Berlin (VNA) – Chancellor of Germany OlafScholz’s two-day official visit to Vietnam was further in the limelight of Germanmedia on November 13.

An article published in the Handelsblatt newspaper said thatin Hanoi, the Chancellor was respectfully received by Vietnamese leaders.Vietnam is the first stop on Scholz's five-day Asia tour, with the leader ofEurope's leading economy hoping to promote opportunities to strengthen economiccooperation with Vietnam, it noted.

The author quoted the Chancellor as saying in the currentcontext, Germany must expand its business market, supply chain, source of rawmaterials and production locations so that it does not depend on any country.Vietnam plays a particularly important role in this process. Germany wants tosupport Vietnam's transition towards carbon neutrality, such as its building ofmetro systems in the capital Hanoi.

As per the article, the two countries have conditions forcloser economic cooperation. Currently, Germany is Vietnam's most importanttrading partner in the EU with a trade turnover of 14 billion EUR (about 14.46billion USD). Vietnam, meanwhile, is Germany's largest trading partner in ASEAN.In addition, the Vietnamese community in Germany is now about 180,000 people, who make an important contribution to the sides’ relationship.During the COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries have also actively supportedeach other to overcome difficulties.

The article said via the visit, the German side hopes tostrengthen cooperation with Vietnam on raw materials. Vietnam possesses manynatural resources with large reserves such as copper, titanium and zinc. Inaddition, the visit must be viewed in a larger international context and ispart of the German Government's Indo-Pacific strategy.

According to the comments of the Wirtschaftwoche newspaper,the Chancellor’s visit to Vietnam perfectly fits his Asia tour. The trip isconsidered a "working visit", promoting the sides’ strategicpartnership that has existed since 2011. The focus of Scholz’s meeting withPrime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and a large number of Vietnamese businessrepresentatives was economic projects, especially in the fields ofinfrastructure, health care, and commerce. The two sides have signed a number ofmutual agreements. Germany is also very interested in cooperating with Vietnamin education and training and in the sending of Vietnamese skilled workers tothe German labour market.

Highlighting sound outcomes of the visit, the DieWelt newspaper said as part of the trip, the two sides signed three jointcooperation agreements in the fields of defense, labour and education. Notably,the Vietnam - Germany University, a joint educational cooperation projectbetween the two countries, has been implemented very successfully in the pasttime. In addition, they agreed to establish the Germany - Vietnam energydialogue, a cooperation format that will enable them to intensify discussionson opportunities for climate-friendly technologies and socially equitableenergy transition./.