Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh hopes German businesses will re-direct their capital into Vietnam amid the disruption of the supply chain and the slowdown of economies in Asia, he said on November 13.

Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (left) and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz chair the roundtable meeting for Vietnamese and German businesses on November 13. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam would be a good destination for German companies due to the advantages of political stability, a competitive cost structure, a favorable business environment, and the availability of human power, the Vietnamese prime minister said at the roundtable meeting with Vietnamese and German businesses.

He believes trade and investment activities will play a pivotal role in taking the strategic partnership between Vietnam and Germany to new heights, PM Chinh said.

"The Vietnamese Government is committed to accompanying and facilitating German enterprises to operate properly in the country on the principles of risk and interest sharing," he said.

“Your successes mean our successes,” PM Chinh added.

Prime Minister Chinh also called on German businesses to push for ratifying the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).

The ratification of EVIPA will establish a stable framework that boosts Vietnam-German cooperation activities in economic relations, trade, and investment and ensures the implementation of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) with Germany as the primary partner, PM Chinh said.

He also called for the German government and enterprises to support Vietnam in research, development, training, and transfer of modern technologies, develop training courses to improve the quality of Vietnamese human resources and help Vietnamese enterprises in digital transformation.

“As one of Germany’s key partners in its development and cooperation strategy until 2030, Vietnam hopes for better support from Germany to fully develop the policy framework to approach green financial resources,” he said.

“That will help Vietnam develop a green economy, foster our green, sustainable growth, strengthen our actions to respond to climate change, and fulfill our commitment to the consensus reached at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26).”

After 50 years of diplomatic relationship, Vietnam and Germany have developed a strategic partnership focusing on politics, economics, social development, healthcare, and education, PM Chinh said.

“The two nations have made encouraging results in our economic ties, but such results are still far from the full potential. The two-side relationship still has a large room for improvement,” the prime minister said.

For his part, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Vietnam had been one of the top destinations for German and European companies.

Vietnam has a key location for the transportation network and supply chain in Asia, and its economy has been strongly self-reliant and resilient to the pandemic, he said.

The global economy would only succeed if every nation explores and takes advantage of all resources, Olaf said, adding Vietnam is a typical example as the country has abundant resources and skilled labor.

The German Chancellor expressed his satisfaction with the implementation of the EVFTA, which is an excellent boost for the two countries to recover and strengthen their economic relationship.

Olaf said that many German companies have come to Vietnam with him this time, looking for potential infrastructure and energy development opportunities.

He hoped that Vietnamese and German businesses would soon find the chance to work with each other, share experiences and practices, and study the potential of each side.