President Truong Tan Sang will visit Germany from November 24-26, at the invitation of German President Joachim Gauck, in order to boost the strategic partnership between the two countries.

German President Joachim Gauck (right) and Vietnam's Ambassador to Germany Dao Xuan Hung.

This is the first state visit by a Vietnamese president to Germany since it was unified in 1990.

The relationship between Vietnam and Germany has developed positively, effectively and comprehensively since the countries established their diplomatic relationship in September 1975.

Since the formation of their strategic partnership in 2011, Vietnam and Germany have frequently exchanged high-ranking delegations. Examples include German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to Vietnam in October 2011 and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit to Germany in September 2014.

The two countries effectively implemented many bilateral cooperation mechanisms.

The Vietnam – Germany trade relationship has grown in recent years, reaching 7.9 billion USD in 2014 and 6.66 billion USD in the first nine months of this year, making Germany Vietnam’s biggest trade partner in the EU and accounting for 19 percent of Vietnam’s total trade with the bloc.

As of September 2015, Germany has 261 projects in Vietnam with a combined investment of 1,413 billion USD, focusing on the processing and manufacturing sector, electricity, water and gas generation and distribution, wholesale and retail.

Vietnamese companies have invested 92 million USD in 17 projects.

The EU’s biggest economy is also one of the biggest official development assistance providers to Vietnam. It has sent around 2 billion USD since 1990.

Germany suggested that the EU recognise Vietnam’s market mechanism. It has also played a positive role in the negotiations of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

Germany considers Vietnam an Asian market with rapid growth potential.

Germany also helped Vietnam with vocational training by assisting the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs in building the national vocational training strategy, the Law on Vocational Training and vocational schools built on successful German models.

In the “Make it in Germany” programme on international labour cooperation, 200 Vietnamese nurses have been trained and given three-year contracts in Germany from 2013 to 2015.

Germany provides many graduate and post-graduate scholarships every year. There are currently 300 research students on scholarships and 4,600 students studying at universities in Germany.

The two countries have also implemented a programme in which 85 research students are trained each year in Hessen state.

The Vietnam – Germany University was formed in 2008 in HCM City and has trained nearly 1,500 students. A new campus is being built in Ben Cat district, Binh Duong province with an estimated cost of 200 million USD. It is scheduled for completion in 2017.

The countries have also cooperated in science and technology.

There are currently around 125,000 Vietnamese people living in Germany, 20 percent of whom have become German citizens. Most of them have relatively stable lives, and the second generation has integrated well into Germany society.

Germany is the world’s fourth largest economy and its key industries are automobile manufacturing, machinery, equipment, chemical industry, electricity and electronics engineering.

Germany has many global multinational corporations, but the backbone of its economy is medium- and small-sized companies, which employ 20 million people.

Large potential for Vietnam-Germany relations: Ambassador

There is great potential for Vietnam and Germany – the fourth largest economy – to strengthen all-round ties in the time ahead, Vietnamese Ambassador to Germany Doan Xuan Hung told Vietnam News Agency correspondents.

After Vietnam and Germany established their strategic partnership, the two countries have reinforced their friendship and seen growing development in both political and economic ties, Hung said.

Vietnam should take advantage of existing potential and opportunities to reinforce and promote the bilateral ties, the diplomat stressed.

Regarding President Truong Tan Sang’s upcoming State visit to Germany, the ambassador said German President Joachim Gauck is awaiting the visit, adding that the embassy will do its utmost to further boost affiliations between the two nations.

Over the past five years, Germany has been one of Vietnam’s leading trade partners in the EU, accounting for 20 percent of Vietnamese exports to the market.

The investment flow from the country to Vietnam also increased 70 percent to 1.38 billion USD in 2015, from 824 million USD in 2010.

Among the prominent ongoing joint projects are the German House, Metro line 2 in Ho Chi Minh City, and Vietnam-Germany University.

At present, more than 300 German businesses operate in Vietnam.

VNA