Germany to provide €113.56 million of ODA to Vietnam

Germany to provide €113.56 million of ODA to Vietnam

After online meetings between July 20 and 23 chaired by Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the German government pledged to provide Vietnam €113.559 million in official development assistance (ODA) in 2021, including €63.559 million ($74.84 million) in non-refundable ODA for 14 investment and technical assistance projects.

Of these, the centre for disease prediction and management project operated by the Ministry of Health would be an urgent measure to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. The project would include €15 million ($$17.66 million) in non-refundable ODA.

Deputy Minister Tran Quoc Phuong and Norbert Barthle, German Parliamentary State Secretary to the BMZ highly appreciated the relations of the two countries, including 10 years of strategic partnership, and 63 years of development cooperation.

Therefore, Barthle proposed upgrading bilateral ties to a global partnership to implement BMZ Strategies 2030 together to provide solutions for global troubles like climate change, environmental protection, and economic issues.

“Germany is the most important trade partner of Vietnam in the EU, while Vietnam is one of the very few countries where quite a high portion of the population can speak German, with the proportion getting higher. Additionally, the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) enables bilateral ties to be drawn even tighter,” Norbert Barthle said, adding that the German government is loosening policies for trained migrant workers, which will be a good opportunity for Vietnamese people to work in Germany.

Thanks to support from the German government, 3.4 million people in the Mekong River Delta have been saved from climate change impacts, 110,000 households have managed to find employment with better income. Additionally, German partnership has been contributing to protecting Vietnam's forest resources.

However, Vietnam is still facing mounting troubles due to climate change, with 10 per cent of its agricultural areas is being affected by global warming, floods, and heavy storms, negatively affecting incomes in the sector and destabilising food security not only in Vietnam, but also in other countries. “This is a global trouble, which needs the cooperation of numerous countries and Vietnam can play an important role,” he emphasised.

Germany to provide €113.56 million of ODA to Vietnam

On June 22, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had a telephone talk with his German counterpart Angela Merkel on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the strategic partnership of the two countries (2011-2021).

“The PM and the German Chancellor agreed to exchange high-level delegations soon, boost cooperation, build a Vietnam-Germany strategic action plan in 2022-2023, as well as boost development cooperation projects in Vietnam,” Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong said, affirming that the government has been doing its utmost to revise decrees on the management and use of ODA and foreign concessional loans.

Thanks to amending policies and simplifying administrative procedures, in 2021, the German government pledged to accelerate projects in infrastructure and climate change, including groundwater protection (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment), Mekong FC, disaster risk management (Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development), data centre (Ministry of Health), macroeconomic reforms, green growth, as well as technical and vocational education and training, in addition to on-going projects like combining coastal protection and the restoration of mangrove forests in Kien Giang and Ca Mau provinces, drainage and wastewater treatment system in Son La, Lang Son, and Hoa Binh provinces, medical wastewater treatment, and Metro 2 in Ho Chi Minh City.

Three priority areas for development cooperation under BMZ Strategies 2030 are energy; vocational training; and environment, which will be renamed to training and sustainable growth for decent jobs, responsibilities for the planet; climate and energy, protecting life on earth; the environment and natural resources.

Besides these, Germany also supports Vietnam in the health sector to cope with the COVID-19 health crisis.

Tran Quoc Phuong Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment

We always appreciate the assistance of international development partners to promote the growth of Vietnam, especially the support of the German government. Germany is one of the most trusted and important partners of Vietnam in the EU, and we are overjoyed to strengthen German-Vietnamese relations in all areas. Development cooperation is always a key area in the bilateral strategic partnership. The priority sectors where the German government provides ODA to Vietnam are quite suitable with the goals of the country’s socioeconomic development, such as high-quality human resources, sustainable energy, environmental protection, and coping with climate change. These are also priority areas for Vietnam in the time to come. Vietnam is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change and related natural disasters like floods, droughts, salinisation, and soil erosion, especially in the Mekong River Delta. To cope with climate change, on July 2, 2021, PM Pham Minh Chinh signed Decision No.1054/QD-TTg establishing the Mekong River Delta Coordination Council in 2021-2025 and assigned Deputy PM Le Van Thanh as chairman and MPI Minister Nguyen Chi Dung as permanent vice chairman. The Coordination Council will advise and propose the PM mechanisms, policies, strategies, plans, programmes, projects, and tasks of a regional scale, to support the sustainable development of the Mekong Delta and promote climate change adaptation. We would like to collaborate with the German government to carry out infrastructure projects and inter-regional projects to support Vietnam in coping with climate change.