Vietnam is an attractive market for German investors as more than 500 businesses from the European country are seeking Vietnamese garment and footwear suppliers.

On November 20, Germany’s TUV SUD Group and the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Business Associations (HUBA) signed a memorandum of understanding on further collaboration in many fields including electronics, medical equipment and food industry.

TUV SUD, which specialises in quality testing, evaluation and certification, has supported Vietnam ’s garment sector in ensuring its high-quality production and connecting local firms with those in the EU and the US in recent time.

Germany is also implementing the “German House” project in Ho Chi Minh City and a series of trade and investment promotion activities are scheduled for next year when the two countries celebrate the 40 th anniversary of their diplomatic ties.

Also on November 20, Germany’s NurnbergMesse in collaboration with the German Industry and Commerce in Vietnam (GIC) and the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (VTP) organised a press conference introducing the two countries’ potential and trade promotion via global trade fairs.

Statistics from GIC show that, two-way trade between Vietnam and Germany reached 7.7 billion USD in 2013, up 18 percent compare to the previous year. More than 300 German businesses have been licensed to operate in Vietnam so far.

According to VTP, Vietnam ’s exports to Germany earned 4.7 billion USD in 2013 and 3.3 billion USD in the first eight months of this year. The country’s staples in the German market are garments, footwear, coffee and seafood.-VNA