Berlin (VNA) – Vietnamese Ambassador to Germany Nguyen Minh Vu has briefed German businesses on Vietnam’s economic development and potential for companies in Baden-Württemberg State’s Karlsruhe city to invest in Vietnam. 

Speaking at a ceremony to honour winners of the “Globe 2021” for German technology firms in Karlsruhe on November 16, the Vietnamese diplomat stressed that over the past decade, Vietnam has continuously achieved an impressive annual GDP growth rate of between 6 – 7 percent.

Vietnam is an open economy with 14 free trade agreements (FTAs), he said.

Germany has been one of the most important partners of Vietnam in the European Union (EU). The two-way trade between the two countries doubled in the past 10 years to hit 3.2 billion EUR (14.95 billion USD) in 2020, making Vietnam the largest trading partner of Germany among ASEAN countries and the sixth in Asia. 

Germany’s investment in Vietnam increased 1.7 times over the past decade. Germany is one of the three biggest EU investors in Vietnam, with 378 FDI projects worth over 2.2 billion USD. About 400 German companies are currently doing business in Vietnam.

Ambassador Vu said there will be great opportunities for the German firms in general and those from Karlsruhe in particular to invest in Vietnam or partner with Vietnamese companies in the future. 

Earlier, the Vietnamese diplomat had a meeting with Mayor of Karlsruhe, Dr. Frank Mentrup, during which, they discussed cooperation plans between Vietnam and Germany, and Karlsruhe in particular. 

Ambassador Vu said Vietnam currently has a great demand for innovation in science and technology in order to create a strong motivation for the country’s industrialisation and modernisation process.

Therefore, this is also a potential field for cooperation and is a priority of Vietnam, he said, expressing his hope that Mayor Mentrup will continue to support and promote cooperation between the two sides./.