Interview MIAT. Stefan Duppel: Coming to Mongolia, I make new discoveries every day

Transcription

1 Interview MIAT Stefan Duppel: Coming to Mongolia, I make new discoveries every day This magazine has a tradition of inviting ambassadors from different countries to chat for our Diplomat section. We talk not only about their professional lives as diplomats, but also their personal experiences, their impressions of the countries they have served in, as well as their thoughts on Mongolia and Mongolians. This time we conversed with H.E. Stefan Duppel, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Mongolia. Ambassador Duppel, several months have passed since you took up your post. If you were to compare life to an adventure story, I m sure you would say that this country is full of surprises for you. How have you found it? Mongolia was a dream posting for my wife and myself: stunning scenery and friendly people are a combination which is hard to resist. At the same time, Mongolia is an important partner for Germany in geopolitical terms nowhere else in the region did the establishment of democracy and freedom succeed after We want to support that on a long-term basis. As for surprises, there are a number of links between Germany and Mongolia which never fail to astonish me: the first Mongolians went to Germany for vocational training way back in the 1920s, even before the country had gained independence. Today one percent of the population speaks German, more than in any other Asian country. Conversely, nowhere else in Asia are more Germans engaged in joint projects: in the field of environmental protection, in the education sector, in the media, in business or in the modernisation of the justice system and administration. I discover something new every day in Mongolia. I ve had such a wide variety of experiences, which I ve found very rewarding personally. Your wife Elena Alonso Frayle is a writer and she was also a singer in the renowned Berliner Oratorienchor. How did your first conversation go when you told her that you were being posted to Mongolia? How did your family react to the news? Joy and excitement: that was our foremost reaction! For my wife, too, Mongolia held a special fascination. She finds literary inspiration in the country s rich cultural heritage and its chequered history. The great singing tradition here is another reason why she feels such a close affinity with Mongolia. As for our two sons, they re both studying and for the first time are not accompanying us abroad. When they heard that we were going to live among Genghis Khan s descendants they were deeply impressed and a bit envious that they couldn t share this experience. And we have a very, very long list of friends who are keen to visit us here. Elena Alonso Frayle has written several novels. Has she already started to write about Mongolia and the Mongolians? This spring, she performed in La Traviatia together with Mongolian artists. I m sure that you re one of her most loyal fans. Which characters in your wife s novels and which of the roles she s performed do you particularly like? My wife always takes time to get to know a country and its people. She gathers experiences and observes what s going on around her. You can be sure that her time here in Mongolia will result in a novel! Incidentally, one of her books is being translated into Mongolian at the moment and we re eager to see how Mongolian readers will react. Naturally, our life together is reflected in many of my wife s literary works. You won t be surprised to hear that this regardless of any literary merit is especially important to me.

2 When, for example, I see before me Laura the main character in her book La edad de la anestesia who suffers from heart disease, she reminds me of my son, who had a similar condition, and the anguish this caused. In terms of music, I ve had many moving moments thanks to my wife, for example listening to her performing Mahler s 8 th Symphony at the Philharmonie in Berlin. However, another special moment were undoubtedly her performances here in Mongolia. Alongside La Traviata and Lucia di Lammermoor in the opera house, she has also performed Beethoven s Ode to Joy on television in the presence of the President to mark the Mongolian New Year. If you don t mind, Ambassador Duppel, I d like to ask you a question to get to know you better personally: what are your hobbies and interests? In which region did you start your voyage of discovery here in Mongolia? I ve always been a keen traveller curious to discover the world s diversity. I m also especially interested in history and architecture. As for other personal interests, I like to play chess and am now an honorary member of the Mongolian Chess Association. It was especially gratifying to see how much my interests were reflected in my first trips within Mongolia. My first trip took me to Karakorum and into the Orkhon Valley, the cradle and heart of the country. Moreover, it has been the site of German-Mongolian cooperation for two decades with joint excavations to research and preserve Mongolia s cultural heritage and to make it accessible to the public. My second trip not only gave me an opportunity to view German projects aimed at renovating schools and protecting the ecosystem in Otgon Tenger. In Uliastay I was also able to open the school chess programme there and even play a game or two... Our home country always stays in our hearts. You were born in Tübingen. What do you associate with your home town? Tübingen is one of Europe s oldest university cities. It thus belongs to both the past and the future. It s a town marked by a thirst for knowledge and international exchange, open to the world, philosophical and yet a down-to-earth small town in the Swabian region. If you ask me, those are not the worst attributes a town could have. They have almost certainly influenced my life to some extent. Germany is home to great philosophers, writers, poets and composers. To put it in a nutshell, it s home to great geniuses. What philosophy lies at the heart of the upbringing of German children and how are cultural traditions passed down from one generation to the next? There s no German one-size-fits-all method when it comes to raising children. However, from my own personal experience I believe that two things are important: teaching young people to be both critical and self-critical, to be independent and to shoulder responsibility. It s not enough to teach them facts. Our open society needs responsible citizens. What s more, the inventiveness of a German engineer or a great philosopher begins with questioning what exists and never being satisfied with what has been achieved. Secondly, we should take to heart Goethe s belief that those who don t know other cultures don t know their own. For a country like Germany, situated in the heart of Europe and surrounded by nine neighbours, the idea that it s important to get to know the world s cultural diversity has always held true. Yet in the age of globalisation, it s more important than ever for everyone to heed this, whether in the Mongolian steppe or in the Bavarian Alps. Our impression is that people here in Mongolia are much more informal, for example when it comes to talking about personal matters in the workplace or spending time on Facebook or with private s. Have you been confronted with these cultural differences?

3 I can assure you that people in Germany don t only talk about official matters in the workplace. What s more, I appreciate the fact that it s so easy to build a personal relationship with Mongolians beyond official business. Nonetheless, not every kind of informality can be regarded as progress. Now and again, you talk to people who seem to find the messages on the mobiles more important than the one-toone conversation they re currently engaged in. However, that s certainly not a Mongolian characteristic. Rather, if you ask me, it s an annoying phenomenon of our time. Your first posting abroad was to Spain, then you went to the home of Evita, Argentina, and then Bangkok what lasting memories do you have of these posts? As a young diplomat in Spain in 1996, I accompanied the then Chancellor Helmut Kohl when he was awarded the Príncipe de Asturias Award for International Cooperation, first and foremost for his services to European integration. For me, this signalled a positive attitude within society towards a united Europe, a mood tangible all over Spain at that time and not only there. Unfortunately, this atmosphere has diminished somewhat. Our goal must be to regain this spirit in Europe. In personal terms, I of course mainly associate my years in Madrid with the birth of our two sons. I had very different experiences during my stints in Argentina and Thailand. Both countries were experiencing profound crises within their societies. The Argentine state went bankrupt in 2001 and there were violent clashes between political camps in Thailand, resulting in dozens of deaths and the seizure of power by the military. It became clear what disastrous consequences there can be in comparatively developed countries if sectional interests gain the upper hand and cohesion is lost within society and the political class. Germany is the main industrialised nation in Europe and the largest exporter to Asia. The country has also played a key role in tackling the euro crisis. What s the secret of Germany s success? There s still much to do in Europe and we will only get back on track if we work together. It was certainly a help during the euro crisis that we in Germany partly thanks to our export successes in Asia were enjoying robust economic growth when the situation escalated elsewhere in Europe. In the medium term, Europe has to increase its overall ability to innovate and its competitiveness if it is to compete with up-and-coming countries especially here in Asia. There are no easy formulas for success, especially as conditions are very different in every country. However, it s crucial to have political leaders who never lose sight of their country s overall interests. That s not only illustrated by the German example. To what extent has Germany supported Mongolia within the framework of development cooperation since 1992 and which areas are currently the main focus of this cooperation? Projects to the tune of 350 million euros have been implemented within the context of development cooperation, whose 25 th anniversary we re celebrating this year. Mongolia is therefore currently receiving more money from Germany per capita than any other country in the world! That demonstrates the great importance we attach to cooperation with Mongolia, as a strategic partner in the region. The current focal areas are protection of the unique nature, more efficient use of energy and the establishment of a sustainable management of natural resources. The aim is to foster economic development in which all of the country s citizens can participate and which is sustainable, i.e. in harmony with nature. One area especially close to my heart is education. I firmly believe that the knowledge gained by the young generation is a country s true wealth of resources. That s why Germany is assisting Mongolia with large-scale education projects, from kindergartens to schools and universities. There is a particular focus on vocational training, which has always been one of the keys to Germany s economic success. All in all, we want to help ensure that Mongolians

4 are even better equipped in future to shape their country s modernisation on their own. There has been a raw materials and technology partnership between Mongolia and Germany since The last meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission and the Economic Committee took place in Berlin last December. What is the aim of this partnership and which projects have been realised so far? One key beacon project of this cooperation is the German-Mongolian Institute for Resources and Technology established in It offers Mongolian students an opportunity for the first time to do an engineering course which meets international standards without having to go abroad. The hope is that this will result in more leading positions in the mining sector being filled by Mongolians in future. With regard to cooperation among companies, the economic crisis in Mongolia is currently making it more difficult to fund many projects. Nevertheless, there have been quantifiable successes. For example, the production of steel balls for mining began in Darkhan in January. Previously, they had to be imported from abroad. Furthermore, we re expecting a wind farm project to get started soon in the Gobi Desert. Mongolia has enormous potential in the sphere of renewable energies and taking advantage of this potential is one of the focuses of our partnership. Nearly everyone is talking about the economic crisis at present. Some believe that an economic crisis can also provide opportunities. How do German companies and investors see this in relation to Mongolia? I believe that the crisis has shown many people that it s necessary, and indeed possible, for the country to take the next step in development. The Government has opted for budget consolidation, improved conditions for investors, economic diversification and promised to fight corruption. German companies have noted this with approval and an increasing interest in Mongolia is evident. However, winning new investors is a marathon rather than a sprint. Major investment decisions are not made overnight and Mongolia faces tough international competition. Nevertheless, I m convinced that the country has a very good chance if the Government resolutely implements the strategy it has formulated. It s often said that the Tavan Tolgoi project is too politicised. What s your view? What do Mongolians lack when it comes to working fairly with foreign investors and gaining their trust? The creation of fair and reliable conditions is the basic prerequisite for all-round successful cooperation. Investors complain that this hasn t always been possible in Mongolia in the past, and I share that view. However, Mongolian people also often rightly criticise the lack of transparency in decision-making. Reconciling the interests of the population and investors forms the foundation for cooperation based on mutual trust and must therefore be our aim. Among the Mongolians living in Germany, some are actively and successfully involved in the cultural and art sphere or in social organisations. Conversely, there are many German experts in many different sectors in Mongolia. Some of them have such deep roots that they could be called honorary Mongolians. Among other things, they re working here in close cooperation with Mongolian partners in development projects, at cultural institutions or for political foundations. How closely does the Embassy work with them? Indeed, the network of partnerships with Mongolia is closer than with most other countries. As I mentioned before, this applies to development cooperation, with major institutions such as GIZ or KfW as well as with the very successful Senior Expert Service. However, it also applies to cultural institutions such as the Goethe-Institut, school and university partnerships, town twinnings, the work of the political foundations and, not least, individual initiatives such as German professors and doctors who pass on their expertise to colleagues here in Mongolia.

5 Incidentally, with its flights to Berlin and Frankfurt its only intercontinental flights MIAT has played a key role in ensuring that this unique network of links continues to grow. Germans and Mongolians engaged in this way have made a key contribution towards ensuring that the two countries are closely linked as third neighbours. It s therefore very important to me personally to do all I can to support the work done by these initiatives. Those engaged in these projects form the real foundation of German-Mongolian friendship. Is academic education at universities and other higher education institutions in Germany still free? Does that also apply to Mongolians and what chances do they have of gaining a scholarship? How many Mongolian scholarship holders are there and are their numbers increasing? Germany is proud that its university education is largely free, not only for Germans and Europeans but for students from all over the world. It s therefore not absolutely necessary for Mongolians to have a scholarship to study in Germany, even if there are still German scholarships on offer for outstanding students, especially in the postgraduate sector. As I ve already pointed out, a degree course in Germany has a long tradition in Mongolia. The number of Mongolians who have studied in Germany is impressive around 30,000! Many of them are contributing to their country s development in leading positions in the world of politics, business and the culture scene. At present, there are between 600 and 700 Mongolian students at German universities every year. And I can only encourage any Mongolian thinking about studying abroad to become part of this network and to take a closer look at what German universities have to offer. Thank you for your time and this interview. We wish you every success.