BUTUAN CITY — In its continuing commitment to help the Philippine government develop in the countryside, Germany announced Thursday a 7 million euro (P430 million) development assistance for the Caraga region’s cities and municipalities.

The assistance is part of the development cooperation between the Philippines and Germany which has already generated 876 million euros (P54 billion).

In 2008 and 2009 alone, German commitments reached 33.2 million euros (P2 billion), complemented with 80 international experts deployed in various programs nationwide.

The German financial cooperation arm has extended more than 7 million euros in loans for the development of several identified areas in the region, small-scale businesses, as well as promising local industries.

A top German embassy official pledged continuing support to the Philippine government and a transparent and comprehensive dialogue to address community problems, saying this is the key pillar of German development assistance to the Caraga region.

The German government’s commitment was announced during the inauguration of the “German House” in Butuan City Thursday.

The new Caraga office clusters different German organizations—namely GTZ (German Technical Cooperation), DED (German Development Service), and ZFD (Civil Peace Service)—which are implementing development cooperation programs jointly in the area.

“Philippine-German cooperation has a wealth of experience in strengthening local communities by securing the participation of all stakeholders,” Chargé d’Affaires Pit Heltmann said in his keynote address.

“Our concept is also geared towards strengthening people’s and institutions’ capacities,” he added.

“Together with our Philippine partners, we will promote development that is self-sustaining in the long term.”

Germany, he stressed, will continue to support measures that improve the socio-economic framework conditions in the Philippines. Heltmann cited the technical advice being provided at the national level and the hands-on measures implemented with partners at the local level.

He confirmed that the German development focus in Caraga, or Region 13, was established on request of the Philippine government.