaefer, accompanied by officials from the German Embassy Kathmandu, GIZ and KfW Development Bank, had consultations with high level representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Ministry of Health and Population, Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation and Ministry of Finance.

Schaefer highlighted the inspiring dialogue with the political partners, “These three days showed the trustful and longstanding relations between Germany and Nepal. The grant assistance by Germany will support Nepal, inter alia, with its ambitious climate related National Determined Contributions (NDC) and facilitate the way to become a middle income country.” In addition, Germany and Nepal had agreed to look into the areas of health, social protection, sustainable economic development and poverty alleviation as possible areas for future cooperation.

The chargé d'affaires Dr. Stephan Russek said, “after more than 2 years of COVID, I am glad that a German delegation could finally meet our partner ministries in Nepal in person and discuss the future of our cooperation. I hope this will be the starting point for more political exchange at government level between our two countries.”

Nepal and Germany have a long-standing bilateral cooperation for over 60 years. German Development Cooperation has been supporting Nepal's efforts in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Immediate assistance was also provided for COVID-19 response, including more than four million vaccine doses. Since September 2021, Germany supports Nepal’s shift to a green, resilient, and inclusive development (GRID) pathway as signed on the Kathmandu Declaration on GRID, endorsed by the Government of Nepal and 17 Development Partners.

German bilateral support in Nepal is implemented primarily by Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) for Financial Cooperation, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and National Metrology Institute of Germany (PTB) for Technical Cooperation. Furthermore, Germany works very closely with the European Union and its member states and is a major contributor to or stakeholder of many multilateral institutions like the United Nations, the World Bank or the Asian Development Bank.