FOEN Vice Director Andreas Götz receives Chinese Friendship Award
Bern, 28.09.2012 - Andreas Götz, Vice Director of the Federal Office for the Environment FOEN, was honoured with the Chinese government’s Friendship Award in Beijing on 28 September 2012. The award was presented to Götz for his many years of dedication and the cooperation between Switzerland and China in the area of the environment.
The Friendship Award is the highest honour awarded to foreign experts who contribute to the economic and social development of China. On 28 September 2012, Premier Wen Jiabao presented the award to 50 foreign experts, including Andreas Götz, the only Swiss recipient. The award was presented on the occasion of the 63rd anniversary of the foundation of the People's Republic of China and consists of a medal and a certificate. Mr Götz, Vice Director of the Federal Office for the Environment FOEN, did valuable work through the promotion of near-natural hydraulic engineering in China and also contributed to the improvement of flood prevention.
Cooperation between the two countries
Good cooperation has existed between Switzerland and China for several years in the areas of environmental protection, water management and natural hazard prevention. Switzerland is involved an intensive exchange on water management and the management of natural disasters with the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources. This cooperation is based on a formal agreement concluded between the Swiss Department for the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communication and the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources.
On 28 June 2012, Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard and Chinese Minister of the Environment Zhou Shengxian signed an agreement in Bern, which establishes a basis for the bilateral cooperation with China in the area of environmental protection and complements the cooperation that has existed between the two countries for several years.
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