GERMANY’S non-resident Ambassador to Fiji Gerhard Thiedemann is confident that the Fiji-German bilateral relations will flourish going forward.
The outgoing ambassador met with Defence and Foreign Affairs Minister Inia Seruiratu last week for a farewell courtesy call following the conclusion of his three-year term in the Pacific, including Fiji.
He said one of the highlights of the two countries bilateral relations was the successful hosting of the COP23 meeting in Bonn, Germany in 2016.
“I think the relationship has grown over the COP23 process because they were the responsible persons and we really got in touch,” he said.
“We learnt about each other very personally and of course that allows closer collaboration in other areas of interests for example in the United Nations.”
Germany is a member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council.
They were elected to the council two years ago.
Mr Thiedemann said they were fortunate that Pacific Island countries supported them in getting onto the council.
“So that was in the end a successful operation to be again on the Security Council and we have promised to the pacific islanders that we want to live up to a partnership also in our role in the Security Council.
“So I understand that our missions the Fijian and the other representations from this region with our mission at the United Nations in New York are very close.
“One important topic that we follow up at the Security Council is climate and security and I think that is a topic that is very relevant to the pacific island nations.”
The outgoing ambassador added that the German Government’s cooperation through the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) was here to stay and their science activities would continue.
