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Friday, Nov 02, 2007
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Merkel offers help to develop Indian cities

Special Correspondent

“Developing countryside as important as helping city”

— PHOTO: PTI

ENGROSSING TALK: German Chancellor Angela Merkel with Member of Parliament Shabana Azmi at the Deutsche Bank Urban Age Award function in Mumbai on Thursday.

MUMBAI: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday that fast-growing cities needed all the attention of national policy but to help cities “we must not stop developing the countryside.”

“Helping cities means also developing the countryside. This has been a basic rule of our policy in Germany. Developing the countryside is as important as helping the city, struggling with climate change, migration and poverty,” she said, delivering the keynote address at the Deutsche Bank Urban Age Award presentation function here.

“You cannot compare German cities like Berlin, with its 3.5 million inhabitants, to Mumbai. But German cities have also had to deal with a lot of problems like the integration of migrants. Education is very important for integrating migrants and spreading economic opportunities in cities.” Germany would be willing to extend assistance to Mumbai to help it deal with urban problems, she said.

Dr. Merkel said the presence of the German Minister for Science and Technology in her entourage and the government’s programme to work with the Indian government and universities to improve life in global cities underlined that German and Indian politics shared the same challenges.

Urban age

“Kofi Annan has said that the 21st century will be the urban age. Therefore, I lay emphasis on the creation of global networks for cities, like the Deutsche Bank Urban Age network,” she added.

Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann announced the winners of the first Deutsche Bank Urban Age Award in the presence of Dr. Merkel and Maharashtra Governor S.M. Krishna. The award of $1,00,000 would be shared by two Mumbai-based projects: the Triratna Prerana Mandal initiative and the Mumbai Waterfronts Development Centre. The Urban Design Research Institute’s Fort Management Project gets a special commendation.

“In scope, quality, and quantity, the submissions to the jury exceeded expectations for the award, the first of its kind. Seventy-four applications were received from organisations working in the slums and the historic districts, from government and non-governmental organisations, from groups working with children and women,” said jury member and MP Shabana Azmi.

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