The President asked Germany to continue supporting the training of high-quality human resources for Vietnam.

On the afternoon of January 23, following the official welcoming ceremony, President Vo Van Thuong held talks with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the Presidential Palace.

Chủ tịch nước đề nghị Đức tiếp tục hỗ trợ đào tạo nguồn nhân lực chất lượng cao cho Việt Nam

A panoramic view of the meeting between President Vo Van Thuong and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. (Photo: Tuan Viet)

President Vo Van Thuong warmly welcomed German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on his state visit to Vietnam, expressing confidence that the visit would contribute to strengthening friendly relations and political trust, creating momentum to comprehensively promote the Vietnam-Germany Strategic Partnership, for the benefit of the people of both countries, and for peace , cooperation, and development in the region and the world.

Thanking President Vo Van Thuong for the warm and cordial reception, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed his admiration for Vietnam's dynamic socio -economic development; emphasizing that over the past nearly 50 years, the close ties and mutual trust between the two countries have been continuously strengthened and developed; affirming his desire to enhance multifaceted cooperation with Vietnam, especially in the fields of trade and investment, energy transition, labor and vocational training, development cooperation, as well as closely coordinating contributions to peace and regional and global cooperation issues.

President Vo Van Thuong requested Germany to continue supporting the training of high-quality human resources for Vietnam and to support the expansion and improvement of the Vietnamese-German University's operations. (Photo: Tuan Viet)

President Vo Van Thuong emphasized that, in its independent, self-reliant, multilateral, and diversified foreign policy, Vietnam always values and prioritizes the development of relations with Germany. On this occasion, the President thanked the State, Government, and people of Germany for their support and assistance to Vietnam in preventing and controlling Covid-19, demonstrating the close friendship and solidarity between the two countries, contributing to helping Vietnam overcome the pandemic and quickly reopen and restore socio-economic development.

In an atmosphere of trust and mutual understanding, President Vo Van Thuong and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier exchanged views on major directions and measures to further deepen the Vietnam-Germany Strategic Partnership, as well as sharing perspectives on regional and international issues of common concern.

The two leaders expressed satisfaction with the strong development of Vietnam-Germany relations over the past nearly five decades, especially since the two countries established a Strategic Partnership. Political trust between the two countries has been increasingly strengthened through exchanges of delegations at all levels, especially at the high level, and close coordination in multilateral forums.

For many years, Germany has been Vietnam's leading economic partner in Europe, and Vietnam is now one of Germany's largest trading partners in Southeast Asia. Bilateral trade reached approximately US$12 billion in 2023, a threefold increase over the past 10 years. Germany is the fourth largest investor among EU countries in Vietnam.

To build upon the foundation of good relations and the immense potential for cooperation between Vietnam and Germany, both sides agreed to further strengthen political trust through exchanges of delegations, high-level and other contacts, and to effectively implement bilateral cooperation mechanisms including the Strategic Dialogue, the Joint Committee on Economic Cooperation, Government Consultations on Development Cooperation, the Dialogue on the Rule of Law, and to effectively coordinate the implementation of the Vietnam-Germany Strategic Action Plan for the period 2023-2025.

The two leaders were pleased to note the positive results of cooperation between the two countries in the field of education and training, especially the Vietnamese-German University, a symbolic project of the two countries' relationship, which is operating effectively. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed his hope that the two sides would continue to cooperate closely to ensure the successful development of the Vietnamese-German University, particularly in attracting more and more Vietnamese students.

President Vo Van Thuong requested Germany to continue supporting the training of high-quality human resources for Vietnam and to support the expansion and improvement of the operational efficiency of the Vietnamese-German University.

President Frank-Walter Steinmeier affirmed that Germany is ready to support Vietnam with technology, expertise, and finance in implementing the JETP framework. (Photo: Tuan Viet)

In the economic field, both sides agreed to continue to fully and effectively implement the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), facilitating access to each other's markets for each country's key products. The German President affirmed that Vietnam is a reliable economic partner and expressed a desire to strengthen economic cooperation with Vietnam, especially in investment.

President Vo Van Thuong requested that Germany expedite the ratification procedures for the Vietnam-EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) and urge the European Commission (EC) to lift the IUU yellow card imposed on Vietnamese seafood as soon as possible.

President Vo Van Thuong thanked Germany for its support to Vietnam in the field of development cooperation over the past three decades, which has made a positive contribution to Vietnam's socio-economic development, and requested Germany to continue providing ODA to Vietnam in the fields of energy, environment, and vocational training.

Regarding climate change response, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier affirmed that Germany is ready to support Vietnam with technology, expertise, and finance in implementing the JETP framework to contribute to fulfilling Vietnam's commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050, as set out at COP26.

Both sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in the fields of security and defense, science and technology, justice, and agriculture; promote cultural exchanges, thereby contributing to enhancing understanding and friendship between the people of the two countries, and practically commemorating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Germany in 2025.

President Vo Van Thuong and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier pose for a photo together. (Photo: Tuan Viet)

President Vo Van Thuong expressed his hope that Germany would continue to pay attention to and create favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Germany to live stably, and continue to be a bridge and make positive contributions to the friendly relations between the two countries. The German President affirmed that the community of 200,000 Vietnamese people in Germany has successfully integrated and made positive contributions to local society.

On the international stage, the two countries agreed to coordinate and support each other in regional and multilateral forums such as the ASEAN-Germany cooperation framework, ASEAN-EU cooperation framework, and the United Nations. Regarding the South China Sea issue, the two leaders reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability, freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea, resolving disputes peacefully in accordance with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and supporting a substantive and effective COC negotiation process between ASEAN and China.

Signing ceremony of the Cooperation Agreement on Migrant Labor between the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs of Vietnam and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of Germany. (Photo: Tuan Viet)

Following the talks, President Vo Van Thuong and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier jointly witnessed the signing ceremony of the Cooperation Agreement on Migrant Labor between the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Vietnam and the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of Germany.

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