Costa Rica's Minister of Foreign Affairs visits the Federal Research Ministry

Federal Research Minister Johanna Wanka and Costa Rica's Minister of Foreign Affairs Manuel González Sanz met in Berlin to discuss cooperation in vocational education and the promotion of Innovation.

The promotion of innovation and vocational education and training – these are the areas in which Costa Rica has a pronounced interest in cooperation with Germany.

Federal Minister Johanna Wanka and Foreign Minister Manuel González Sanz agreed in Berlin to cooperate even more closely through regular exchanges of experts in vocational education and training (VET).

Foreign Minister González Sanz's visit comes after Federal Minister Wanka's trip to Latin America in February this year when she and her Costa Rican counterpart Sonia Marta Mora Escalante signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in VET. Costa Rica intends to refashion the country's VET system after the German model.

The two sides are also considering initiatives in the field of joint research funding, which will be specified at a conference jointly organized by the Federal Ministry of Research and Education and Costa Rica's Science Ministry. Cooperation with Costa Rica is helped not least by the fact that over 20 per cent of the post-doctoral staff working at the country's public universities have obtained their academic degrees in Germany.