Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc begins visit to Germany

On the morning of July 5, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his wife, along with a high-ranking delegation, arrived in Frankfurt, beginning a visit to Germany and attending the G20 Summit.

Mr. Boris Rhein - Minister of Science and Arts of Hessen state presented flowers to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his wife at Frankfurt International Airport on the morning of July 5 local time. Photo: Quynh Trung

Welcoming the Prime Minister at the airport were Mr. Boris Rhein - Minister of Science and Arts of Hessen state, Vietnamese Ambassador to Germany Doan Xuan Hung, Vietnamese Consul General in Frankfurt Nguyen Hong Linh, and embassy staff.

In Germany, from July 5 to 6, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is expected to hold talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel, meet with leaders of the National Assembly and several ministries, branches, and large German enterprises, and deliver the opening speech at the Vietnam-Germany Business Forum...

The Prime Minister then attended the G20 Summit in Hamburg from July 7 to 8 with the theme "Shaping a Connected World" with three main agendas: Building a resilient foundation; Enhancing sustainability; and Enhancing responsibility.

Vietnam was invited to attend the G20 this year as the host of APEC 2017. Accordingly, Vietnam will attend all discussion sessions and contribute opinions to the draft Joint Statement of the Conference.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his wife were welcomed by the host country's honor guard upon landing at Frankfurt International Airport on the morning of July 5 local time. Photo: Quynh Trung

Vietnam and Germany established diplomatic relations on September 23, 1975. During Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to Vietnam in October 2011, the two countries' Prime Ministers signed the Hanoi Joint Statement on establishing a strategic partnership.

According to the General Department of Customs, in terms of trade, Germany is Vietnam's largest trading partner in Europe (accounting for nearly 20% of Vietnam's exports to Europe). Two-way trade turnover in 2016 reached 8.77 billion USD, of which Vietnam had a trade surplus of 5.95 billion USD and imported 2.82 billion USD.

In the first five months of 2017, bilateral trade turnover reached 3.8 billion USD, of which Vietnam continued to have a trade surplus of 2.62 billion USD.

Regarding investment, as of April 20, 2017, Germany had 285 valid projects with a total investment capital of 1.41 billion USD, ranking 5th in the EU, and 20th out of 116 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.

According to Tuoi Tre