"Vietnam and Germany have much potential for cooperation, especially in economics, education and vocational training," said former German Ambassador to Vietnam, Ms Jutta Frasch about cooperation relations between the two countries.
Over 40 years, the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Germany have actively been growing, far-reaching, effective and comprehensive. In particular, strategic partnership between Germany and Vietnam, which has been set since October 2011, is growing rapidly and effectively in many fields. Germany is one of the leading partners of Vietnam in Europe, especially in terms of trade, where it is the largest partner of Vietnam.
It is confirmed that, in the field of development cooperation, Vietnam is an important cooperation partner of Germany. From the 1990s, Germany supported Vietnam in many development projects with total funding of over €1.8 billion, of which Germany focused on sustainable economic growth (also called green growth), strengthening the competitiveness of Vietnam’s industry in the ASEAN Economic Community which will be formed in late 2015 through increasing the number of skilled labourers.
Development cooperation between Vietnam and Germany is implemented mainly by the two organisations is the German Development Bank (KfW) and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), focusing primarily on the fields of training profession (particularly dual vocational training of Germany), environment (biodiversity and coastal protection), energy (energy efficiency and renewable energy).
In particular, Germany is one of the biggest and regular ODA donors for Vietnam, identifying Vietnam as one of the focused countries to receive German ODA in Asia. Since 1990, Germany has supported approximately €1.5 billion for Vietnam. In 2011-2012, Germany was committed to supporting Vietnam € 289.2 million, of which € 267 million in the form of financial cooperation and € 22.2 million on technical cooperation. Germany's ODA for Vietnam focuses on three areas: sustainable economic development and vocational training; environment protection and combat climate change; and medical care.
For years, Germany has been the largest trading partner of Vietnam in the European Union (EU). Currently, Germany ranks 22/101 among countries and territories investing in Vietnam, with 232 valid projects and total registered capital of US$1.25 billion. In 2014, total two-way trade turnover was US$7.8 billion, of which Vietnam exported to Germany totalling US$5.18 billion (up 5.3 percent compared to 2013) and Germany exported US$2.62 billion to Vietnam (up 6.5 percent yoy). Vietnamese products exported to Germany are textile products, footwear, agricultural products like coffee and pepper, seafood; furniture and electronics. Vietnam imports from Germany machinery, automobiles, spare equipment and machinery as well as the products of the chemical industry. The advanced mechanical systems associated with the process of industrialisation and modernisation of Vietnam is expected to increase the demand of Vietnam for machinery and equipment by the German manufacturers.
There are nearly 200 German businesses having cooperation and investment in Vietnam with total capital of approximately US$1.37 billion. In 2014, German firms invested in Vietnam about US$160 million, ranked 16th out of the countries and territories having direct investment into Vietnam. German investment is mainly focused on the industrial manufacturing, technical services, retail services, software engineering, information and communication, banking and finance, insurance and so on in 22 provinces and cities of Vietnam, which concentrates in HCM city, Hanoi and Binh Duong and Dong Nai.
Many leading corporations in Germany, such as Siemens, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Telekom, BMW, Mercedes and Audi are operating effectively in Vietnam. With the aim of promoting and increasing business opportunities between the two countries Vietnam and Germany, the German Business Association in Vietnam (GBA), one of the oldest business associations, and co-founding member of the European Chamber of Commerce (EUROCHAM) in Vietnam, extended to 168 members which are German companies operating in Vietnam.
Notably, HCM City is the locality that receives the most support and cooperation from Germany. It is highly appreciated in the development with a central role of Vietnam's largest economic centre. The German projects in HCM City such as metro no. 2 will soon be implemented. Besides, the establishment of direct flights HCM City - Frankfurt since 2005, along with strong political commitment and a legal framework more favourable created momentum for bilateral trade exchange increase. Currently, Germany is the largest trading partner as well as key market in the commercial promotion, and investment of HCM City. Besides, Germany is also supporting many education and infrastructure projects such as the German International School, the Germany-Vietnam Institute of Technology.
We can believe that, towards the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties and the coming time, Vietnam and Germany will promote bilateral relations further to commensurate with the potential and strengths of each country. Many German business delegations will continue to seek investment opportunities, and business cooperation in Vietnam, creating huge incentives for economic growth of Vietnam.
Quynh Chi
Vietnamese
