German business delegation visits Vietnam for more cooperation opportunities

It will join two seminars at Sheraton Saigon Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday to expand cooperation with Vietnam businesses and offer local firms an overview of the investment environment in the eastern states of Germany.

The delegation, comprised of businesses from the eastern states of Germany, was led by Dr Benno Bunse, Chairman and CEO of Germany Trade & Invest (GTaI), a state-run economic development agency of Germany.

The delegation was also accompanied by Ines Koerner, representative of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), and many businesses operating in many different economic sectors, to seek for partners and business cooperation opportunities in Vietnam.

The visit, followed a successful working trip, also held by GTaI in 2010-2011, was co-organized by GTaI, in collaboration with the Delegate of German Commerce and Industry in Vietnam (AHK), and State Development Corporation of Thuringia.

"Germany is the largest trading partner of Vietnam in Europe. Strong economic growth in Vietnam in recent years has created many opportunities for mid-sized businesses in Germany," said Dr. Benno Bunse, director of GTaI.

“At the same time, we also hope to attract Vietnamese businesses to invest in the Eastern states of Germany,” he added.

In the past 20 years, the eastern part of Germany has developed into a high-tech center with 59 universities and a network of technology centers playing a decisive role for the success and rapid growth of the education system there.

Vietnam is running a trade surplus when trading with Germany with main import items including textiles and garments, footwear, seafood, coffee, mobile phones and accessories.

In 2013, German exports to Vietnam was valued at $2.9 billion, an increase of nearly 27 percent over the previous year. Nearly 30 percent of German exports are machinery and equipment.

Currently, there are about 100,000 Vietnamese people living in Germany and around 5,000 Vietnamese students studying in universities in Germany.