Kigali, 28 June 2012
President Kagame today received outgoing Germany Ambassador, Elmar Timpe who called to bid him farewell as his tour of duty came to an end after four years.
Ambassador Timpe told press after the meeting that among his achievements during his tenure as Germany Ambassador in Rwanda was to stabilize the bilateral relations between his country and Rwanda.
“We have worked together quite successfully and our bilateral relations have improved tremendously. Our contribution to the development of this country is quite sizeable and Germany is now shifting from the sector of health where we have supported Rwanda towards the achievement of Millenium Development Goals to the area of education and training. Germany is also among the few countries that give budgetary support to Rwanda and my country has pledged 60 million Euros for the next three years.”
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mary Baine said discussion between the President and the outgoing Ambassador dwelt on strengthening of bilateral cooperation between the two countries and focus on vocational training schools in Rwanda as is an area where Germany can provide assistance.
“The Ambassador has been a good friend and during his stay we have seen a lot of improvement in our bilateral cooperation. He has been a straightforward person who gave his thoughts and shared ideas. The President was quite appreciative of his work.”
Germany and Rwanda continue to enjoy good relations since Rwanda’s Independence in 1962, both at the federal level, and at individual State levels. After the 1994 Genocide, Germany was among the first few countries that re-opened their Embassies in Kigali to assist in the reconstruction of the nation.