Germany and Vietnam share a common view on a rules-based international order, peaceful settlement of disputes, and freedom of the seas, the German Embassy said in a press release on Wednesday.

The remarks were made on the occasion of Germany’s 30th anniversary of its reunification, which will be celebrated on October 3 to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall.  

The year 2020 marks the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Germany and Vietnam, the embassy said.

Over these years, the cooperation between the two countries has developed continuously.

The continuation of their strategic partnership agreed in 2011 with a two-year action plan for 2020-21 provides a basis for future-oriented cooperation.

The development of the strategic partnership was also a topic of discussion in the telephone conversation between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on September 13. 

Strengthening and developing international cooperation, its structures, institutions, and mechanisms are high priorities for both Germany and Vietnam.

Both countries are committed to a rules-based international order, multilateralism, respect for international law, peaceful settlement of disputes, and freedom of the seas and trade.

They have assumed special responsibilities in 2020. They are members of the United Nations Security Council, Vietnam holds the ASEAN Presidency, and Germany has taken over the EU Council Presidency for the second half of this year.

Both nations cooperate in numerous fields. Climate change is a common challenge. Environmental protection and energy supply through increased expansion of renewables and heightened energy efficiency are priority areas of German development policy commitments in Vietnam.

Education and science are further areas of cooperation.

Germany supports the reform of the vocational training system in Vietnam.

Some 7,500 Vietnamese students are currently studying in Germany.

A total of 163 German-Vietnamese university cooperation projects ensure a mutual exchange of knowledge and technology.

Around 2,000 Vietnamese students are learning German at eight PASCH Schools in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City, which are supervised by Germany’s Central Office for Schools Abroad.

The German Academic Exchange Service, with its offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, supports and promotes this cooperation with scholarships and exchange programs.

The Goethe Institutes in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City encourage lively and modern intercultural dialogue through innovative programs and events. The Vietnamese-German University is a pioneering beacon project of both countries for the future shaping and deepening of scientific and technological cooperation.

On September 23, marking 45 years of diplomatic relations between Germany and Vietnam, a trilateral intergovernmental agreement concerning the development and expansion of the Vietnamese-German University was signed. It sets the framework for the legal, organizational, and financial security of the university.

The German law on immigration of skilled workers, which came into force in March, opens up new, attractive job opportunities for Vietnam’s skilled workers in Germany.

Economic relations play an important role in bilateral cooperation and are continuously intensifying.

Germany is Vietnam's most important trading partner in the EU. In 2019, Vietnamese exports to Germany totaled US$10.9 billion while German shipments to Vietnam amounted to $4.8 billion.

Vietnam's exports to Germany increased 1.6 percent year on year in the first half of 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

German investors poured more than $2.1 billion into Vietnam last year, with a high share of state-of-the-art technology. This represents an increase of 5.8 percent compared to 2018.

A total of 380 German companies have branches in Vietnam.

The new "German House" in Ho Chi Minh City is an impressive manifestation of the German presence in the Southeast Asian country.

The free trade agreement between the EU and Vietnam, which came into force on August 1, will reinforce these developments.

2020 will be remembered in the two countries’ bilateral relations as the year of the COVID-19 pandemic with its dramatic consequences.

Vietnam has supported other countries, including Germany, by supplying face masks, thus sending an encouraging signal of international solidarity in the midst of the global health crisis.

The COVID-19 pandemic and its effects strongly underline the importance of international cooperation. The pandemic can be defeated only together.

A wonderful bridge between the two peoples is being built by the people who live in the other country: the community of Germans in Vietnam and the much larger community of Vietnamese in Germany, both of which continue to grow.

Through personal contacts and initiatives as well as the existing school and city partnerships, they maintain and promote the extremely important personal encounters.

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