German presidential visit underpinning robust links

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his spouse arrive at Noi Bai International Airport. (Photo: VNA)

Both Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the German Embassy to Vietnam last week announced that this week will see German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier pay a state visit to Vietnam.

With the trip, the federal president is underlining Germany’s goal of expanding and diversifying political and economic relations with Vietnam.

A business delegation will accompany the federal president, the embassy stated in a press release (see box).

Amplifying trade and investment ties with Vietnam is said to be one of the key goals of the visit.

While Germany is Vietnam’s number one trading partner in the European Union with a bilateral trading volume of $20 billion in 2022, its commercial partnership with Vietnam is the most important within ASEAN, with German exports worth $3.6 billion in 2022.

More than one year ago, Vietnam and Germany inked three new cooperation deals on national defence, vocational training, and also the energy transition, all as part of a boost for their existing strategic partnership.

Vietnam currently wants to realise its commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 with its own resources and international support.

Germany, the world’s fourth-largest industrial economy, has had a successful energy transition towards a green living model. It has a 100 per cent energy consumption target from renewable sources by 2035.

Germany has also made many major contributions to the process of creating and putting into effect European and global policies on climate protection.

The two nations agree that the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement has and will continue to be a crucial driver of economic, trade, and investment ties. Under the agreement, which came into being in 2020, both countries have committed to promoting sustainable development and climate change mitigation.

This aligns perfectly with the renewable energy objectives of Vietnam and Germany, creating new avenues for bilateral cooperation in this sector.

According to statistics from Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment, currently, about 500 German companies are effectively operating in Vietnam, of which around 80 have manufacturing plants in the country, creating 47,000 jobs. Cumulatively as of December 20, German investors had 463 valid projects in Vietnam, registered at $2.68 billion.

These businesses massively contribute to the socioeconomic development in Vietnam and have therefore become very popular employers. The companies have settled in Vietnam to stay: they are interested in long-term commitments that benefit the local and international economy as well as the population.

For example, Magnetec, a German producer of electrics spare parts, last July completed procedures for investment registration at Nam Dinh Vu Industrial Park in the northern city of Haiphong.

Another company, Kärcher, a family-owned cleaning tech group, has recently selected Vietnam as its new production base overseas.

Germany's Schwalbe to shift its tyre production to Vietnam On January 17, German tyre manufacturer Schwalbe announced that the company is strategically realigning its production and will manufacture all its tyres and tubes exclusively in Vietnam in the future.

German President's visit to strengthen Vietnam-Germany ties in education: scholar The upcoming state visit to Vietnam by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will enhance overall cooperation, including in education – a key factor of prosperity in each country, said Dr Kambiz Ghawami, President of the World University Service of Germany.