Bilateral Relations - Austria and Lesotho

Austria and Lesotho maintain warm relations. Ambassador Dr. Otto Ditz presented his credentials to His Majesty Letsie III on 9 April 2009.

State Secretary, Mr Hans Winkler visited Lesotho in April 2007 and Hon. Moyane Moleleki, Minister of Energy of Lesotho went to Austria twice in 2007, and attended the Global Forum on Sustainable Energy in November.

On 19 March 2008, Roderich Urschler was appointed Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Lesotho to Austria.

Lesotho, the mountain kingdom, is still struggling with poverty and development issues. 77% of the population is rural. Corn, wheat and other types of grains are the main staple foods cultivated. The “Lesotho Highland Water Project” is one of the biggest water projects worldwide and an important source of income for Lesotho; drinking water is exported to South Africa. Lesotho has high potential for hydropower electricity generation.

Wool, Mohair, shoes, textiles and other manufactured goods are the most important export goods. Tourism is a growing source of income, Lesotho is developing as a sought after location for skiing in Africa. 38% of the gross national product is obtained through mining, including diamonds.

“SOS Kinderdorf” runs on child village in Maseru and one community centre in Lithabaneng

Austria does not implement large development projects in Lesotho, but the country in 2003 received food aid from Austria amounting to 90.000 Euro, and 53.000 Euro from private Austrian sources. Because bilateral trade goes via South Africa no reliable data are available. The Austrians exports amounted to € 51. 156 according to the Austrians statistics and there were no imports.

Austrian tourists to Lesotho can stay in the country 90 days without a visa. The passport must be valid for more than 3 months at departure.

In existence since 1998, the “Morija Festival” has established itself as one of the biggest cultural events in Lesotho. The focus of the festival is traditonal culture and musical heritage, which is a strong bond within Basuto society. The support of young artist also encourages tourism and is fostering poverty reduction.

Austria has supported the festival with a small embassy project to enlarge its stage. Since 2007, the Austrian Embassy Pretoria  supports the traditional music programme of Morija, and has also entered into a cooperation with the Lesotho College of Education to support the training of music teachers. In April 2008, a modern traditional music duo from Austria, "Die Strottern", held a music workshop with Basuto artists in Morija, and gave a well attended concert in Maseru.