A ceremony to mark the 23 rd Unification Day of Germany took place in Ho Chi Minh City on October 2, hearing hopes for cooperation between the two sides to be intensified in economy, culture and education.

Tran Thanh Long, Chairman of the Vietnam-Germany Friendship Association’s HCM City chapter and Hans Dieter Stell, German Consul General in HCM City, shared their joys at progress made in multifaceted cooperation between HCM City and German localities over the past time.

German has provided Vietnam with official development assistance (ODA) in the prioritised fields of climate change response, environmental protection, vocational training and health care.

Germany’s 50 projects worth over 160 million USD currently operating in HCM City - Vietnam’s largest economic hub, including the Metro No. 2 and the German House ones, vividly demonstrate the two countries’ growing friendship.

Hans Dieter Stell said quickening the on-going construction of the German house in the city will mean to pushing up exchanges between the two peoples.

Two-way trade between Vietnam and Germany, which is Vietnam’s biggest European Union trade partner, grossed nearly 6 billion USD in 2012.-VNA