Against the backdrop of ongoing geopolitical challenges, the diversification of sourcing and sales markets for German companies is becoming increasingly important. Emerging markets and developing countries are particularly coming into focus for economic cooperation. 

Germany has a well-functioning and broadly structured foreign trade promotion (AWF) – centrally organized and locally anchored through federalism. However, other countries have significantly caught up: they use strategic, sometimes aggressive, foreign trade policies and close ties with development cooperation (EZ) to pursue national economic interests – with clear priorities on trade and investment, coordinated communication between business and politics, and faster decisions by respective governments. 

Reduced budgets worldwide

In Western industrialized countries, the trend is now towards reduced budgets for development cooperation, while promoting domestic companies’ foreign business more strongly. Unlike its competitors, Germany has so far largely abstained from systematically utilizing the financial and human resources of development cooperation for its own economy’s interests.

From the perspective of the DIHK, German development cooperation should open significantly more – systematically and consistently – for the interests of its own economy and companies. In addition to existing cooperation in the field of "Collaboration with Business," bilateral agreements, in particular, have the potential to contribute to the expansion of trade and investment. This includes projects of technical cooperation (TZ) as well as financial cooperation (FZ). 

Akkordeon