German President to pay state visit to Vietnam

At the invitation of President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Vo Van Thuong and his wife, President of the Federal Republic of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife will pay a state visit to Vietnam from January 23 to 24, 2024, according to a statement from the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the evening of January 18.

President of the Federal Republic of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier was born on January 5, 1956. He is a Doctor of Law and Political Science. He is serving his second term as President of Germany, starting from March 2022 to 2027. Previously, Mr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier's first term as President began in March 2017.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited Vietnam twice, in March 2008 as Foreign Minister and in October 2016 as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.

President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has made many contributions to the relationship between the two countries and is interested in the development and integration of the Vietnamese community in Germany.

Vietnam and Germany established diplomatic relations on September 23, 1975. Since then, the friendship and cooperation between the two countries have developed positively, becoming increasingly deep, effective and comprehensive. During German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to Vietnam (October 2011), the two countries established a strategic partnership.

The two countries have signed many agreements creating a legal basis for economic cooperation such as: Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement; Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement; maritime and aviation agreements.

Germany is Vietnam's largest trading partner in Europe (accounting for nearly 20% of Vietnam's exports to the EU) and is also an important transit gateway for Vietnamese goods to other markets in Europe.

There are currently over 350 German enterprises operating in Vietnam, including a number of multinational corporations such as: Siemens (equipment, healthcare), B.Braun (medical equipment), Messer (liquefied gas for metallurgy), Mercedes-Benz (automobiles), Bilfinger (consulting, design), Bosch (machinery manufacturing), Deutsche Bank (banking), Allianz (insurance)...

As of May 2023, Germany has 444 valid projects with a total registered investment capital of over 2.36 billion USD, ranking 4th out of 24 in the EU and 18th out of 143 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.

Up to now, Vietnamese enterprises have 11 valid investment projects in Germany with a total investment capital and adjusted capital reaching over 30.95 million USD, notably the Vietinbank Branch project in Germany (7.5 million USD); the project to purchase and repair real estate to serve as headquarters of the Industrial and Commercial Bank Representative Office (2.117 million USD)...

Germany is one of the countries that regularly and extensively provide ODA to Vietnam. Since 1990, Germany has provided over 2 billion USD for ODA projects in Vietnam through technical cooperation (non-refundable aid) and financial cooperation (including non-refundable aid - about 40% and preferential credit - about 60%).

Since 2020, Vietnam has been ranked as a “Global Partner” in Germany’s Development Cooperation Strategy to 2030 (BMZ 2030). At the Government-level negotiations on Vietnam-Germany Development Cooperation on July 20-23, 2021, the German Government continued to commit ODA capital to Vietnam worth over 143.5 million euros in the 2022-2023 period.

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