The Conference discussed the growing development cooperation modality where a developed country and a developing country join hands with their respective expertise to implement developmental projects in third developing countries
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, November 3, 2023: Mr Periasamy Kumaran, Secretary In-charge of development partnership administration in the Ministry of External Affairs of India, in his address at the inaugural session of the 1st Asian Conference on Triangular Cooperation (TrC) held in New Delhi on 2 November lauded the recent triangular cooperation initiatives undertaken by India and Germany in Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, Malawi and Peru catalysed by the Indo-German cooperation mechanism as successful examples of jointly designed and implemented projects to achieve sustainable development and climate goals in partner countries. He Periasamy Kumaran indicated that such more initiatives as per interest shown by other developing countries are in the pipeline, including a millets-based project in Africa.
Germany is a trusted friend in this Indian endeavour aimed at the Global South, he said, and appreciated that Germany understands the Indian philosophy on development cooperation based on the comfort and desire of respective partner developing countries. Triangular cooperation is an important vector in India’s development cooperation, he added.
Germany’s Ambassador to India Mr Philipp Ackermann traced his commitment to triangular cooperation to his days in Afghanistan when in 2006-07 he was part of efforts undertaken with India to deliver development projects in Afghanistan. He highlighted two key positives in engaging India as a pivotal partner in such cooperation in third countries. First, India’s strong development history accompanied by its more recent role as a powerful emerging market inspires trust in its development initiatives with its success in several fields. Second, even with geopolitics getting more and more difficult, India’s masterly negotiations towards a successful outcome during its G 20 Presidency makes India ideally suited for Germany to take its triangular cooperation operations forward.
The Conference, the first of its kind, discussed this growing development cooperation modality where a developed country and a developing country join hands with their respective expertise to implement developmental projects in third developing countries. All the three partners in this modality contribute equally with their respective needs, experiences, funds and technical assistance capacities. Triangular cooperation circumvents the North-South barriers of traditional development cooperation and learning from the increasing South-South cooperation among developing countries, provides a new form of international collaboration aimed at capturing the best of the existing modalities.
The Conference aims to explore technical feasibility and technical expertise from all sides and the way in which they contribute to the achievement of SDGs – and beyond. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) collaborated with the Global Partnership Initiative on Effective Triangular Cooperation (GPI) to bring together more than a hundred decision makers, experts, practitioners, and academia involved in triangular cooperation from across the world.
Scores participated online in this conference held in a hybrid mode. Ambassador Sudhir T. Devare representing RIS, Ms. Geovana Zoccal representing GPI, and Mr Julius Spatz representing German Cooperation addressed the participants with TrC project partners from Asia, Africa and Latin America and several experts joining in the discourse.
In 2015, the international community agreed to embark on a journey towards global sustainability, as outlined in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement. In today’s era of multiple crises and high volatility, international development cooperation is needed more than ever. Eminent speakers at the conference felt that triangular cooperation is not just an option, but a dynamic strategy to overcome obstacles and accelerate progress towards the SDGs. Although still small compared to bilateral and multilateral approaches for development cooperation, triangular cooperation keeps growing globally. It offers a partnership-oriented, resilient way of implementing global goals that builds on the contributions of all, for the benefit of all.
