21 December 2005 – Philippine Ambassador to Berlin Delia Domingo-Albert held talks with German officials to source technology and expertise that would enhance the capability of the Philippine mining sector to protect the environment while tapping the mineral resources of the country.

Ambassador Albert visited the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) in Hannover last week for talks with BGR officials.   The Ambassador noted that BGR’s technical cooperation activities such as those concerning the reduction of environmental contamination resulting from small-scale mining in Colombia and capacity-building in the mining sector in Vietnam can be duplicated in the Philippines.

The BGR is an attached agency of the German Ministry of Economics and Technology, which provides a wide range services in the scientific and technical fields.  It has technical cooperation activities in various developing countries, and in the Philippines BGR has recently collaborated in geothermal and carbonization projects, particularly on the Semirara rotary kiln reactor.

In her talks with BGR officials led by its President Prof. Dr. Bernhard Stribrny, Ambassador Albert said that BGR’s expertise can be tapped for technical cooperation projects which fall within the ambit of the focus areas of Philippine-German development cooperation, particularly on environmental policy, protection and sustainable use of natural resources, including promotion of renewable energies.

Ambassador Albert proposed that the cooperation with BGR be deepened to which BGR officials readily agreed. BGR has had several successful technical cooperation projects with the Mines and Geosciences Bureau in the 1970’s relative to offshore exploration of minerals, particularly of manganese nodules off the coast of Palawan and, more recently, assistance in evaluating the health risks of mercury and other chemicals in the Diwalwal gold rush area.

Dr. Stribrny said that BGR can provide technical cooperation in the following areas: geothermal energy, groundwater assessment, soils, geotechnical safety, geological risks, exploration of marine resources, remote sensing, and environmental geology, among others.

Ambassador Albert said the Embassy will also be working closely with BGR and with BMZ, the institution mainly responsible for bilateral development cooperation, in the coming days to push cooperation with the Philippines even further.  END
 

/bjg