Sigmar Gabriel, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy of Germany, has just arrived in Vietnam on a 5-day visit to participate in the 14th Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business in HCMC.

The visit of Sigmar Gabriel, lasting from November 18 to 22, is accompanied by senators and a business delegation. The first part of the working trip is Hanoi where the Federal Minister will have political talks with the Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh and Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang.

In the coming days, he will fly to the economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City to meet with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Dr. Hubert Lienhard, chairman of the Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business (APA) and join the 14th Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business (APK 2014).

The 2-day APK 2014, which is scheduled to open on November 21, will see the participation of about 700 enterprises from Germany and the Asia - Pacific region.

''The APK 2014 creates excellent conditions to further strengthen economic relations, not only with this year's host country of Vietnam, but also other countries in the region. As a region with a strong growth, the entire Asia-Pacific is becoming increasingly more important for German firms,” said Minister Gabriel.

Besides the major countries in East Asia, the role of 10 ASEAN countries is getting more important both economically and politically. Especially, Vietnam is one of the main partners of Germany in this region," he added.

On the sidelines of the conference Minister Gabriel will have bilateral meetings with ministers from Asia-Pacific countries and the ASEAN Secretary General Le Luong Minh.

In Ho Chi Minh City, besides visiting businesses there, the minister is expected to meet Vietnamese students at the Vietnamese-German University.