As Director at the Office for National and International Standardization Policy at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), Dr. Thomas Zielke implements EU Twinning projects in associated countries, such as Azerbaijan, Jordan and Namibia. Most recently, Zielke co-launched the EU Twinning Project “Support to the Namibian standards institution” with the German partners from Namibia, Sweden, German Quality Infrastructure-Institutions and the EU-Commission.

What is Twinning? And what advantages does it bring?

Twinning is a concept developed by the European Union. It is an instrument for institutional cooperation between public administrations of EU member states and of partner countries. It’s also about capacity building which an important point that also applies to ITU-policy goals.

Twinning projects aim to promote political and economic reform processes. The goal is to support partner countries in developing modern and efficient administrations and organizations at central, regional and local level.

Experts from EU member states share their knowledge and experience with the partner country. This way, they support in creating stable administrative framework conditions.

In Germany, Twinning is coordinated by the National Contact Point at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK). As project leader in various Twinning projects, Zielke works with colleagues in numerous countries. Learning about their perspectives, expands his horizons. In the international context, listening to and working with various stakeholders is key to finding solutions together that suit everyone. In this way, we can ensure that no one is left behind.

Therefore, Zielkes work and experience for the EU Twinning projects are an excellent basis and qualification for the position of Director Standardization at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Building bridges – with ITU and beyond.