Germany to extend quality program in RI

Germany to extend quality program in RI

YOGYAKARTA: The German government is likely to extend the Urban Quality program in Indonesia for another four years, considering that the continuation of the program will further help the country meet the challenges and opportunities of decentralization, a visiting German senior official said.

Deputy head of the German Ministry for International Cooperation and Economic Development Franz Marre said here over the weekend that his 10-day visit, which ended on Tuesday, was part of preparations for the Indonesian-German bilateral meeting to be held next December in Bonn, Germany, where the decision on the continuation of the program would be decided, among other things.

"We have had a talk with Bappenas (the Indonesian National Planning Board) earlier and we have agreed that the program needs to be continued and extended for another four years," said Marre, adding that the program initially would come to an end on March 2005.

The 4.5-million Euro (Rp 50 billion) Urban Quality program is an Indonesian-German bilateral technical cooperation initiative supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) and the Indonesian Ministry of Home Affairs. -- JP