A conference room. Three flags are visible in the background.

WTO meets with PTB and BMZ: Trade, standards and technical regulations

The World Trade Organization (WTO) visited the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). PTB and the Trade Department of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) invited various stakeholders from industry, politics and civil society to Berlin on 6 July 2023 for a presentation and discussion…

A statue of the goddess Justitia holds a pair of scales.

Quality Infrastructure and Good Governance

The term “good governance” is often understood as conducting the public affairs of a country responsibly. Good governance is a key element of Germany’s development cooperation policy. Its goal is to make sure that a government uses its political power responsibly and handles public resources with care. Good governance implies that the state assumes a…

A medal made of copper showing a person with wings. This person is a genius holding a circle in their hand which is used to measure the world globe.

60 years of technical cooperation – PTB as a partner for sustainable development

As PTB, we have been working for 60 years on behalf of the Federal Government with developing and emerging countries to promote sustainable economic, social and ecological development. We are thus one of the four governmental implementing organisations of development cooperation (DC) in Germany. In DC, we distinguish between two types of projects. Bilateral cooperation…

An alliance moves into the spotlight

Not everyone sees “Made in Africa” as a quality stamp yet, for sure. But it could soon be the case. The Alliance for Product Quality is working on it. Hang on a sec. The what alliance? The Alliance for Product Quality, abbreviated to AfPQ, helps African companies get a better foothold in the international market.…

Laborkraft setzt rosafarbene Alltagsmaske in Prüfgerät ein.

Tunisia: A little help goes a long way in the fight against COVID-19

We received an unanticipated assignment from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung) to help ensure the effectiveness of the face masks that are being used to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in Tunisia. Okay, we aren’t testing masks ourselves, but we are supporting the expansion of testing at…

2020 Annual Meeting of the Evaluation Units of German Development Cooperation Organizations at PTB

On 6 and 7 February, PTB and the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) jointly welcomed representatives of the evaluation units of German development cooperation organizations in Braunschweig at the traditional annual meeting. Over 60 guests from governmental and non-governmental institutions participated in order to discuss the newest developments in evaluation work. Upon…

Waage

The Harmonisation of Metrological Laws

The free trade of goods and services not only calls for political guidelines, but for norms and regulations to be recognised worldwide as well. It is often the case that developing and newly industrialised countries in particular do not have the resources to establish their own quality infrastructures (QI). An essential part of a QI…