Forty year friendship yields new fruit

The two nations forged a strategic partnership in October 2011. This year also marks the 40th anniversary of the German-Vietnamese diplomatic relationship. What has made this co-operation so fruitful?

Relations between Germany and Vietnam have developed over the last 40 years into a very successful and reliable partnership. As a result, the Strategic Partnership Agreement was signed in 2011. We are looking forward to intensifying our political, economic, and cultural relations in the future. Regarding economic relations, Vietnam offers great potential and favourable conditions for economic activity and investment. More than 300 German companies are currently operating in Vietnam and German investments have increased by 40 per cent last year.

We also have an intensive exchange of high-ranking political visitors. In October 2014, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung paid an official visit to Berlin. The following month Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel opened the Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business in Ho Chi Minh City, which was attended by more than 850 German businessmen. In March this year, President of the German Bundestag, Norbert Lammert, opened the German Festival in Hanoi, where we welcomed over 7,000 visitors. In October 2015, we are expecting German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. In November 2015, we are looking forward to an official visit by the Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang to Germany.

Vietnam and the EU are expected to sign a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) at the end of this year. In what way can Vietnam and Germany benefit from this long-awaited agreement?

The upcoming FTA between Vietnam and the EU will further boost the trade exchange between Germany and Vietnam. Phasing out tariffs and trade barriers also helps to build up Vietnam’s international competitiveness. This will make doing business easier in both directions.

One of the effects of this FTA will be that German companies will pay greater attention to Vietnam and its huge opportunities. They will also divert away from China. Due to the range and size of business opportunities and its well-developed infrastructure, Vietnam will clearly be on the winning side. I am sure that German investments in Vietnam will continue to grow and play an important role in the future development of the country.

What will be the key aspects of co-operation between the two economies in the years to come?

An important pillar of cooperation for Germany is the area of development policy, where both countries work together in energy, green growth, protection of the environment, and vocational training. The co-operation will be aligned with expertise and investment from German and Vietnamese companies.

How is the fast-growing Vietnam important in the German government’s economic policy?

The German government has never developed a special economic policy with regard to Vietnam or any other country. As Germany is a market economy, the German government completely abstains from any kind of economic policy or guidelines for economic operators to boost economic relations with regard to a certain country. German companies are free to decide where they invest or divest. Therefore it is completely up to the Vietnamese government to create those framework conditions which make co-operation with or investments in Vietnam attractive for foreign economic operators.

In the field of official development assistance (ODA) co-operation, Vietnam is considered by Germany one of its key ODA partners in Asia. How can we imagine such co-operation over the next few years?

Germany and Vietnam have decisively upgraded the quality of their development co-operation, which is aiming to contribute to a sustainable economic development path for Vietnam. The new development co-operation between the two countries will focus on the implementation of Vietnam’s Green Growth Strategy and the acceleration of Vietnam’s industrial competitiveness based on improved labour skills in a future ASEAN Economic Community. Future development programmes will also include partnerships with German and Vietnamese enterprises as well as the civil society. Over the next few years, these successful co-operation activities are expected to become part of Vietnam’s national and provincial budgets and development plans.