<p><span><span>Fritz Koch served as Head of Main Department in GDR Ministry of Foreign and Intra-German Trade, 1951-1953, and as S</span></span><span><span>pecial Envoy of the GDR Government for the Middle East based in Cairo, 1953-1955. After the 1953 GDR agreement with Egypt, Koch successfully negotiated additional agreements with Lebanon (1953), Syria, and Sudan (both 1955).</span></span></p>