Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - September 23, 2020 marks 45 years of diplomatic ties betweenVietnam and Germany.

Duringthat time, the bilateral strategic partnership has been deepened in all fieldsamong which economic, trade and investment cooperation are important pillars.

Germanyhas been one of the most important European partners of Vietnam for many years.

GermanAmbassador to Vietnam Guido Hildner told VietnamNews that the relationship between Vietnam and Germany is verygood. It has been intensified over recent years. In 2011, both governmentsentered into a strategic partnership, with major areas of cooperation, forinstance, including the sectors of the environment, energy and vocationaltraining.

"Inthe year 2020, we have seen very intensive corporation in the international andmultilateral arena. Both countries are members of the United Nations SecurityCouncil and Vietnam is chairing ASEAN and Germany holds thepresidency of the European Union Council," he said.

Thetrust and mutual understanding between the two countries have been strengthenedthrough the maintenance of high-level delegation exchanges and cooperationmechanisms.

Duringthe visit to Vietnam by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in October 2011, the primeministers of the two countries signed the Hanoi Joint Declaration on theestablishment of a strategic partnership, which set out objectives and measuresto enhance cooperation in prioritised areas.

Afterthe declaration, the two countries regularly conducted delegation andhigh-level exchanges, creating a driving force for co-operation.

Themost recent exchanges conducted by Vietnamese leaders were visits by PrimeMinister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in July 2017 and Deputy Prime Minister, ForeignMinister Pham Binh Minh in February 2019.

FederalEconomic Minister Peter Altmaier visited Vietnam in March 2019, following thevisit made by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in October 2016.

TheCommunist Party of Vietnam and the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) have anannual theoretical dialogue mechanism. The fifth theoretical dialogue tookplace on November 15, 2016, in Hanoi and the sixth took place from July 2-7,2017 in Berlin. The Communist Party of Vietnam held dialogues with the leftistParty in Germany in April 2019.

Big trading partner

Germanyis currently Vietnam's largest trading partner in Europe, accounting for nearly20 percent of Vietnam's exports to the EU,

Itis also an important gateway for Vietnamese goods to enter other markets inEurope.

Thetwo-way turnover in 2019 reached more than 10.25 billion USD with Vietnammainly exporting phones, computer components, textiles, footwear, coffee,agricultural products and importing machinery, equipment, spare parts, means oftransport, cars, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and dairy products.

Interms of investment, as of August 2020, Germany has 370 valid projects in Vietnamwith registered investment capital of nearly 2.1 billion USD, ranking 18th outof 137 countries and territories investing in Vietnam

Mostof the German projects focus on processing and manufacturing industries;electricity, gas production and distribution; wholesale, retail in big citieslike HCM City, Ninh Thuan, Dong Nai, Hanoi, Thanh Hoa, Quang Nam.

Thereare about 300 German businesses operating in Vietnam, including a number ofmultinational corporations, such as Siemens, B. Braun, Messer, Mercedes-Benz,Bilfinger and Bosch.

Vietnamnow has 30 valid investment projects in Germany with a total investment capitalof 120.6 million USD. Vietnamese businesses invest in Germany in the fields offinance and banking, wholesale and retail, cars, motorbikes, catering andaccommodation services, real estate, informatics, and commerce.

Inaddition to direct investment, Germany is one of the countries that grantOfficial Development Assistance (ODA) to Vietnam with a large numberand high frequency. Since 1990, Germany has provided about 2 billion USDof ODA to projects in Vietnam through technical and financial cooperation.

TheGerman Government has committed to supporting Vietnam through a number of othercooperation programmes, such as non-refundable loans from the Energy andClimate Fund (EKF), the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and development loans underthe Initiative for Climate and Environmental Protection (IKLU).

Effective cooperation in various sectors

Notjust in the economic sector, Germany is also one of the most important partnersof Vietnam in vocational training.

TheEuropean country has assisted the Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, Invalids andSocial Affairs to develop a national vocational training strategy, draft theLaw on Vocational Training, and set up models of vocational schools in somelocalities following the very successful German model.

Germanyis also considered one of the most important markets for Vietnamese tourismwith the number of visitors increasing steadily each year. The number of Germantourists to Vietnam reached 199,000 in 2017 and approximately 214,000 people in2018.

FromJuly 1, 2015, Vietnam piloted visa exemption for German citizens for a periodof 15 days.

Incultural cooperation, in 1997, Germany established the German Cultural Centre,also known as the Goethe Institute in Hanoi where German cultural introductionand Germany teaching activities are regularly organised.

Ineducation and training, about 300 Vietnamese postgraduates are doing researchin Germany under the scholarship programme.

About4,600 Vietnamese students are studying at German universities.

Thetwo countries established Vietnam-Germany University in September 2008 in HCMCity which operates under the model of German University, with the supportfrom Hessen State and the German Academic Exchange Service DAAD.

Therelationship between the two countries has also been fostered in science,technology, defence and exchanges between localities.

TheVietnamese community in Germany currently has 176,000 people, of which 20 percenthas German citizenship. In general, expatriates in Germany have a relativelystable life, mostly earning from paid jobs or small businesses.

TheVietnamese people in Germany have formed community groups and associations suchas the Association of Vietnamese Compatriots, the poetry-literature cluband the charity society.

SeveralGerman states have started introducing the Vietnamese language in the generalcurriculum./.