Proven principles - New procedures

The idea competitions of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), which take place in the framework of  develoPPP.de have proven to be successful. Since February 2009 GIZ (former GTZ) runs ideas competitions for companies interested in working together with German development cooperation.

There are two different competition categories: One deals with selected themes which BMZ is backing with substantial funding. Themes of the current competitions are "Agribusiness and Biodiversity" and "Water".

The other category promotes business through innovation contests that motivate the private sector to make its own creative contributions – it is therefore not tied to the ongoing thematic priority areas of the develoPPP.de programme. These contests enable GIZ to keep a finger on the pulse of the business community whilst opening up promising options in areas that are not yet targeted by the develoPPP.de agenda.

Three further options for cooperation exist in addition to the ideas competitions; namely, strategic alliances, cooperation arrangements with GIZ in bilateral development programmes and the Africa Facility.