German-Myanmar relations

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German-Myanmar relations
Location of Germany and Myanmar
GermanyGermany MyanmarMyanmar
Germany Myanmar

In 2014, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (before 1989: Union Burma) celebrated the 60th anniversary of German-Myanmar relations . With 1402 officially registered Burmese, Germany is the second largest European immigration country for Myanmar after Great Britain .

Relationships before 1988

Between 1954 and 1988, Germany and Myanmar maintained a close relationship that was largely supported by Germany's development policy.

Political relationship

The first diplomatic relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Union of Burma began 1952. They were based sometimes on the initiative of various representatives of the German economy, among other things Krupp , AEG , Siemens and the trading house Berli Jucker in Bangkok, which since the beginning of the 1950er years on urged the conduct of a diplomatic mission. In addition, the FRG of the GDR , which had already opened its first commercial agency in 1954, wanted to get ahead and curb its influence on Burma and prevent its recognition. Diplomatic relations between the FRG and Burma were established in the same year. In 1955 the Federal Republic set up an embassy in Rangoon . It was not until much later, in 1973, that the GDR also set up a diplomatic mission.

The Hallstein Doctrine of the FRG was not implemented consistently in the case of Burma. It was more important to the federal government to keep communism in check. The military build-up to ward off communist uprisings received full support. Relations were built on strong collaboration with the Burmese military to maintain influence. From today's perspective, issues such as human rights or democracy were not valued. Burma never addressed the “ German question ” and cultivated bilateral relations with both the FRG and the GDR. Burma was on the side of the GDR due to its political closeness, but at the same time was dependent on the development aid of the FRG. The high point of the German-Burmese relationship were the state visits of the German Federal President Weizsäcker in February 1986 to Burma and the Burmese President San Yu in October 1987 in Germany.

Development Assistance

The FRG started development aid programs shortly after the establishment of diplomatic relations with Burma. Although Germany, with 1.15 billion DM in the years 1956 to 1988, was the second largest donor nation behind Japan and the most important Western European development partner for Burma, the partnership was less important from a German perspective. The approach to development aid at that time differed significantly from the one practiced today. Instead of providing humanitarian and grassroots aid through NGOs , Germany focused on technical projects based on the concept: "Help through self-help". A large part of the development aid went to projects of the German Society for Technical Cooperation and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development . In addition, German experts accompanied technical projects in an advisory capacity. In addition to development aid and cooperation in the technical and academic fields, the aid also included loans to the Burmese state. Burmese officials and the military also repeatedly visited the Federal Republic for training purposes. Furthermore, Germany, largely supported by the DAAD , DSE and Carl-Duisberg-Gesellschaft e. V, Scholarships to Burmese students in Germany. However, the Burmese government tried to stop this by imposing fines and disenfranchisement upon completion of a degree abroad.

Fritz-Werner GmbH

The Fritz-Werner company from Geisenheim played a special role in the bilateral relationship, specializing primarily in industrial systems for the production of armaments. It was state-owned from 1954 to 1990 and therefore enjoyed full support from the authorities in doing business with Myanmar. The discreet handling of the internal affairs of the state and the reliability contributed to the fact that the then GmbH was able to gain a foothold in Burma. The management of Fritz-Werner GmbH had excellent relationships with the military and government, especially with General Ne Win , and systematically expanded them over the years. By 1988, 600 - 700 young soldiers and engineers were trained in the GmbH workshops in Berlin and Geisenheim. Among the participants in the training project were the future Prime Minister Maung Maung Kha and the Minister of the Ministry of Industry II U Maung Cho, which is responsible for the armaments industry. The relationship went so far that the head of Fritz-Werner GmbH had a more privileged position than the German embassy in Rangoon and acted as an intermediary in most of the bilateral projects and agreements. In total, Fritz-Werner GmbH had advised 22 of its own and another five external projects in Burma up to 1988. The close relationship enabled Fritz-Werner GmbH to be the only company that was allowed to invest in Burma during the Ne Wins era, in which foreign companies were only allowed to invest in the country in partnership with the state. However, business in Burma has been criticized for having contributed significantly to the military's gain in power and the bloody suppression of the pro-democratic protests in August 1988. The state-owned Fritz-Werner GmbH and the government were suspected of having been involved in the events and of having supplied the military with armaments. The government denied any knowledge of it.

Relationships from 1988 to 2012

German-Myanmar relations from 1988 to 2012 were characterized by a standstill.

The aftermath of the 1988 human rights violations

After the mass demonstrations in Burma in August 1988 and the coup on September 18 of the same year, the strategy of German foreign policy towards the South Asian country changed abruptly, as bilateral relations were abruptly ended. While the funds for development aid amounted to 31.7 million USD in 1988, ten projects with a value of 50 million DM were shut down in December 1988 and the majority of the skilled workers in the country were ordered back to Germany. Only three experts stayed in the country to finish projects that had been started. These radical measures can be described as "a negative pedant to non-reaction before 1988, since the Federal Republic of Germany had kept its eyes closed to the dictatorial moves of Ne Win's government". The new strategy meant that Germany lost its privileged position and all networks in the country.

EU and FRG sanctions

In 1990 the EU responded with the first sanctions . It issued an arms embargo against Myanmar and withdrew all military attachés . She also stopped development cooperation. Only humanitarian aid was allowed at that time. "The Maastricht Treaty (1992) set the goal of a 'common foreign policy' for the first time. The European Union was now able to act as such on the international stage. It could express its position on armed conflict, human rights and other issues . " The contract came into force in 1993. The common foreign and security policy (CFSP) pushed the interests of the individual countries into the background. The FRG promoted the development of the CFSP, but left the decision-making to the Northern European countries, such as the Netherlands, Great Britain, Denmark and Ireland, which advocated tightening sanctions against Myanmar. Following the death of the Danish diplomat James Leander Nichols in a Myanmar prison in 1996, the EU issued an initial uniform statement on Myanmar and obliged all EU states to orient their foreign policy actions accordingly. A visa ban was imposed on members of the regime and their families. In the following years further EU sanctions were gradually imposed, for example the visa ban was extended to tourists in 1997. In 1998, for the first time in history, the EU issued economic sanctions by depriving Myanmar of the rights of the Generalized System of Preferences. The Federal Republic of Germany used its EU presidency in 1999 to organize meetings with the EU Troika and the military government of Myanmar in July 1999 and April 2000. Despite repeated multinational talks with representatives of the EU and Myanmar as well as the ASEAN states, the sanctions were extended in 2003. When Khin Nyunt and with him a considerable part of the state apparatus were ousted in 2004 , the EU lost its interlocutors within the military regime. The turning point followed in 2011. In response to the first free elections since 1988, the EU's sanctions were initially suspended for one year and then lifted entirely in 2012, with the exception of the arms embargo. Although the Federal Republic of Germany was guided by the strategy of the EU strategy towards Myanmar from 1993 to 2011 on the basis of the CFSP, it nevertheless tried to intervene in a certain way. For example, she was not entirely convinced that the EU sanctions would bring the desired results. During this time, Germany supported United Nations aid projects to combat drugs and measures relating to infrastructure. The bilateral relations in the field of education continued only to a limited extent. Germany awarded around 40–50 scholarships to Myanmar every year.

Relationships since 2012

Since 2012, Germany has been trying to revive the partnership after it was restricted for several years by the EU sanctions. Germany was once the second most important donor and trading partner of Myanmar. At the moment, imports and exports account for around 1 percent of Myanmar's total trade volume. As a result of the sanctions imposed by the EU and the USA in recent years, the Asian countries have seized their opportunity and now have over 90 percent of the market share in Myanmar.

Economic Cooperation

From February 9 to 12, 2014, Joachim Gauck was the first Federal President to visit Myanmar since 1986. Gauck met with President Thein Sein and the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi , among others . “You can count on Germany,” he promised them. During the Federal President's visit, an agreement was signed on Myanmar's old debts. “The bilateral agreement regulates the outstanding debts of around 1.1 billion euros as of the end of 2012, of which 50 percent will be waived. The remaining 50 percent, around 542 million euros, will be deferred and will have to be paid back between 2020 and 2027. ”The background to this agreement was the resolution of the Paris Club on multilateral debt settlement in January 2013.

Since 2011, trade between Germany and Myanmar has been slowly picking up speed again. There is great demand for German products, especially in the mechanical engineering and electrical engineering sectors, as well as for chemical products and pharmaceuticals. Germany mainly imports clothing and food, and imports of raw materials such as wood and cork as well as processed gemstones are becoming more and more important for foreign trade statistics. More and more large German companies are discovering the Myanmar market for themselves, including Henkel (detergent production), the drug manufacturer Stada and Adidas in 2014 in Myanmar. "Foreign trade with Myanmar is worthwhile [...] because this country is the last significant and viable market in Asia and excellent opportunities arise for German companies if you are patient."

Development Assistance

During his visit in February 2012, the then Federal Minister Niebel spoke out in favor of promoting sustainable economic development. Germany's commitment in this area, represented by GIZ, focuses primarily on promoting vocational training, as Germany's dual training system is a perfect template. In addition, projects for the further development of the private and financial sectors are supported. Non-governmental organizations from Germany are also involved in areas such as humanitarian aid, fighting poverty, curbing drug cultivation and in the health sector.

German representations in Myanmar

  • 2015 Foundation of the German-Myanmar Business Chamber
  • Reopened since 2014, Goethe-Institut in Rangoon
  • since 2013, delegate office of the German economy, AHK Myanmar, delegate Monika Stark
  • since 1954 German Embassy in Rangoon, Ambassador Christian-Ludwig Weber-Lortsch

literature

  • Hans-Bernd Zöllner: Burma between “independence first-independence last”. LIT-Verlag, Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-8258-4360-2 .
  • Michael von Hauff: Economic and Social Development in Burma / Myanmar, The Relevance of Reforms. Metropolis-Verlag, Marburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-89518-635-6 .
  • Lukas Brandau: EU sanctions: the example of Myanmar. Abera, 2010, ISBN 978-3-934376-91-5 .

Web links

Jörn Dorsch, Jatswan S. Sidhu: The European Union's Myanmar Policy: Focused or Directionless? at journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Federal Statistical Office, Fachserie1 Reihe2: Population and employment - foreign population. (As of December 31, 2013) Access: January 25, 2016.
  2. ↑ Arthur Revel: The German-Myanmar relations before and after 1988 - much lost, little gained? In: Friedrich Ebert Foundation. 2007, p. 5 ff.
  3. ↑ a b Foreign Office: Relations between Myanmar and Germany. (Status: May 2015) Accessed: January 23, 2016.
  4. ↑ Arthur Revel: The German-Myanmar relations before and after 1988 - much lost, little gained? In: Friedrich Ebert Foundation. 2007, p. 6 ff.
  5. ↑ Arthur Revel: The German-Myanmar relations before and after 1988 - much lost, little gained? In: Friedrich Ebert Foundation. 2007, p. 21.
  6. ↑ Hans-Bernd Zöllner: Misunderstood partnership in the "One World". A study on German-Burmese relations using the example of the Fritz Werner company in Burma. In: World Mission Today. 1993, p. 22ff.
  7. ↑ a b Arthur Revel: The German-Myanmar relations before and after 1988 - much lost, little gained? In: Friedrich Ebert Foundation. 2007, p. 1 ff.
  8. ↑ a b Arthur Revel: The German-Myanmar relations before and after 1988 - much lost, little gained? In: Friedrich Ebert Foundation. 2007, p. 20.
  9. ↑ Arthur Minsat: "Sixty Years of German-Myanmar Relationships: A Retrospective" In: Ute Köster / Phuong Le Trong / Christina Grein (eds.), "Handbuch Myanmar", 2014, p. 235.
  10. ↑ Arthur Revel: The German-Myanmar relations before and after 1988 - much lost, little gained? In: Friedrich Ebert Foundation. 2007, p. 17.
  11. ↑ Horst Rudolf: "On the status of cooperation in the education sector between the Federal Republic of Germany and Myanmar" in: Geiger, Heinrich (Ed.): Southeast Asia: Religion - Culture - Education. The contribution of KAAD to educational cooperation with the mainland states of Southeast Asia. Publishing house of the Catholic Academic Foreigners Service, 2001, p. 43.
  12. ↑ a b c Aung Lwin: Burma: The German Connection - A European Economic Super Power and a Military Dictatorship. 1993, accessed 25 January 2016.
  13. ↑ Hans-Bernd Zöllner: Burma between "Independence First - Independence Last": The Burmese independence movement and its view of the contemporary world using the example of Burmese-German relations between 1920 and 1948. In: Democracy and Development. Volume 38, 2000, p. 14.
  14. ↑ Arthur Revel: The German-Myanmar relations before and after 1988 - much lost, little gained? In: Friedrich Ebert Foundation. 2007, p. 12.
  15. ↑ Arthur Revel: The German-Myanmar relations before and after 1988 - much lost, little gained? In: Friedrich Ebert Foundation. 2007, p. 14.
  16. ↑ Hans-Bernd Zöllner: Misunderstood partnership in the "One World". A study on German-Burmese relations using the example of the Fritz Werner company in Burma. In: World Mission Today. 1993, p. 53 ff.
  17. ↑ Hans-Bernd Zöllner: Misunderstood partnership in the "One World". A study on German-Burmese relations using the example of the Fritz Werner company in Burma. In: World Mission Today. 1993, p. 78 ff.
  18. ↑ David I. Steinberg: "Burma the State of Myanmar." In: "George Town University Press", 2001, p. 153.
  19. ↑ Small question from MPs Niehuis, Schluckebier, Bindig, Brück, Großmann, Hauchler, Holtz, Rixe, Schanz, Toetemeyer, Osswald, Luuk, Kübler, Soell, Vogel and the SPD parliamentary group, printed matter 11/6603.
  20. ↑ a b Answer of the federal government to the minor question from the members of parliament Niehuis, Schluckebier, Bindig, Brück, Großmann, Hauchler, Holtz, Rixe, Schanz, Toetemeyer, Osswald, Luuk, Kübler, Soell, Vogel and the SPD parliamentary group, printed matter 11 / 6862.
  21. ↑ a b Arthur Revel: The German-Myanmar relations before and after 1988 - much lost, little gained? In: Friedrich Ebert Foundation. 2007, p. 32.
  22. ↑ a b c Arthur Minsat: "Sixty Years of German-Myanmar Relationships: A Retrospective" In: Ute Köster / Phuong Le Trong / Christina Grein (eds.), "Handbuch Myanmar", 2014, pp. 242f.
  23. ^ Federal Government: Common Foreign and Security Policy. Access: January 26, 2016.
  24. ↑ a b Answer of the federal government to the minor question from the members of parliament Rainer Funke, Daniel Bahr (Münster), Rainer Brüderle, another member of parliament and the FDP parliamentary group, printed matter 15/2643.
  25. ↑ Arthur Revel: The German-Myanmar relations before and after 1988 - much lost, little gained? In: Friedrich Ebert Foundation. 2007, p. 37.
  26. ↑ Marco Bünte: "Problem State" Myanmar - On the Difficult Dealing with the Military Regime (PDF) Called up: January 26, 2016.
  27. ↑ Answer of the Federal Government to the small question of the MPs Marlies Pretzlaff, Klaus-Jürgen Hedrich, Norbert Blüm, other MPs and the parliamentary group of the CDU / CSU, printed matter 14/3930.
  28. ↑ Arthur Revel: The German-Myanmar relations before and after 1988 - much lost, little gained? In: Friedrich Ebert Foundation. 2007, p. 39.
  29. ↑ a b Germany Trade & Invest, Myanmar's foreign trade strongly determined by China (as of January 19, 2016). Access: January 27, 2016.
  30. ↑ Foreign Office: relations between Myanmar and Germany. (As of May 2015) Auswaertiges-amt.de Accessed January 26, 2016.
  31. ^ Federal Ministry of Finance: Old Debt Regulation with the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. (As of February 10, 2014) bundesfinanzministerium.de Called January 26, 2016.
  32. ↑ German Embassy Rangoon: Bilateral economic relations. rangun.diplo.de ( Memento of the original dated February 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Accessed January 26, 2016. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rangun.diplo.de
  33. ↑ German Chamber of Commerce Abroad 5 questions to… Monika Stark, delegate of the German economy in Myanmar. (As of December 2014) ahk.de ( Memento of the original from February 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Accessed January 26, 2016. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ahk.de
  34. ^ Society for International Cooperation Ltd.: Myanmar. on giz.de, accessed January 26, 2016.
  35. ↑ a b Arthur Minsat: "Sixty Years of German-Myanmar Relationships: A Retrospective" In: Ute Köster / Phuong Le Trong / Christina Grein (eds.), "Handbuch Myanmar", 2014, pp. 403f.
  36. ^ German Embassy Rangoon: GMBC opened. rangun.diplo.de ( Memento of the original from January 30, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Accessed January 26, 2016. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rangun.diplo.de
  37. ^ Deutschland.de: 60 years of diplomatic relations with Myanmar. (As of September 2, 2014) deutschland.de accessed January 26, 2016.
  38. ^ German Chamber of Commerce Abroad: Location: Yangong. ahk.de ( Memento of the original from February 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Accessed January 26, 2016. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ahk.de
  39. ↑ German Embassy Ranking "The Embassy" rangun.diplo.de ( Memento of the original from April 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Accessed January 26, 2016. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rangun.diplo.de