Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (Source: VNA) Addressing the Vietnam-Germany BusinessForum in Berlin on July 6 with nearly 600 German firms and more than 100Vietnamese partners taking part, the PM said the two countries established a comprehensivestrategic partnership in 2011. Germany is Vietnam’s top trade partner in theEU, with two-way trade hitting 9 billion USD in 2016, or 20 percent ofVietnam-EU trade.
Major German businesses such as Siemens,Mercedes and Deutsche Bank have poured 1.8 billion USD in Vietnam. TheVietnam-Germany University (VGU) in the southern province of Binh Duong andseveral schools opened by German firms in Ho Chi Minh City help Vietnam improveworkforce quality and deal with issues regarding energy, transport, environmentresources, urban planning and sustainable development.
Since the Goethe Institute opened in Hanoiin 1997, bilateral cultural exchanges have been strengthened. More than 100,000Vietnamese have graduated from German universities, he said.
Informing German investors about Vietnam’s economy,Phuc said Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP) has grown more than 6 percent for30 consecutive years, rising 6.21 percent to 220 billion USD last year. Withincreasing consumption and average income per capita of nearly 2,300 USD,Vietnam’s trade value of roughly 400 billion USD is about 1.6 times higher thanGDP.
Vietnam is home to 23,160 foreign-investedprojects from 120 countries and territories worth more than 320 billion USD,many of them from German corporations.
Vietnam’s business climate has improved, up nineplaces from 91st to 82nd among 190 countries worldwide inthe World Bank’s Doing Business rankings 2016-2017.
According to the World Economic Forum, Vietnamranked 60th out of 138 countries in competitiveness. The nation hasalso signed 12 free trade agreements, as part of global integrationcommitments.
It has also cleared barriers in manysectors, including services, telecommunications and finance-banking, by raisingforeign ownership caps or selling State-owned enterprises’ strategic stakes.
Vietnam is working to waive licenses to opensecurities accounts for foreign investors and clear capital control measureswhich are contrary to international practices.
The domestic banking system is beingrestructured to meet modern banking standards in line with internationalpractices.
Mergers and acquisitions have also been sped up in infrastructure, transport,airport, highway, seaport, electricity, telecommunications, food, agricultureand services.
The country also boasts many leading Asian trademarkssuch as Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Petrolimex, Vinamilk, Masan, THTruemilk, Trung Nguyen coffee, Mobiphone and Vietcombank, among others.
The PM noted that Germany’s technology andgovernance experience will help Vietnam during the industrial revolution 4.0.
Vietnam wished that the European countrywould encourage German investment in the support industry, as well asjoint-ventures in renewable energy such as solar and wind energy.
German firms hoped that the Vietnamesegovernment would continue fine-tuning laws and improving the business climate.
The German House project in Ho Chi Minh Cityand VGU are also expected to create a strong driving force for bilateraleconomic-trade ties.
In her speech, Federal Minister for EconomicAffairs and Energy Brigitte Zypries hailed Vietnam for its vibrant growth andlarge, young workforce. She affirmed that Germany will be always a trustworthypartner of Vietnam.
Both sides also vowed to lift two-way tradeto 20 billion USD from 14 billion USD at present.
Twenty-eight cooperation documents worthover 1.5 billion EUR were signed during the event.
Following the event, the leader metexecutives of several German corporations and banks and expressed hope thatthey will soon launch operations in Vietnam.
In the evening the same day, PM Phuc leftBerlin for Hamburg city, starting activities within the framework of the G20Summit.-VNA
VNA
