Germany will continue aid to Bangladesh despite the global financial crisis to promote social and economic development, a senior German official said Wednesday.
"My government said very clearly, we will keep our high level of assistance and we will increase it step by step as part of our promise for the millennium development goals policy," state secretary for the Foreign Ministry of Germany Reinhard Silberberg said.
"There is a strong commitment of our government that the countries we are working with should not suffer from the international financial crisis," he sadi after meeting his Bangladesh counterpart Touhid Hossain.
Germany provided 4.4 billion euros (5.8 billion dollars) in aid over the past 37 years, reported dpa.
At talks in Dhaka, the two sides also discussed trade, investment and cooperation in the international organisations.
"I think something could be done to further improve the environment for investment in Bangladesh," Silberberg said.
Annual trade volume between Germany and Bangladesh is nearly 2 billion euros, with Bangladesh enjoying a trade surplus of more than 1.3 billion euros.
"We favour a lot Bangladesh exports and I said to my colleague that we are very much in favour of German trade deficit with your country," Silberberg said.
Germany is the second-largest export destination for Bangladesh after the United States. dpa ni tl