Deputy Foreign Minister Le Thi Thu Hang and Secretary of State at the German Federal Foreign Office Andreas Michaelis co-chaired the seventh Vietnam-Germany Strategic Dialogue at vice ministerial level on April 3 in Berlin to discuss measures to boost cooperation between the two countries and other regional and international issues of shared concern.

At the meeting, the two sides were elated to see that after more than 10 years of establishing their strategic partnership, the Vietnam-Germany relationship is developing effectively and comprehensively across a variety of fields, in line with the global development trend and both nations’ interests.

Deputy FM Le Thi Thu Hang affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to the strategic partnership with Germany, a country that plays a key role in the European Union (EU), and expressed gratitude to the German Government and people for donating over 10 million doses of vaccines and many important medical equipment, thus contributing to Vietnam's success in the fight against COVID-19.

Secretary of State Michaelis hailed Vietnam's development achievements over the past time and highlighted Vietnam as an important partner of Germany in the Indo-Pacific region.

In order to strengthen and deepen the strategic partnership between Vietnam and Germany in the coming time, the two sides agreed to increase the exchange of delegations, especially high-level ones, regularly maintain bilateral cooperation mechanisms, and step up cooperation in areas where the two countries have strengths and needs, including trade - investment, development cooperation, climate change response, labor, education - training, and people-to-people exchanges.

Appreciating the positive results achieved in economic cooperation, in which Germany has for many years retained its position as the largest trading partner of Vietnam in the EU with an annual  average trade growth rate of over 10%, reaching more than US$ 12 billion in 2022, both sides consented to work hand in hand to effectively exploit the benefits brought by the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and further facilitate Vietnamese and German goods’ access to each other's markets.

On this occasion, Hang asked Germany to support the European Commission (EC) to soon remove the "yellow card" for Vietnamese seafood, while taking into account Vietnam's efforts in the past time in seriously and fully implement the EC recommendations on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

In order to improve the efficiency of bilateral investment cooperation, Deputy FM Le Thi Thu Hang suggested that the German Foreign Ministry encourage German businesses to invest and expand production in Vietnam in areas of Germany’s strengths in line with Vietnam's development priorities, and at the same time promoting the German Parliament's ratification of the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).

Hang suggested the German Government continue to support Vietnam in priority areas of cooperation such as environmental protection, energy and vocational training, in accordance line with Vietnam's sustainable development goals.

Sharing assessments and proposals to strengthen bilateral cooperation of Deputy FM Minister Le Thi Thu Hang, Secretary of State Michaelis stated that in the context of complicated developments in the world and region and the trend of investment shifting, the German government supports and incentivize businesses to diversify markets and partners, including Vietnam, a country with many advantages in terms of markets, labor resources and investment environment.

On the basis of the effective cooperation achieved by the two sides, the German diplomat assured Germany’s readiness to assist Vietnam in accessing capital, technology and human resource training within the framework of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) to implement the commitments made by Vietnam at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP26 on reducing emissions to zero by 2050.

Secretary of State Michaelis highly appreciated the potential of cooperation between the two sides in the field of labor and vocational training. In the context the German Government currently carrying out many policies to attract skilled workers, the two sides can expand cooperation in this field, he added.

Welcoming the positive results in Vietnam-Germany cooperation at regional and multilateral forums, the two sides affirmed continuing to closely coordinate and support each other in cooperation frameworks such as ASEAN, the EU and international organizations, especially when the two countries are both members of the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2023-2025 term.

In the exchange of regional and international issues of mutual concern, the two sides underscored the importance of maintaining peace, stability and security, including maritime security in the region and the world. They support the settlement of disputes by peaceful means, in compliance with international law, especially the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982).

The two sides also compared notes on recent developments and situations in regions around the world.

At the Dialogue, the two sides approved the Vietnam - Germany Strategic Action Plan for the 2023 – 2025 period with orientations and cooperation activities in all fields including politics - security. security, economy, climate - energy, science - technology, culture and people-to-people exchanges.

Within the framework of her working visit to Germany, Deputy FM Le Thi Thu Hang had an exchange with German Presidential Advisor Wolfgang Silbermann,  and had a working session with the Vietnamese Embassy in Germany and other agencies.

Source: VNA