On 21st August 2019, The Executive Secretary of SADC, Her Excellency Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax. bade farewell to the Outgoing Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Botswana and Special Representative to SADC, His Excellency Ambassador Ralf Breth, who has completed his tour of duty.
In appreciation of the existing cordial relations between SADC and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, H.E. Dr Tax expressed SADC’s gratitude to the outgoing Ambassador for his support and leadership in strengthening cooperation between Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany. She particularly, thanked the Ambassador for his role in the SADC-German Bilateral Negotiations on Development Cooperation which took place in November 2019, and the fruitful technical consultations held in February 2019, the outcome of which has since been translated into Technical and Financial Cooperation Agreements covering a number of sectors of regional integration. She highlighted that cooperation between the two institutions remains very strong and that the recently approved SADC Vision 2050 and the Revised Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (2020-2030), uncovered a new dawn of commitment on regional integration, for both SADC and Germany to renew their joint commitment to regional integration, especially in view of the SADC-German Bilateral Negotiations scheduled for late 2021. Dr Tax further extended SADC’s appreciation to the German Government for the timely support in response to COVID-19 pandemic, in disaster risk reduction and management.
On his part, outgoing Ambassador Breth expressed his appreciation to Dr Tax for the friendly relations and support rendered to him during his tenure of office. He also expressed sincere admiration to the SADC Secretariat family for cordial working relations that enabled the two institutions to firm up areas of cooperation for the mutual benefit. He underscored that his mission in the region was primarily to serve the interest of the SADC citizens and support the Secretariat. He commended achievements made through the implementation of programmes of support in the areas of: industrialization, trade, peace and security, transboundary water resources, protection of natural resources, and adaptation to climate change, amongst others. The Ambassador, also indicated that similarly, like the rest of the world, the Federal Republic of German had also been affected by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had impacted negatively on the lives of the German population and the economy. He assured Dr Tax that his government was nevertheless fully committed to continue supporting the region technically and financially. He wished the SADC family success in its quest for deeper regional integration and prosperity.
The SADC Executive Secretary was accompanied by the Deputy Executive Secretary for Corporate Affairs, Ambassador Joseph Nourrice and other SADC Officials.
