Two German lawmakers in city

7 April 2010, 18:00 PM

Diplomatic Correspondent

Two members of the German Parliament (Bundestag) arrived here yesterday on a weeklong visit to Bangladesh to catch up on the recent developments in Bangladesh and to foster ties between the German Bundestag and the Jatiya Sangsad. The German MPs Jürgen Klimke (CDU) and Niemat Movassat (Die LINKE) represent the committees on Foreign Affairs, Development Cooperation and Human Rights of the German Bundestag. During their stays in Bangladesh, the German lawmakers will meet Speaker Abdul Hamid, Leader of the Opposition Khaleda Zia, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and ministers of commerce, health and family welfare, Chittagong Hill Tracts affairs, energy and environment to review the state of the bilateral cooperation in these fields. The German parliamentarians are also scheduled to meet members of the Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, representatives of the civil society and the Most Reverend Paulinus Costa, Arch Bishop of Dhaka. The visit will also focus on a wide range of on-going programmes in the bilateral development cooperation between the two countries, said a German embassy press release yesterday. Since 1972, Germany has provided about 4.4 billion Euros as direct bilateral assistance and indirect multilateral contributions to support Bangladesh on its way to eliminate poverty, to protect human rights and to achieve economic success. At the same time Germany is Bangladesh's second largest export market in the world. The annual bilateral trade volume has reached 2.3 billion Euros and is steadily growing, with Bangladesh enjoying a trade surplus of more than 1.7 billion Euros last year. Germany is an open market with free access for Bangladesh goods, without any import tariffs.