Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh (R) and State Secretary in the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development Jochen Flasbarth at the meeting. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh on September 28 affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to strengthening the strategic partnership with Germany while receiving Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary in the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, who is on a visit to the Southeast Asian country.
The Deputy PM said Vietnam looks forward to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s trip to Vietnam in November which is expected to create a driving force for the further development of relations between the two countries.
He expressed his delight at the positive development in economic relations between the two nations. Currently, Germany is Vietnam's largest trading partner in Europe, while Vietnam is Germany's largest trading partner in Southeast Asia and the sixth largest in Asia.
Minh noted that after taking effect for two years, the Europe-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) has actively contributed to promoting economic cooperation between Vietnam and the European Union, including Germany.
He cited statistics of the General Department of Vietnam Customs that showed trade turnover between Vietnam and Germany topped 10 billion USD last year, up 11% compared to 2020. The figure hit nearly 7.3 billion USD in the first seven months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 18.5%.
There are over 300 German enterprises doing business effectively in Vietnam, including many large corporations such as Siemens, Mercedez, Adidas, Bosch and Braun. The total registered foreign direct investment of Germany in Vietnam reached 2.3 billion USD with 417 valid projects as of January this year.
Deputy PM Minh suggested that Germany ratify the Europe Union – Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) early to further promote investment between Germany and Vietnam and support the European Commission's early removal of the "yellow card" imposed on Vietnamese seafood.
He thanked Germany for making Vietnam a global partner in the development cooperation strategy to 2030, focusing on the fields of environment, energy and vocational training; as well as Germany's important support for Vietnam in the field of climate change response.
The Deputy PM said he hoped that as the presidency of the G7, Germany will help Vietnam access green financial resources of the G7, international financial institutions and large private corporations for activities in response to climate change.
For his part, Flasbarth said he was impressed by Vietnam's socio-economic development achievements, the country's successful control of the COVID-19 pandemic and its positive growth rate. He affirmed that Germany wishes to enhance cooperative relations with Vietnam in all fields as well as commits to accompanying Vietnam to realise its commitments at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) and is ready to share experiences in the clean energy transition./.
