Last updated in September 2009
Political relations
Political relations between Ecuador and Germany have traditionally been friendly. In 2008 and 2009, four German Bundestag delegations visited Ecuador; the main topics addressed were development cooperation, environmental policy, the fight against drugs and schools abroad. Bilateral relations focus on development cooperation and cultural relations (including three German Schools). The 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, in which Ecuador and Germany played in the same group, drew keen attention in Ecuador.
Economic relations
Germany is one of Ecuador’s most important trading partners in the EU. Bananas and other tropical fruits, fish and seafood, cocoa and cut flowers are the principal Ecuadorian exports to Germany. Ecuador imports sheet metal, chemical and pharmaceutical products, machinery and medical equipment as well as motor vehicles and parts from Germany.
According to figures from Germany’s Federal Statistical Office, in the period January-December 2008 goods worth EUR 453.3 million were exported from Ecuador to Germany, while goods worth EUR 264 million were imported from Germany.
German businesses operating in Ecuador focus on trade. Since 1978, Quito has been home to a German-Ecuadorian Chamber of Industry and Commerce with a liaison office in Guayaquil. To promote exports to Europe, Ecuador opened a Consulate General in Hamburg in 1993. An investment promotion and protection agreement dates from 1965 and a double taxation agreement from 1986.
Development cooperation
Germany is one of the largest bilateral donors in development cooperation with Ecuador. Aggregate assistance to date amounts to approximately EUR 530 million. In 2008, commitments worth EUR 23 million were made up until 2013. German development cooperation promotes the priority areas of environmental protection/resource conservation and decentralization and modernization of the public administration.
Cultural relations
The main pillars of cultural exchange between Germany and Ecuador are the Humboldt Society/Goethe Centre in Quito, the German-Ecuadorian Cultural Centre in Guayaquil and the German Schools in Quito, Guayaquil and Cuenca. The German cultural association “Red Cultural Alemana” coordinates the activities of all German institutions engaged in the cultural sector in Ecuador. With the German Embassy, it is co-organizing an extensive, wide-ranging cultural programme in 2009, to mark the so-called Bicentenarios, the festivities commemorating the 200th anniversary of the country’s first call for independence.
The German School in Quito offers a two-year course of vocational training modelled on the German system in cooperation with the German-Ecuadorian Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
Cooperation at university level is promoted above all through short-term research scholarships, student scholarships from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and lecturer exchange programmes. For years, a DAAD teacher has been working at the Pontifica Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE) in Quito. There are an increasing number of active university partnerships. Cooperation focuses on scientific and technical subjects. The German Research Foundation (DFG) is conducting a mountain rainforest research project in the Loja province.
In 2007 and 2008, the German Embassy supported the further excavation and exploration of the Cochasquí pyramid complex near Quito under the Federal Foreign Office’s Cultural Preservation Programme. In 2009, funding was made available to provide the Teatro Bolívar in Quito with a new roof.
