Bernd Baehr: 38 years of Sparkassen-expertise in Bhutan
1. In which institution of the Sparkassen Finance Group did you start your career and what brought you to the Sparkasse?
I started my training at Kreissparkasse in Siegburg in 1983. At the time, I was very interested in politics and business. The Kreissparkasse in Siegburg was later merged into the Kreissparkasse Köln.
2. How long did you work for this institution? Please describe your Sparkassen-career briefly.
Since 1983, thus for 38 years. After my professional training, I did my civilian service at the German Red Cross for 20 months. Then I began to work as a cashier and subsequently as a consultant at a branch office. After the specialized training course in Cologne, I changed to the internal audit. First, I was employed in branch auditing and annual accounts, later on I also worked in credit auditing for one year. In 1998 I changed to investment consulting, first as a specialized consultant for stocks and securities. Later I became head of a support center for wealthy private clients, and later also corporate clients.
3. When did you start your career at German Sparkassenstiftung and what motivated you to work in international cooperation?
I had applied to a job advertisement at German Sparkassenstiftung in 2014. I took this job posting (Turkmenistan) as an opportunity to express my interest in a long-term assignment in Asia. I have always been interested in foreign cultures and have traveled to South America, Africa and Asia during my vacations. I thought that with an employment in international cooperation I could combine my interests (I did refugee work in Germany for many years) with my expertise well. At the end of 2014, I got the opportunity to go to Armenia as a short-term expert. Then everything happened very quickly, and I was assigned as a long-term expert in Bhutan.
4. What valuable experience have you taken with you from your work at Sparkassen Finance Group to your project region?
Having worked in different areas in sales and operations at the Sparkasse in Germany, I have a broad range of experience. Today, my former work as an auditor and auditor of the annual accounts makes it easy for me to manage the microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Bhutan in a well-planned manner, while taking into account risk aspects. My experience in investment consulting, especially in dealing with clientele, makes it easy for me to adapt to a wide variety of clients and to recognize their needs. This is not only true in the micro-finance sector, but especially for employees of partner institutions such as the central bank of Bhutan.
You can learn more about our projects in Bhutan here.
