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| Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son paid a courtesy call to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on the occasion of his visit to Germany in September 2022. |
Today, January 23, President of the Federal Republic of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier began a State visit to Vietnam. Could you tell us about the significance and key contents of the visit?
The visit of President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife is of great significance as the bilateral relationship continues to deepen and develop substantially in many areas. Through several direct contacts with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, I have felt the good and sincere feelings he always has for Vietnam.
This is President Frank-Walter Steinmeier's first foreign visit in 2024 and also the first high-level delegation exchange between the two countries in the new year 2024. More notably, this is the second visit of a German President to Vietnam since Germany's reunification, after President Horst Kohler's visit in 2007.
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| Vietnamese Ambassador to Germany Vu Quang Minh. (Photo: Vietnamese Embassy in Germany) |
For Mr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier personally, this is his third visit to Vietnam, having previously visited Vietnam as Deputy Prime Minister (October 2016) and Foreign Minister (March 2008). This will be an opportunity for President Steinmeier to witness firsthand Germany’s “lighthouse” projects in Vietnam, projects that were signed during his visit to Vietnam in 2008 as German Foreign Minister, which are gradually bearing fruit.
The main content of the visit is to further promote bilateral cooperation in many fields as well as to discuss international issues of mutual interest. The focus will be on economic and trade cooperation in the context of Vietnam becoming a leading attractive destination for German businesses. It is expected that there will be a discussion between the large business delegation accompanying the President and German businesses and German business organizations doing business in Vietnam.
One area that both sides are currently very interested in is cooperation in vocational training and sending skilled Vietnamese workers to work in Germany, in the context of Germany's serious shortage of this labor force. It is expected that the two sides will sign a Letter of Intent on bilateral labor cooperation for the first time. In addition, the President and his delegation will visit and survey some of Germany's "lighthouse" projects in Ho Chi Minh City and the surrounding area in recent times, such as the German House, the Vietnam-Germany University, and Metro Line 2.
Another key content is a number of special cultural and people-to-people diplomacy activities throughout the visit. Accompanying the President to Vietnam this time are a number of outstanding representatives of the successful Vietnamese community in Germany, a very new point for the visit of a high-ranking German leader to Vietnam, demonstrating the appreciation and respect for the Vietnamese community in the Federal Republic of Germany.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's visit to Vietnam (November 2022) is the first high-level visit between the two countries in 5 years and just over a year later, the German President visited Vietnam. In addition, following the Action Plan for the two years 2023-2024 approved in November 2022, the Action Plan for the period 2023-2025 was also approved at the 7th Vietnam-Germany Strategic Dialogue in April 2023. Not only that, the exchange of local delegations and businesses between the two countries is also quite active. How does the Ambassador assess the "gradual acceleration" of delegation exchanges from high to all levels between the two countries in recent times, as well as the determination to effectively and substantially promote the Strategic Partnership?
Immediately after the visit to Germany by Minister Bui Thanh Son (September 2022) and the visit to Vietnam by Prime Minister Olaf Scholz (November 2022), the two sides continued to promote the visit of President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and senior Vietnamese leaders. I am very happy that the visit took place in early 2024 after being postponed early last year due to our objective reasons.
In addition, delegation exchanges between ministries, branches, localities and businesses of the two countries have been very active and dense in recent times, showing that bilateral relations continue to deepen in many fields. In 2023 alone, there were over 40 delegations at the level of Deputy Ministers/Vice Chairmen/Vice Chairmen of the People's Committees of Vietnam visiting and working in Germany, a very high increase after a long interruption due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
| "Accompanying the President to Vietnam this time are a number of outstanding representatives of the successful Vietnamese community in Germany, a very new point with the visit of a high-ranking German leader to Vietnam, demonstrating the appreciation and respect for the Vietnamese community in the Federal Republic of Germany." |
From the German side, the years 2022-2023 also witnessed a strong increase in visits to Vietnam by many German state and business leaders, most recently the delegation of the Prime Minister of the states of Niedersachsen and Thuringia with a record number of accompanying businesses, up to 50-70 businesses per delegation.
Not only in terms of quantity, it is clear that the trend of German delegations visiting Vietnam is very substantial with a large number of business delegations. This reflects the need to strengthen increasingly substantial cooperation with specific cooperation results.
Identifying 2024 as a pivotal year towards the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations in 2025, we are determined to boldly innovate our approach to promote the strategic partnership between the two countries more effectively and substantially. In particular, we hope that the Vietnamese side will gradually limit delegations that only make courtesy visits, gradually increase delegations accompanied by businesses, and the two sides need to have prior exchanges to have specific results after the visit.
Ratifying the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) is a proposal that Vietnam has repeatedly expressed its desire for Germany to promote. Could you please tell us about the prospects of these efforts?
The process of ratifying bilateral investment protection agreements between the EU and its partners is a long process, usually lasting 4-5 years. To date, 16/27 EU member states have ratified the EVIPA and this process is still ongoing.
In 2023 alone, four member states, Bulgaria, Portugal, Slovakia and Finland, ratified the Agreement. There are currently 11 EU member states in the process of ratification, including major partners such as Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, etc. As the largest economy in Europe, Germany's early ratification of the Agreement will have a strong spillover effect on the remaining EU members.
| "Not only in terms of quantity, it can be clearly seen that the trend of German delegations visiting Vietnam is very substantial with a large business delegation." |
Currently, the Embassy is still actively working with relevant German agencies and German business associations to best advocate for the ratification of the Agreement by the German Parliament. However, we must also recognize the fact that the German Parliament has to give high priority to a number of other issues, so the Agreement has not been discussed recently.
During a meeting with Mr. Stephan Weil, Prime Minister of the German state of Lower Saxony in October 2023, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed his readiness to create favorable conditions for German enterprises to increase business and investment in Vietnam. According to the Ambassador, what "plus points" does the Vietnamese market have in the eyes of German investors?
Through visits and work with localities, business associations and German companies, I feel that the “attractiveness” of the Vietnamese market is increasing in the eyes of German investors. Even the German government advocates calling on businesses to diversify their markets, expand investments and sustainable supply chains outside of China, including Vietnam.
In fact, in 2023 alone, the investment capital of German enterprises in the Vietnamese market increased by 340 million USD, an increase of 14.1% of the total registered FDI capital of German investors, bringing the total registered capital to 2.74 billion USD by the end of 2023 (with a total of 464 projects still in effect).
I believe that Vietnam has become a leading attractive destination for German businesses with many "plus points". The Vietnam-Germany relationship is a close, trustworthy relationship that is increasingly consolidated and strongly developed. In addition, the large German-speaking Vietnamese community of more than 100,000 people has been making many important contributions to the cultural diversity and prosperity of the Federal Republic of Germany, and is a bridge for bilateral relations in general and the friendship and close ties between the people of the two countries in particular.
In addition, there are also some other "attractions" such as: Vietnam's economy has a relatively high and stable growth rate compared to the average growth rate of world economies; Vietnam's political and social conditions are stable and have a strategic position, good global connectivity; the workforce is young, dynamic, hardworking and creative; a good business environment, creating many conditions for investors with many different investment incentives; Vietnam has a policy of developing the economy towards green growth, using high technology and renewable energy, digital economy and innovation are industries that are among the investment strengths of German enterprises.
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| Ambassador Vu Quang Minh and the delegation of the Embassy and the Vietnamese Association in Cottbus city worked with the Mayor of Cottbus (Brandenburg state), Mr. Tobias Schick on June 1, 2023. (Source: VNA) |
The Ambassador spends a lot of time on business trips to German localities to learn about and explore cooperation opportunities, and act as a bridge for businesses... So how does the Ambassador assess the potential for local cooperation between the two countries and the bridging role of the Representative Office?
Through local business trips to Germany, I see that the potential for local cooperation between the two countries is still very large. Many German local leaders are very interested in substantive cooperation with Vietnam in many areas from economics, investment, trade to culture and education, especially in vocational training, sending skilled Vietnamese workers to work in Germany, and renewable energy, green transformation and sustainable development.
Not only in terms of economy, cultural cooperation and people-to-people diplomacy between localities of the two countries also have a lot of room. Effective projects in recent times such as activities to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the twinning relationship between Wernigerode city and Hoi An city; the official ceremony to lay the foundation stone to mark the twinning relationship between Leipzig and Ho Chi Minh City, cooperation between Leipzig Zoo and Cuc Phuong National Park, activities to promote Vietnamese elephants in Leipzig and some localities of Germany... will continue to be replicated in other localities of Germany.
The Vietnamese Representative Offices in Germany will continue to play a bridging role in supporting and promoting local cooperation between the two countries. We will continue to provide information and support localities in contacting German state authorities, business associations and enterprises, helping local leaders and Vietnamese enterprises learn about the local market, regulations and investment opportunities.
In addition, we also help organize meetings, business events, exhibitions, seminars and forums to create opportunities for businesses and potential German partners to meet in trade and investment cooperation, as well as vocational training. Hopefully, in the coming time, we can promote the establishment of more substantive and effective relationships between localities of the two countries.
Thank you Ambassador!
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| Biography of the President of the Federal Republic of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier. (Design: Hong Nga) |
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