Vietnam, Germany bolster economic cooperation

A virtual conference on economic cooperation between Vietnam and Germany was held on March 15 under the sponsorship of Leipzig city, the Vietnamese Embassy in Germany, InvestRegion Leipzig and Deutsch-Vietnamesisches Haus e.V.

At the virtual conference on economic cooperation between Vietnam and Germany

Speaking before an audience of over 120 participants, Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Minh Vu highlighted Vietnam’s outstanding socio-economic development achievements in the past time, stating the Southeast Asian country has become a favourite destination for foreign investment shifting in the context of COVID-19 and fierce trade competition.

Besides abundant human resources and favourable mechanisms, Vietnam has high trade openness since it has joined a wide range of large free trade agreements such as EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and this will create favourable conditions for German firms to purchase Vietnamese goods and export their products to ASEAN member states as well as RCEP members like China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

Speaking highly of the sweeping changes in Leipzig city, the Vietnamese diplomat said suitable socio-economic strategies have helped the city become an economic pillar of the central Germany.

With well-developed industry, infrastructure and science-technology, Leipzig is an ideal incubator for startups, he added.

He expressed his belief that the conference would offer opportunities for businesses of both sides to build practical cooperation for mutual benefits.

Meanwhile, Mayor of Leipzig city Burkhard Jung said he rejoiced at the sound relations between Leipzig and Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam as a whole in recent years, hoping the EVFTA will strengthen the ties between the two sides.

Leipzig is the first Germany’s city to open a representative office in Vietnam. It has a wide range of cooperative activities across economic, cultural and social aspects with Vietnam, and is housing a 3,500-strong Vietnamese community.

A round-table discussion was held within the conference, highlighting several issues that investors of both sides were interested in.

Last year, Vietnam became the largest trade partner of Germany in ASEAN and fifth largest in Asia. Meanwhile, Germany was the biggest trade partner of Vietnam in the EU, with two-way trade topping over 13 billion EUR (15.46 billion USD)./.

VNA