Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee received and worked with the German Ambassador and the Vietnam - Germany Friendship Parliamentarians Group
(Baonghean.vn) - Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung reiterated the long-standing tradition of cooperation between Nghe An and Germany and hoped that the Ambassador and the Vietnam - Germany Friendship Parliamentarians' Group would be a bridge to promote and strengthen cooperation in areas where Germany has strengths and Nghe An province has needs.
On the morning of March 6, Nghe An province hosted a reception and meeting with the delegation of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Vietnam and the Vietnam - Germany Friendship Parliamentarians' Group during their working trip to Nghe An province.
On the delegation side, there were Mr. Guido Hildner - Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany to Vietnam; Comrade Don Tuan Phong - Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee, Chairman of the Vietnam - Germany Friendship Parliamentarians' Group; and other members of the delegation.
On the side of Nghe An province, there were comrades: Nguyen Duc Trung - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Phan Duc Dong - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Secretary of the Vinh City Party Committee; Bui Dinh Long - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; leaders of departments, branches and sectors.
Opening the meeting, Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee and Chairman of the Vietnam - Germany Friendship Parliamentarians' Group Don Tuan Phong said that the German Embassy in Vietnam and the Vietnam - Germany Friendship Parliamentarians' Group wish to organize delegations to visit localities to learn about the economic - cultural - social situation, especially to identify opportunities to promote cooperation.
At the meeting, the German Embassy and Nghe An province are expected to discuss cooperation in a number of areas. In terms of investment, Nghe An has strengths to attract foreign investment in general and German investors in particular. The Federal Republic of Germany has strengths in a number of industries such as precision engineering, manufacturing, processing, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, etc.
In addition, the two sides can discuss cooperation in the following fields: Science and technology; education and training; culture, sports and tourism; labor; local work and people-to-people exchange.
Speaking at the meeting, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung expressed his pleasure at welcoming the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany to Vietnam, the Vietnam - Germany Friendship Parliamentarians' Group and the delegation to visit and work in Nghe An in the context of the strategic partnership between Vietnam and Germany developing positively.
Nghe An considers this an opportunity for the province to introduce its socio-economic situation and open up cooperation opportunities between Nghe An province and partners from Germany in a number of areas where both sides have strengths.
At the meeting, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung gave an overview of the province's natural conditions, population, cultural and historical traditions and economic scale.
In particular, one of the province's outstanding highlights in recent times is the result of attracting foreign investment capital. With a system of economic zones, industrial parks with synchronous investment, many preferential policies at the highest level of the Government, Nghe An has made great progress in attracting foreign investment.
In the past 2 years, Nghe An has been in the top 10 provinces and cities with the highest foreign investment attraction results. In 2022, it reached nearly 1 billion USD, in 2023 it reached nearly 1.6 billion USD, ranking 8th out of 63 provinces and cities. The total foreign capital the province has attracted so far is 4.2 billion USD with 135 projects. The attracted projects are mainly in the fields of processing and manufacturing, especially the production of electronic equipment and accessories, new energy technology, etc.
Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung said that Nghe An has a long tradition of cooperative relations with Germany. The former German Democratic Republic has supported Nghe An province in planning and constructing infrastructure works in Vinh city.
Emphasizing that the cooperation between Nghe An province and German partners is still modest and not commensurate with its potential, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung said that in 2023, import turnover from Germany will only reach over 1.8 million USD. Export turnover will only reach over 55 million USD; the main export items are corrugated iron, steel, textiles, and processed fruits.
Regarding FDI attraction, up to now, Nghe An province has not had any presence of investors from Germany. There are currently 2 ODA projects from Germany in the province, including: Project to invest in building wastewater and waste treatment systems for hospitals in Nghe An province and Project to strengthen the provincial health system.
Regarding labor cooperation, from 2015 to 2023, Vietnam has 916 workers majoring in nursing and care who have been trained and left to work as nurses in German hospitals, including 97 workers from Nghe An.
Based on the reality, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung hopes that, through the meeting, the Ambassador, the Vietnam - Germany Friendship Parliamentarians Group and members of the working delegation will be a bridge to promote and strengthen cooperation in areas where Germany has strengths and Nghe An province has needs.
Emphasizing 5 areas of cooperation, the head of the provincial People's Committee requested the Ambassador and the working delegation to help Nghe An province strengthen trade and investment promotion, introduce businesses and investors to survey, invest and cooperate with partners in Nghe An province, especially in areas where Germany has strengths.
In the field of education and training, Nghe An province is a land with a tradition of studiousness, so it hopes that German partners and sponsors will support the province in training and improving the quality of human resources to serve the development needs of the province in the coming period.
The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee also hopes that Germany will create conditions for Nghe An province to participate in the labor export program, especially the program to send Vietnamese nurses to Germany for training and work; at the same time, open more labor export in other fields.
Regarding development cooperation funding, Nghe An province hopes to continue receiving ODA aid from the German Government, especially in the fields of essential infrastructure, transportation, technical infrastructure systems, urban infrastructure, clean energy and some areas of processing development in agricultural production.
Regarding the establishment of local-level relations, Nghe An province requests the Ambassador, the Vietnam-Germany Friendship Parliamentarians' Group and the German Embassy to introduce and connect Nghe An province to establish friendly and cooperative relations with a German locality and enhance local-level people-to-people exchanges. It is expected that in the second quarter of 2024, Nghe An province will organize a working delegation to visit and work in Germany and hopes to receive assistance from the Ambassador and the Embassy.
Thanking the warm welcome and expressing his joy when visiting Nghe An province - the hometown of President Ho Chi Minh for the first time, Mr. Guido Hildner - Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany to Vietnam once again emphasized the long-standing tradition of cooperation between Vietnam and Germany.
The Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Vietnam said that Vietnam always plays an important role and has a lot of affection for the German people. Contributing to the cooperative relationship between the two countries is the role of the 200,000-strong Vietnamese community in Germany.
Recalling the visit of President of the Federal Republic of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier to Vietnam in January 2024, Mr. Guido Hildner said that the visit showed the strong connection and relationship, as well as the great potential for cooperation that can be exploited between the two countries.
The Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Vietnam believes that the cooperative relationship between Nghe An province and German partners will be enhanced in the coming time; at the same time, he affirmed that he will convey Nghe An province's invitation to German investors to come to Nghe An to cooperate and develop together in the fields such as: Trade - investment, agricultural product export, labor...
At the meeting, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung and the AmbassadorThe Plenipotentiary Extraordinary of the Federal Republic of Germany in Vietnam discussed cooperation opportunities in key areas: vocational training, energy and environmental protection...; the progress of ODA projects in the province and agreed to actively work with central agencies to soon complete procedures to implement projects in the coming time.
