# Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development

The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (German: Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung, pronounced ; abbreviated BMZ) is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. Its main office is at the former German Chancellery in Bonn with a second major office at the Europahaus in Berlin.
Founded in 1961, the Ministry works to encourage economic development within Germany and in other countries through international cooperation and partnerships. It cooperates with international organizations involved in development including the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and the United Nations.
The BMZ was created in 1961 as a reflection of the growing prioritization of foreign aid beyond financial gain, a relatively unique choice at the time. Germany was a pioneer in establishing the BMZ, as most countries did not have established aid agencies for the explicit purpose of managing ODA. In the following decades, the BMZ increasingly prioritized sustainable development (SD) in policy discourse focusing on providing basic needs and explicitly incorporating Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs were replaced with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) upon the UN publication of Agenda 2030 in 2015. The BMZ strongly supported the reorientation led by the OECD towards tangible and measurable goals for sustainability.
Germany is the second-largest development co-operation provider of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC). Bilateral co-operation constitutes the bulk of Germany’s official development assistance (ODA), under the overall lead of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), while the Federal Foreign Office oversees humanitarian aid, crisis prevention, stabilisation and peace-building.
According to the OECD, Germany’s total ODA (USD 35 billion, preliminary data) increased in 2022 due to an increase in in-donor refugee costs and increased contributions to international organisations. It represented 0.83% of gross national income (GNI).

## List

Political Party:  FDP  CSU  SPD
| Name (Born–Died) | Name (Born–Died) | Party | Term of Office | Term of Office | Chancellor (Cabinet) |
| Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation (1961–1993) Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development (since 1993) |||||||
| 1 | Walter Scheel (1919–2016) | FDP | 14 November 1961 | 28 October 1966 | Adenauer (IV • V) Erhard (I • II) |
| 2 | Werner Dollinger (1918–2008) | CSU | 28 October 1966 | 30 November 1966 | Kiesinger (I) |
| 3 | Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski (1922–2005) | SPD | 1 December 1966 | 2 October 1968 | Kiesinger (I) |
| 4 | Erhard Eppler (1926–2019) | SPD | 16 October 1968 | 8 July 1974 | Kiesinger (I) Brandt (I • II) |
| 5 | Egon Bahr (1922–2015) | SPD | 8 July 1974 | 14 December 1976 | Schmidt (I) |
| 6 | Marie Schlei (1919–1983) | SPD | 16 December 1976 | 16 February 1978 | Schmidt (II) |
| 7 | Rainer Offergeld (born 1937) | SPD | 16 February 1978 | 1 October 1982 | Schmidt (II • III) |
| 8 | Jürgen Warnke (1932–2013) | CSU | 4 October 1982 | 11 March 1987 | Kohl I • (II) |
| 9 | Hans Klein (1931–1996) | CSU | 12 March 1987 | 21 April 1989 | Kohl (III) |
| 10 | Jürgen Warnke (1932–2013) | CSU | 21 April 1989 | 18 January 1991 | Kohl (III) |
| 11 | Carl-Dieter Spranger (born 1939) | CSU | 18 January 1991 | 26 October 1998 | Kohl (IV • V) |
| 12 | Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul (born 1942) | SPD | 27 October 1998 | 27 October 2009 | Schröder (I • II) Merkel (I) |
| 13 | Dirk Niebel (born 1963) | FDP | 28 October 2009 | 17 December 2013 | Merkel (II) |
| 14 | Gerd Müller (born 1955) | CSU | 17 December 2013 | 8 December 2021 | Merkel (III • IV) |
| 15 | Svenja Schulze (born 1968) | SPD | 8 December 2021 | Incumbent | Scholz (I) |