On Tuesday, May 15, to the day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Madagascar held to commemorate the 135th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Trade between the Kingdom of Madagascar and the German Empire.
After the official opening, the Minister and the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany inaugurated the exhibition, tracing the historical, political and economic context of the event. It also gives an overview of the composition of the delegation that went to Berlin, as well as the instructions received from the Queen. In the same way, the illustrious guests and the public were able to view the Treaty itself. In addition, the exhibition includes an article from the German Press on May 17, two days later, which relayed the milestone of these early relations between Germany and Madagascar.
The economic aspect was not left out, however, as the footprints of the Wilhem OSWALD and Co. Trading House were also among the exhibition panels, including the ships which, as early as 1857, provided regular traffic between Zanzibar and Nosy- Be. In 1876, the Trading Post (merchant counter) was opened in Toamasina (Madagascar’s main Port), which became the Consulate of the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia between 1880 and 1914, the year of the beginning of the First World War, having unfortunately ended these promising commercial activities.
A visit to the stands followed, highlighting the current state of cooperation, with the support of all the actors, GIZ, FES, ADER, DAAD and various NGOs and associations, particularly those working in the priority areas of the German cooperation: renewable energies, rural electrification, the environment and the protection of biodiversity, political education of young people, cooperation at parliaments level, among others. A press conference was also given by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the German Ambassador.
Finally, a series of conferences both at the Ministry – on the role of Madagascar in the new geopolitics of the 21st century, as well as the role of the Institutions, in particular that of the Parliament, in the foreign policy – and in the University of Ankatso has marked this memorable event. The four Conferences of the day of May 16th have been widely attended by young students of the University. The call to “demonstrate” by some did not dissuade participants in these conferences all day long to show their interest in a model Great Germany in many ways, and to look to a more constructive future.