Asia-Pacific Weeks 2011

The future-oriented issues of “water,” “food,” and “health” are the focus of the 8th Asia-Pacific Weeks, which will be held in Berlin from 6 to 17 September 2011 under the heading of “Asia-Pacific: Partner for a Common Future.” All these issues are becoming increasingly relevant and are almost inseparable: a healthy lifestyle is dependent on both access to clean water and the availability and knowledge of a varied and adequate diet. Europe and the Asian-Pacific region find themselves caught between undersupply and overproduction, and between tradition and modern technology.

The Governing Mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, has opened this year’s Asia-Pacific Weeks together with the Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, H.E. Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, at the Konzerthaus am Gendarmenmarkt on 6 September.

How do partnerships between the private sector and development cooperation help to reach development goals in Asia? How can business and development policy interests create synergies? How does development cooperation support private sector investment and sustainable growth in Asia?
These questions will be the focus of the kick-off event of the Asia-Pacific Weeks, which is being organized by GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) and was conceived in cooperation with the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, the Federal Foreign Office, and the Berlin Senate Chancellery. Within the framework of international political dialogue, Federal Minister Dirk Niebel and ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan will discuss synergy in development cooperation and private sector investment in Asia with high-ranking representatives of German and Asian companies.


Several ;Business and Science forums will be devoted to the latest research on water resource management, water extraction and purification, nutrition and food safety, modern medical technology, and new methods in integrative medicine, in the interest of mounting a (stronger) joint response to future challenges.

In various event formats (exhibitions, performances, concerts, and readings), the cultural program of the Asia-Pacific Weeks will take up the idea of food as a basic need and as an expression of culture in Europe and the Asian-Pacific region. Artists will explore the current and future significance of food, well-being, and health in the context of ecology, the economy, and technology, while thematizing various cultural approaches to growing and cooking food, as well as distinct forms of consumption and shared meals and feasts.