Ambassador Nguyen Thi Hoang Anh made the comment at aworking session between Berlin ASEAN Committee (BAC) Ambassadors and theParliamentary Friendship Group for Relations with the ASEAN States inthe capital city on June 5.
Around 125,000 Vietnamese people,including 4,000 students, are living and working in Germany. With over100,000 German-speaking people, Vietnam has become the largestGerman-speaking community in the region, Anh said.
She informeddelegates about the upcoming Asia-Pacific Conference of GermanBusiness, slated for November in Ho Chi Minh City, and theimplementation of the Germany House project, adding these events willhelp boost the cooperation between Germany and Vietnam, and ASEAN atlarge.
The Vietnamese diplomat also informed the Germanparliamentarians about China’s illegal placement of its Haiyang Shiyou -981 oil rig in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf,which violates Vietnam’s sovereignty, sovereign right and jurisdictionover its sea and islands and threatens peace, stability, maritime andaeronautical security and safety in the region and the world.
Vietnam has exercised restraint and struggled peacefully to demand Chinaremove its drilling rig and fleet of vessels out of Vietnam’s waters,she said.
She also briefed delegates of the May 28 diplomaticnote submitted by the Vietnamese side to the United Nations which wasalso asked for circulation as an official document at the 68th UNGeneral Assembly.
Gambke, President of the group, thanked Anhfor providing the latest developments on the East Sea issue, adding theGerman Parliament always follows the developments closely.
TheGerman official expressed his hope the BAC and the parliament willfurther boost the cooperation and information exchanges to heighten thelegislative body and local people’s understanding on ASEAN, especiallythe ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) which is expected to be establishedby 2015.
Other ASEAN ambassadors informed participants aboutthe socio-economic situation of their countries, along with thebilateral ties with Germany and the progress of the establishment of theAEC.-VNA