Development shake-up
March 8, 2010
German development minister Dirk Niebel on Monday defended plans to merge Germany's three aid organizations, the German Association for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), the German Development Service (DED) and Inwent.
Niebel, who is visiting Vietnam at present, says negotiations are underway between the three agencies.
"I'm confident that it (the negotiation process) is progressing well," Niebel said in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Aid targets unchanged
Niebel stressed that the new streamlined agency would be able to deliver German aid more efficiently and with less bureaucracy.
He pointed out that the government would hold on to what he called its "ambitious" target of increasing German aid to 0.7 percent of gross domestic product until 2015 despite press reports to the contrary.
Niebel added that there would be no job cuts involved.
The ruling coalition of Christian and Free Democrats had made the streamlining of German aid operations a key issue in their coalition agreement last autumn after experts had criticized the three agencies for wasting taxpayers' money.
More details on the reorganization of the agencies are expected by Easter.
The GTZ is the biggest of the three organizations. It helps implement the government's development projects in 87 countries. DED specializes in providing experts for developing countries and Inwent focuses on training.
ng/dpa/epd/AFP
Editor: Rob Turner