Germany and Colombia enjoy friendly and increasingly close relations. Political dialogue, the German business community, academia, the cultural scene and development cooperation all play a part in fostering closer ties between the two countries.

Germany is Colombia’s fifth-largest trading partner, with a trade volume of 2.3 billion euro (2021), and its largest within the EU. A few major German companies have production facilities in Colombia; the German-Colombian Chamber of Industry and Commerce has 285 members.

Development cooperation with Colombia focuses on peace and societal cohesion, including the issue of migration, responsibility for our planet – climate and energy, and protection of key life resources –, the environment and natural resources, in particular protecting the forests and biodiversity. In December 2022, commitments totalling 505 million euro were made for new technical and financial cooperation projects.

In addition, Germany is providing humanitarian assistance for people affected by the internal conflict and for refugees from Venezuela. On top of that, it is supporting state institutions. In the sphere of humanitarian mine and ordnance clearance, German assistance is aimed at expansion of civilian capacities, investigation of contamination, and clearance, as well as at supporting mine victims and raising awareness of the risks.

Germany actively supported the peace process with the former guerilla group FARC from the outset. This support took the form of various measures both at national level and in the regions. Germany has assumed the role of an accompanying country in connection with the newly resumed peace talks with the ELN guerilla.

Furthermore, Germany is providing public funding for institutions whose very extensive efforts are helping to bolster work by civil society to foster peace in Colombia.

Academic relations between the two countries are close, as demonstrated by some 3500 Colombians studying at German universities, as well as by over 260 higher education cooperation projects, by researcher exchanges and by cooperation in the sphere of scholarship programmes.

The main pillars of academic relations are the Centre of Excellence in Marine Sciences (CEMarin) and the German-Colombian Peace Institute (CAPAZ).

Information about German development cooperation with Colombia can be found on the website of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.