Planning and Statistics Agency Explores Cooperation with Germany’s GIZ

Anas Salim, Head of the Planning and Statistics Agency, held an extensive meeting with Tanja Lohmann, the Country Director of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), to discuss avenues for strengthening bilateral collaboration. The discussions focused on advancing joint efforts in strategic planning, statistics, and the development of institutional and technical capabilities.

During the meeting, Salim emphasized the importance of consolidating cooperation across several key areas, including modeling, forecasting, social analysis, and policy analysis. He further highlighted the need to develop performance indicators, monitor the implementation of development plans, and measure developmental impact. Salim also stressed the value of leveraging the German agency’s technical and practical expertise to enhance the efficiency and skills of the agency’s national staff.

For her part, Lohmann provided an overview of the agency’s activities and its ongoing operations within Syria. She reaffirmed GIZ’s commitment to executing projects agreed upon with the Syrian side. She explained that these projects encompass a variety of vital sectors, including the promotion of governance and the rule of law, health system development, support for education and vocational training, as well as initiatives in water, infrastructure, agriculture, and food security.

This meeting is part of a series of technical consultations between the two sides. Notably, agency directors had previously held a similar meeting on September 8 at the agency’s headquarters in Damascus to deliberate on the practical details of their joint cooperation. GIZ is a governmental organization that has been active in international development for over 50 years, with development programs spanning more than 120 countries worldwide.

These ongoing efforts reflect a sustained interest in developing statistical and planning tools within Syrian institutions. Such initiatives aim to support evidence-based developmental decision-making by adopting modern scientific methodologies for data collection and analysis, which remains a primary priority for the Planning and Statistics Agency at the current stage.