German-Nepalese relations

German-Nepalese relations

Germany	Nepal

The German-Nepalese relations describe the bilateral relationship between Nepal and Germany. Since 1958 the Federal Republic of Germany and Nepal have maintained good diplomatic relations based on a bilateral relationship . After the end of the ten-year civil war , Nepal received direct support from Germany in the peace and democratization process . The development cooperation takes place here, especially in the areas of trade, culture and science .

Diplomatic relations

In 1958 the visit of the Nepalese King Mahendra to the Federal Republic of Germany was of great importance in connection with the diplomatic relations between Nepal and Germany. At that time, Germany did not have a permanent embassy in Nepal, but it was quickly recognized that Nepal is very useful as a neutral reference country in the East-West conflict . Therefore, from 1963, permanent embassies of the other country were founded in both countries. After the United Kingdom , India , the United States , the People's Republic of China and the USSR, Germany was the sixth country with a permanent embassy in Nepal. In December 1972, Nepal also established diplomatic relations with the GDR, which, however, never went beyond intelligence activities. Norbert Meyer, permanent representative of the Ambassador in Kathmandu from 2005 to 2010, described the everyday life of the GDR diplomats in Nepal in an article in Nepal Information as follows: “It doesn't have to be a beautiful, quiet, even edifying life for the GDR diplomats walled Kathmandu. "

There were diplomatic visits on the part of Nepal by the former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and the former Foreign Minister Upendra Yadav from March 9th to 13th, 2009 regarding regional and international problems. Then there was the visit of the then Minister of Commerce Lekh Raj Bhatt in March 2012. Federal President Heinrich Lübke visited Nepal in 1967, Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl in 1987 and Federal President Roman Herzog in November 1996. There were also other official visits by members of the Bundestag to the past years.

Economic cooperation

In 1986 an investment protection agreement was concluded with Nepal. In 1990 the German-Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, called the Nepal German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NGCCI), was founded in Kathmandu to promote bilateral trade relations.

Nowadays, Germany is one of Nepal's most important trading partners, especially as a sales market for textile products such as carpets. A large part of the imported products of Nepal are machines and industrial products from Germany. In recent years, the bilateral trade balance has consistently recorded a surplus in favor of Nepal with an annual trade volume of around 70 million euros.

The following table shows Nepal's trade balance with Germany in US dollars over the past few years.

year	export	import	Balance sheet
2009/2010	34,609,322	35,547,165	−937.843
2010/2011	38,038,971	30.993.024	7,045,947
2011/2012	43,055,027	30.114.058	12,940,969
2012/2013	33.120.375	38,741,269	−5,620,894

Development Assistance

The main goals of development cooperation between Nepal and Germany are to overcome the consequences of the civil war and to alleviate poverty in the country over the long term. Germany's focus is on renewable energies and energy efficiency , healthcare , sustainable economic development and trade. Nepal also received special support in the peace process from the Nepal Peace Trust Fund in the form of financial and advisory services, which served to finance the agreements of the 2006 peace agreement . The Federal Foreign Office also supports projects to build democratic structures and improve the implementation of human rights.

After the severe earthquakes in Nepal in April and May 2015, Germany made a total of 35 million euros available to support Nepal. 5 million euros were made available immediately for humanitarian aid and a further 30 million euros for reconstruction programs.

tourism

After the UK, Germany is the largest supporter of hiking and mountaineering tourism. In 2012, 30,409 German citizens visited the Federal Republic of Nepal. Of these, 10,402 people stated that the reason for their stay was hiking and mountain climbing.

Every German citizen is a valid passport to Nepal enter and therefore requires only a visa , which can at border crossing points to Nepal or at the airport Kathmandu receives. However, the Federal Foreign Office warns against traveling to Nepal. The reasons for this are, on the one hand, the infrastructure damaged by natural disasters and, on the other hand, the unstable political situation and crime .

Culture

Since the cultural agreement between the two countries in 1992, German was no longer an unknown language in Nepal. German is offered as a language course for students at the Goethe-Zentrum Kathmandu . There is a tendency for more and more young Nepalis to be interested in Germany and the German language. The Federal Foreign Office also supported projects to restore culturally and religiously important sites in Nepal.

In Germany, the societies mainly focus on intercultural communication . Main focus of the German-Nepalese Society e. V. (DNG) is the maintenance of informative relations between Germany and Nepal in the sense of international understanding and mutual respect. For this reason, the DNG annually organizes the Nepal Day, the supporting program of which includes various events to illustrate the culture and current situation in Nepal. The aim of the Nepali-German Society e. V. (NEDEG) is to deepen cultural knowledge of both countries through human interaction.

See also

• List of German ambassadors in Nepal

literature

Norbert Meyer: 55 years of diplomatic relations between the Democratic Federal Republic of Nepal and the Federal Republic of Germany. In: Nepal Information , 1st edition, 2013, pp. 33–34, ISSN 0178-8612.

Web links

• Information from the Foreign Office on Nepal
• Embassy of Nepal in Berlin, Germany

Individual evidence

1. ^ Federal Foreign Office, Political Relations between Nepal and Germany , as of October 2015. Accessed on January 27, 2016.
2. ↑ Norbert Meyer: 55 years of diplomatic relations between the Democratic Federal Republic of Nepal and the Federal Republic of Germany , see literature.
3. ^ Norbert Meyer: Nepal Information. 1st edition, 2013, p. 34.
4. ↑ Federal Foreign Office, Diplomatic Visits to Nepal , as of October 2015. Accessed January 27, 2016.
5. ↑ Visits by German politicians ( Memento of the original from January 28, 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. As of December 2009. Accessed January 27, 2016. 
6. ↑ Foreign Office, Economic Relations between Nepal and Germany , as of December 2015. Accessed on January 27, 2016.
7. ↑ Foreign Office, Import and Export of Nepal , as of December 2015. Retrieved on January 27, 2016.
8. ^ Trade and Export Promotion Center - Ministry of Commerce and Supplies. Accessed January 27, 2016.
9. ↑ Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation, priority areas of development cooperation . ( Memento of the original from December 28, 2018 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. Retrieved January 27, 2016. 
10. ↑ Federal Foreign Office, Development Cooperation , as of October 2015. Accessed on January 27, 2016.
11. ^ German Embassy Kathmandu. ( Memento of the original from September 19, 2015 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. Retrieved January 27, 2016. 
12. ↑ Ministry of Culture, Tourism & Civil Aviation - Statistics p. 21. ( Memento of the original from September 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 27, 2016. 
13. ↑ Federal Foreign Office, travel advice from the Federal Foreign Office. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
14. ↑ Federal Foreign Office, Cultural Relations , as of December 2015. Accessed January 27, 2016.
15. ^ German-Nepalese Society. Accessed January 27, 2016.
16. ↑ Nepaltag the German-Nepalese Society so Accessed on 27 January 2016th
17. ^ Nepali-Deutsche Gesellschaft eV Retrieved January 27, 2016.