German Society for Technical Cooperation
Macedonian - German Cooperation for Development

The German government was one of the first countries that immediately after we had gained our independence, showed its interest to provide financial and technical support to the Macedonian Government in overcoming the present development problems. The ways and terms of technical assistance implementation are defined in the Bilateral Development Technical Cooperation Agreement between the Macedonian and the German Governments, which was ratified at the Parliament on 27 January2000. The corresponding Ministry for bilateral cooperation between the German and Macedonian Governments is the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and on behalf of the Macedonian Government, the bilateral cooperation is coordinated by the Ministry of Finance.
The realization of the development projects in the field of Technical cooperation, for which the German Government provides financial support is realized in cooperation with the German Association for Technical Support - GTZ GmbH (Deutsche Gesellscheft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit. It is an institution founded in 1975 by the German Government, which acts upon the Ministry of Economic Cooperation (BMZ) directives. The German - Macedonian development cooperation is directed towards political, economic and institutional stabilization of the Republic of Macedonia, as well as the region, towards support of the civil society development, reforms in the public administration, strengthening the commercial and economic cooperation, strengthening the national and regional security.
The German-Macedonian technical cooperation immediately after the Macedonian had gained its independence was concentrated on projects for implementation of urgent measures. Thus, this initial phase was focused on support to the basic services in health, urgent rehabilitation of irrigation systems, as well as assistance in planning the traffic infrastructure. Also, in the very beginning, a contribution was given in the processes of economic and social transition.
In the next phase, this early technical cooperation was extended into other sectors and it strengthened in the field of economic promotion. The package of support was directed towards establishing private enterprises, support to the food control system, preparation of draw-laws and complete support to the water-supply sector.
In the current phase, the cooperation extended with projects in the field of agriculture, consumers protection and secondary educations.
In terms of our efforts for EU membership, the German - Macedonian Technical Cooperation is working on approximation of laws and standards in all spheres of cooperation. The present GTZ field of operation in Macedonia includes the following activities and projects: economic development and employment (establishing private enterprises; training for quality management; promotion of investments; Macedonian stock-market, etc.); water and environment (rehabilitation of dams and water-supply in rural areas; assistance in managing the water resources; LEAP and EAP for Skopje); legislation and approximation with the EU (counseling services in the EU association process; adjusting of the Macedonian legislation to the EU standards; counseling legal services in separate economic areas); social services (care and treatment of children with physical and mental disabilities in the development).

D. M.