HA NOI — Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh said German President Horst Koehler’s visit to Viet Nam and the smooth implementation of high-level agreements between the two countries marked a new milestone in the friendly and co-operative ties between Viet Nam and Germany.
Receiving Koehler in Ha Noi yesterday, Manh stressed the importance that the Vietnamese Party, State and people have attached to relations with Germany.
"Viet Nam will do its utmost to promote friendly co-operation between the two countries," said Manh.
Koehler affirmed that multifaceted co-operation with Viet Nam, especially in trade, culture and education, were among the priorities in Germany’s foreign policy.
Equal partners
"Drastic economic reforms have turned Viet Nam from merely a receiver of aid from developed countries to a full economic partner with which Germany is eager to do business," said Willibold Frehner, German country representative in Viet Nam and a member of Koehler’s delegation.
Frehner made the comment to a dialogue in Ha Noi yesterday entitled, Education, Economy and Law – Initiatives for the Viet Nam-Germany Partnership.
"Viet Nam has carried out far-reaching economic reforms, and there is no need for our help in that area," Frehner told a Vietnam News Agency reporter on the sidelines of the dialogue.
In addressing the dialogue, Frehner said that grassroots communities and urban areas should be empowered with greater authority and the judiciary should be given greater scope to resolve economic and financial disputes that arise in the burgeoning Vietnamese economy.
German State Secretary Dieter Ernst, who is also CEO of Berlinwasser International, a water supply and wastewater treatment company based in Berlin, attended the dialogue to learn more about Viet Nam’s economic reforms.
"We are very impressed with Viet Nam’s commitments to opening up its markets as well as Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s determination to develop infrastructure," Ernst said.
According to former Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan, special envoy of the Vietnamese Prime Minister for foreign affairs, President Koehler pledged to aid German small- and medium-sized enterprises in gaining a foothold in the Viet Nam market.
Germany is now Viet Nam’s largest EU trading partner. Two-way trade between the two countries reached $2.3 billion in 2006, with Vietnamese exports to Germany topping $1.4 billion.
Germany ranks 5th among EU investors in Viet Nam, having 85 projects with a combined investment of nearly $380 million. It is also the third largest provider of official development assistance to Viet Nam, after Japan and France, granting Viet Nam 640 million euros ($867.2 million) so far since the establishment of diplomatic relations.
Women’s Union projects
German first lady Eva Luise Koehler meanwhile toured the headquarters of the Viet Nam Women’s Union in Ha Noi yesterday.
Women’s Union president Ha Thi Khiet briefed Mrs Koehler on the history of the union and its focus on raising the living standards of women throughout the country, as well as current joint initiatives between the union and German donor groups.
The German Savings Bank Foundation for International Co-operation, for instance, has provided 220,000 euros ($298,100) to the Viet Nam Women’s Union to expand a social welfare fund called the TYM during 2005-08.
The Marie Schlei – MSA organisation was helping the Women’s Union conduct six projects on vocational training and microcredit targeting poor women in the northern provinces of Quang Ninh, Son La, Lai Chau, Hai Phong, Hung Yen and Ha Tay, with funding of $110,000.
Leftist parties link up
Nguyen Van Son, head of the Communist Party of Viet Nam’s Commission for External Relations also met yesterday in Ha Noi with Dietmar Bartsch, national secretary of the German Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), who is accompanying the German President on his state visit to Viet Nam.
The PDS and the CPV were making solid contributions to building ties between the two countries, according to Son.
Bartsch said he would convey greetings from the CPV leadership to PDS leaders in Germany. — VNS
Receiving Koehler in Ha Noi yesterday, Manh stressed the importance that the Vietnamese Party, State and people have attached to relations with Germany.
"Viet Nam will do its utmost to promote friendly co-operation between the two countries," said Manh.
Koehler affirmed that multifaceted co-operation with Viet Nam, especially in trade, culture and education, were among the priorities in Germany’s foreign policy.
Equal partners
"Drastic economic reforms have turned Viet Nam from merely a receiver of aid from developed countries to a full economic partner with which Germany is eager to do business," said Willibold Frehner, German country representative in Viet Nam and a member of Koehler’s delegation.
Frehner made the comment to a dialogue in Ha Noi yesterday entitled, Education, Economy and Law – Initiatives for the Viet Nam-Germany Partnership.
"Viet Nam has carried out far-reaching economic reforms, and there is no need for our help in that area," Frehner told a Vietnam News Agency reporter on the sidelines of the dialogue.
In addressing the dialogue, Frehner said that grassroots communities and urban areas should be empowered with greater authority and the judiciary should be given greater scope to resolve economic and financial disputes that arise in the burgeoning Vietnamese economy.
German State Secretary Dieter Ernst, who is also CEO of Berlinwasser International, a water supply and wastewater treatment company based in Berlin, attended the dialogue to learn more about Viet Nam’s economic reforms.
"We are very impressed with Viet Nam’s commitments to opening up its markets as well as Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s determination to develop infrastructure," Ernst said.
According to former Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan, special envoy of the Vietnamese Prime Minister for foreign affairs, President Koehler pledged to aid German small- and medium-sized enterprises in gaining a foothold in the Viet Nam market.
Germany is now Viet Nam’s largest EU trading partner. Two-way trade between the two countries reached $2.3 billion in 2006, with Vietnamese exports to Germany topping $1.4 billion.
Germany ranks 5th among EU investors in Viet Nam, having 85 projects with a combined investment of nearly $380 million. It is also the third largest provider of official development assistance to Viet Nam, after Japan and France, granting Viet Nam 640 million euros ($867.2 million) so far since the establishment of diplomatic relations.
Women’s Union projects
German first lady Eva Luise Koehler meanwhile toured the headquarters of the Viet Nam Women’s Union in Ha Noi yesterday.
Women’s Union president Ha Thi Khiet briefed Mrs Koehler on the history of the union and its focus on raising the living standards of women throughout the country, as well as current joint initiatives between the union and German donor groups.
The German Savings Bank Foundation for International Co-operation, for instance, has provided 220,000 euros ($298,100) to the Viet Nam Women’s Union to expand a social welfare fund called the TYM during 2005-08.
The Marie Schlei – MSA organisation was helping the Women’s Union conduct six projects on vocational training and microcredit targeting poor women in the northern provinces of Quang Ninh, Son La, Lai Chau, Hai Phong, Hung Yen and Ha Tay, with funding of $110,000.
Leftist parties link up
Nguyen Van Son, head of the Communist Party of Viet Nam’s Commission for External Relations also met yesterday in Ha Noi with Dietmar Bartsch, national secretary of the German Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), who is accompanying the German President on his state visit to Viet Nam.
The PDS and the CPV were making solid contributions to building ties between the two countries, according to Son.
Bartsch said he would convey greetings from the CPV leadership to PDS leaders in Germany. — VNS
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