Yemeni-German ties have long history [Archives:2005/821/Community]
Yasser Mohammed Al-Mayyasi
The Yemen-German ties are the some of the strongest in the Middle East, and date back to the beginning of last century.
The starting point of establishing the Yemeni-German ties was the voyage of sailor Christen Neobur, who made an exploratory voyage to the Arabian Peninsula in the 18th century.
The voyage, which paved the way to the establishment of the official relationships between the Yemeni and German governments, aimed to study the history of Arabia.
In the 20th century, the first diplomatic relationship between Sana'a and Bonn (the capital of the former West Germany) was established in the fifties and was crowned with signing an agreement of cultural cooperation between both countries.
Germany made an official recognition of the September 26 Revolution and the declaration of the republican regime, and the German Consulate was opened in Taiz to further deepen the diplomatic and economic ties between both countries. Such ties were broken when Germany acknowledged of the State of Israel and Yemen was among the countries that broke their relations with Germany.
Later on, Yemen resumed its ties with Germany in 1969, and Germany in turn funded numerous projects in the areas of education, agriculture and basic services. The bilateral relationships between both countries flourished after the two Yemeni countries unified in 1990.
The political ties strongly developed in 1992, with an exchange of visits by high-ranking officials from both countries. The economic ties were reinforced in the nineties and that was followed by a series of trade and economic agreements that contributed to the influx of German commodities to Yemen. The German private sector contributed companies and investment establishments to Yemen that played a crucial role in reviving the Yemeni economy.
The cultural ties that began in 1998 were reflected in the bilateral agreement between Germany and Yemen that helped consolidate the cultural and scientific cooperation. The agreement gave more priority to the field of antiquities and Yemeni popular heritage. So, a number of German organizations interested in culture and heritage arrived in Yemen, such as Friedrich and Erbert, which are considered the most prominent foundations in terms of strengthening the ties between Yemen and Germany.
In addition, there are other several German organizations that carried out various activities in Yemen contributing to improving the development process in Yemen in the economic, cultural, and sanitary areas.
Germany is a close partner to Yemen and the German support focuses on the primary education, health care, combating poverty and creating job opportunities for the unemployed. The Yemeni-German economic cooperation gives more priority to the establishment of urban development, and there are many German volunteers who devote their efforts to training Yemeni citizens in different areas.
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