Written by Fatima Al-Najm
Manama, October 10 (BNA) The German community in Bahrain celebrated the German Unity Day with joy and commitment for a brighter future.
The national anniversary celebrates German reunification in 1990 when the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic were unified.
The newly appointed German Ambassador to Bahrain, Clemens Hutch, who hosted a reception on the occasion of the event, reiterated his commitment to expanding and strengthening relations with Bahrain across various sectors.
“This year we celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, and these years reflect a constantly growing friendship and excellent relations,” he said.
“We have a lot of interests in a good joint business relationship, which is growing, so I’m really looking forward to my tenure here and trying to contribute to making these relationships even better in the future.”
The volume of trade exchange between the two countries in 2021 amounted to $604,634,045, which made Germany the 21st in the list of Bahrain’s largest export markets, and the tenth largest import market for the Kingdom.
German companies have contributed to the advancement of the Bahraini economy through their investors in healthcare, energy, environmental technologies, mobility, digital economy and many different sectors.
“We have major German companies that have created jobs, and those companies have chosen Bahrain as the center of their business activities in the region. There is more to do, and this is what we will work on over the next two years,” the diplomat said.
Ambassador Hatch highlighted the Bahrain environmental plan supported by Germany, particularly in the framework of their joint agreements on climate change
.
“I think Bahrain has very important goals to be carbon neutral by 2060, and I think German companies with their technology should be able to make a significant contribution to achieving this goal.”
In the cultural sector, the regional office of the Goethe-Institut (GI), located in Abu Dhabi, has been in charge of Bahrain since 2006.
The cultural events offered by the German Embassy in cooperation with Bahraini partner organizations are of great interest. German language courses are offered by the Embassy, University of Bahrain (UoB) and School of Bahrain.
“We are reaching excellent political and economic relations, and we believe that to get the full picture of our relations, we should focus on cultural relations as well. Bahrain is a country in the region that is very rich in its history, and this history is not known much in Europe and Germany and I will work to highlight it.”
The minister pointed out the great advantage that foreign students have to study in Germany, where tuition fees are low.
“I invite Bahrainis to spend their time learning German to go study there, Germany is a great choice and an economical option,” he said.