The German-Palestinian Steering Committee will convene for the second time on Wednesday (28 March) in Berlin.

In May 2010, Germanybecame the first country to create such a bilateral forum with the aim of giving sustained support to the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to build effective state structures in the Palestinian territories. Under the motto “Future for Palestine”, German-Palestinian cooperation on the development of government institutions, economic development and in the spheres of education and research is to be further intensified and coordinated.

The plenary session at the Federal Foreign Office will be co-chaired by Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and Dr Salam Fayyad, the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority. It will be attended by Cabinet ministers from both sides. On the German side, these will be Dirk Niebel, the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, and Prof. Annette Schavan, the Federal Minister of Education and Research. The Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology will be represented by Parliamentary State Secretary Peter Hintze and the Federal Ministry of the Interior by State Secretary Klaus-Dieter Fritsche.

Prior to the plenary session at the Federal Foreign Office, bilateral talks will be held at the various ministries.