Germany welcomes young Vietnamese people to the country for study and work to foster training cooperation, part of the strategic partnership with Vietnam, Minister-President of the German state of Lower Saxony Stephan Weil said in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday.

The Lower Saxony leader was speaking at his meeting with deputy chairman of the municipal administration Vo Van Hoan when he visited the city on Friday, part of his six-day working trip to Vietnam starting on October 1.    

Weil emphasized that Germany is facing a labor shortage, especially in mechanical engineering and natural sciences.

As young workers significantly contribute to Germany’s economic development, one of the goals of this visit to Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City in particular was to find young Vietnamese people who like to go to the European country for study and work, the German guest said.

This cooperative initiative by Germany has been highly appreciated by the Vietnamese government, he added.

To realize this cooperation, Vietnamese schools can send students to Germany for training, and these trainees will become skilled workers for Vietnam when they return home, Weil said.

Such human resources will effectively contribute to Vietnam’s socio-economic development and at the same time serve as a bridge of friendship to deepen the strategic partnership between the two countries, the official stated.

Weil told his host that the state of Lower Saxony could organize appropriate vocational training programs by German standards in Vietnam to help the young meet the qualification requirements of German enterprises.

On Friday afternoon, the Lower Saxony leader visited Cao Thang Technical College, in the city’s downtown District 1, where he was showed around the school’s workshops and talked with students.

The Germany official was surprised to know that the school has a total of about 12,000 students divided into 500 classes that operate smoothly in three shifts.

Weil affirmed that no vocational school in Germany has been able to do the same so far.

He expressed his hope that he would have more opportunities to learn further about vocational training in Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam in general.

Before his visit to the city, the Lower Saxony leader had meetings with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and other senior Vietnamese officials, focusing on deepening the ties between the two nations, which were lifted up to a strategic partnership in 2011.

Germany is currently Vietnam’s largest trading partner in the EU with two-way trade amounting to more than US$19 billion last year, according to German data.

Currently, some 500 German companies are running their representative offices in Vietnam and over 100,000 Vietnamese people are living, working, and studying in Germany, the data shows.

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