The President of Germany, His Excellency Mr Joachim Gauck conveyed his best wishes to the Government of Fiji in the current constitutional process after being briefed by Ambassador Solo Mara earlier this month at the Presidential House in Berlin.
Ambassador Mara was in Berlin to present his letter of credence formalising his appointment as Fiji’s Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany.
Ambassador Mara highlighted in his brief the implementation of the Roadmap to Democracy and Sustainable Socio-Economic Development to bring about a constitution by 2013 that promotes social & racial equality, political inclusiveness and provides for equal economic opportunities for all Fijians.
In receiving Ambassador Mara, President Gauck acknowledged the areas of cooperation between Fiji and Germany in international forums like the UN, particularly on the important issues of climate change, disarmament and sustainable development, and look forward to seeing new areas of cooperation being developed to strengthen further the healthy bilateral relationship that currently exists.
Prior to meeting the President, Ambassador Mara spent two days briefing senior German Government officials on the socio-political and economic reform agendas currently being implemented in Fiji and discussed ways and means of exploring and increasing closer cooperation in 2013. An area of interest raised by Ambassador Mara was the existing regulatory restriction on the importation of Kava for use in the pharmaceutical market in Germany, which is currently the subject of a court case instigated by the German Herbal medicine industry against the German food safety regulatory authority.
Whilst in Berlin Ambassador Mara also briefed members of the German-Asia/Pacific Business Association on the various government initiatives to promote trade related economic activities in Fiji. There were positive interests expressed in the areas of agro-business, fisheries, renewable energy, mineral exploration, film production and tourism.
Ambassador Mara also spent a day visiting Fiji nationals in the British Army stationed in Germany and briefed them on the political and socio-economic developments in Fiji. Many of those to be affected by the current redundancy program have expressed an interest of returning home to start small business ventures with their redundancy packages in economic sectors promoted by government’s tax-free initiatives.
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