The new Federal Republic of Germany Ambassador to Botswana and Observer to SADC, His Excellency Ralf Breth presented his Letters of Credence to the Executive Secretary of the SADC Secretariat, Her Excellency Dr. Stergomena Lawrence Tax on 11th September 2017.
Ambassador Breth indicated that during his tenure, he will endeavor to strength the long standing development cooperation that exists between the Federal Republic of Germany and the SADC Region. He indicated that since the 1990's the Federal Republic of Germany has made available to SADC an estimated total amount of 400 million euros, in addition to bilateral development cooperation with eight SADC Member States.
Dr. Tax congratulated Ambassador Breth on his appointment and welcomed him to SADC and Botswana. She wished him well in his new assignment. She applauded the work done by his predecessor, Ambassador Rolf Ulrich, saying that during his tenure, SADC achieved a number of milestones, citing the priorities agreed during the Government to Government negotiations held in June 2017 in Berlin and the recent launch of the second volume of the SADC Success Stories as an example. She looked forward to the continued partnership and cooperation.
The two Parties agreed to focus on areas of cooperation agreed during the SADC-Germany negotiations covering: regional economic integration; transboundary water and natural resource management; climate change resilience; and strengthening national-regional linkages in the SADC region.
The Ambassador was accompanied by Ms. Katja Notle, Counsellor at the German Embassy in Botswana.
