Last updated in October 2009
Political relations
Germany and Lebanon have long enjoyed cordial relations, as is evidenced by numerous high-level and top-level visits in both directions. These include Prime Minister Siniora’s visits to Berlin in September 2006, September 2007 and February 2008, Federal Chancellor Merkel’s visit to Beirut in April 2007 and the visits by Federal Foreign Minister Steinmeier in July, August and December 2006, in June 2008 and in July 2009.
In addition, Federal Chancellor Merkel and Federal Foreign Minister Steinmeier met with the Lebanese President Michel Sleiman in July 2008 at the founding conference of the Union for the Mediterranean. Federal Foreign Minister Steinmeier met with President Sleiman again in September 2008 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
The Lebanese President paid an official visit to Berlin on 2 and 3 December 2008, holding talks with Federal President Köhler and Federal Chancellor Merkel, among others.
The close bilateral cooperation is evidenced, among other things, by Germany’s participation – extended until the end of 2009 – in the UNIFIL naval contingent operating off the Lebanese coast (from September 2006 to February 2008 and under German command since 1 September 2009), the advisory mission (Federal Police and Customs) to help secure the Lebanese border, humanitarian aid measures carried out by Germany, the reconstruction aid provided following the destruction caused by the war in the summer of 2006 and the aid supplied to rebuild the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp after its devastation in the summer of 2007.
Economic relations
Though small, Lebanon is an interesting export market for German companies. In 2008, Germany was the fifth-largest exporter of goods to Lebanon, after the USA, France, China and Italy. German businesses supplied goods worth USD 1.03 billion, or approximately six per cent of Lebanon’s total imports, with Germany now actually ranking fourth among suppliers of Lebanese imports, according to provisional figures for the first three quarters of 2009. By contrast, Lebanon sold goods worth only about USD 34 million, or approximately one per cent of its total exports, to Germany.
The main German exports to Lebanon are motor vehicles and spare parts, machinery and chemical products. Lebanon’s main exports to Germany are foodstuffs and textiles. Despite our prominent position in trade with Lebanon, there is so far very little German direct investment.
There are at least 300 Lebanese companies representing the interests of their German business partners in Lebanon. Daily flights operate between Frankfurt and Beirut, usually to other German destinations as well in the summer months. German firms were heavily involved in the initial phase of rebuilding the country after the end of the civil war (1975-2000), e.g. in airport and power station rehabilitation as well as in setting up a mobile phone network and constructing new university premises. A bilateral agreement on the promotion and protection of investments entered into force on 25 March 1999.
Development cooperation
After the war in July 2006, Germany resumed its development cooperation with Lebanon, which was in the process of being phased out, and made new commitments worth EUR 44 million in the form of grants for the period 2006/2007. Aggregate bilateral German development cooperation with Lebanon for the period 2006-2009 amounts to EUR 71.2 million.
Priority areas of development cooperation are water supply and sanitation, the dual system if technical and vocational training (promoting in particular small and medium-sized businesses) and environmental protection. As part of reconstruction aid for the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp destroyed during the fighting in the summer of 2007 (see below), Germany is also funding a 12-km-long main wastewater collector, which will benefit both the population of the camp and the neighbouring Lebanese communities.
In the years prior to 2006, Germany provided Lebanon with a total of approx. EUR 42.3 in bilateral aid in the form of low-interest loans under Financial Cooperation and some EUR 23.2 million in the form of preservation measures or supplies of material under Technical Cooperation proper, not counting Germany’s share of EU funding. On top of this, Germany made available some EUR 132 million in Technical Cooperation in the broader sense (projects conducted through church-related organizations, non-governmental organizations, etc.).
There is no bilateral framework agreement between Germany and Lebanon on Economic Cooperation and Development.
Reconstruction of the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp and aid for Palestinian refugees
According to World Bank and UNRWA estimates, reconstruction of the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp – completely destroyed during fighting between the army and Islamic extremists in the summer of 2007 – and neighbouring Lebanese communities will cost a total of some USD 445 million. So far, about half of the inhabitants have been able to return temporarily to areas on the edge of the camp. Work to remove rubble and explosive ordnance is nearly complete. In 2007/2008, Germany provided a total of EUR 20.7 million in humanitarian aid and assistance for the reconstruction of the camp and the surrounding area: EUR 16 million from ongoing bilateral cooperation for water supply and sanitation in the Nahr el-Bared and Beddawi camps and neighbouring communities, EUR 2 million for a UNRWA vocational training centre and EUR 2.4 million in humanitarian aid for Palestinians who fled from the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp during the fighting there.
Cultural relations
Cultural relations between Lebanon and Germany have traditionally been very close and wide-ranging. Cooperation has focused on training and higher education, preservation of cultural heritage and archaeological research. A bilateral cultural cooperation agreement was signed on 9 April 2003 but it has not yet been ratified by the Lebanese side.
Numerous German cultural institutions are active in Lebanon:
the Goethe Institute in Beirut with a branch office in Tripoli (German Dialogue Point)
the Orient Institute of the Foundation for German Humanities Institutes Abroad (DGIA)
the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), which provides a German language lecturer at the St. Joseph University
the German Archaeological Institute, which is engaged in work on the historical excavation site in Baalbek
the German Protestant Church in Beirut
the German School (including nursery school) in Doha (southern Beirut) offering intensified German-language teaching
the German School (including nursery school) in Jounieh offering intensified German-language teaching
offices of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and Heinrich Böll Foundation
the Johann Ludwig Schneller Institute in Khirbet Khanafar (Bekaa Valley) supported by the Association of Churches and Missions in South-Western Germany also offering vocational and technical education
the New Apostolic Church in Sin el-Fil, Beirut
the Association of German-Speaking Women in Lebanon
the GTZ-funded Amilieh vocational school in Bourj el-Barajneh (southern Beirut)
the German-Lebanese Association for Cultural Promotion, Jounieh
the German-Lebanese Intercultural Centre Dar Assalam in Al Wardaniyeh, Shuf Mountains
