Two German business bodies in Vietnam and representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance the connectivity between German firms and 18 southern Vietnamese cities and provinces.

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Accordingly, with the deal reached by the Delegate of German Industry and Commerce in Vietnam (GIC/AHK), German Business Association in Vietnam (GBA), and the ministry, German firms will have the opportunity to promote their trade and investment activities in the southern part of the country.

Among the cities and provinces are Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho, Vinh Long, Long An, and An Giang.

Moreover, both sides will establish effective channels to exchange information between German companies and the local authorities, thus enabling the local governments to make and implement their policies in order to facilitate an efficient business environment for German firms.

This MoU is also meant to create an information channel so as to support German businesses in swiftly and effectively addressing their concerns to central and local authorities.

Meanwhile, it will help the cities and provinces find suitable partners in Germany and introduce the business potentialities of the localities to German partners.

In the future, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will coordinate with GBA and GIC/AHK to regularly organize workshops, seminars, conferences, and forums featuring the participation of German firms in the southern region.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Bui Thanh Son, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, praised the initiative jointly developed by the ministry, GBA, and GIC/AHK, as the MoU will strengthen businesses and create opportunities for both Vietnamese and German companies in finding new partners and markets.

The MoU is also a practical activity to connect Vietnamese and German firms in the context that relations between Vietnam and Germany have developed positively in the past four years.

In 2011, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to establish a strategic partnership and strengthen economic ties between the two countries via the "Hanoi Declaration,” Son said.

Germany is Vietnam’s strategic partner which supports the Southeast Asian country’s interests in the European Union, the official said, adding that it is also the largest trade partner of Vietnam in the grouping.

Bilateral trade in 2014 reached nearly US$8 billion, while the number hit $4 billion in the first six months of 2015. 

Though trade growth has averaged 15-20 percent annually in the past five years, it has yet to keep up with the potentialities of the two countries, the deputy minister added.

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