Beginning immediately, United Nations conferences in Bonn will get a financial boost from the federal government. Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary of the Ministry of Environment announced that the United Nations would be given 5 million Euro annually to support their conferences at the World Conference Center Bonn (WCCB). He said it is necessary because it is cheaper to do conferences in Geneva. This gives them a competitive advantage. He gave one example that translators in Geneva are permanently onboard, while in Bonn they have to be booked for each conference at additional costs.

Flasbarth said, “Our goal is to strengthen and expand the role of Bonn as a UN city.” Both the Mayor of Bonn, Ashok Sridharan and Flasbarth said the financial support was important for the UN conferences and that they shared the goal of expanding UN organizations here in Bonn. (Orig. text:lis)