Webinar participants at the Vietnamese Embassy in Berlin, Germany (Photo: Manh Hung/VNA)

Ambassador Nguyen Minh Vu said the Vietnam-Germany strategic partnership has been strengthened in all fields since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1975. He said that in 2020, when the COVID-19 broke out across the world, many programmes and activities had to be cancelled, but the bilateral partnership was bolstered when the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement took effect. The two countries have coordinated closely at international forums. Vietnam assumed the Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2020 and Germany will chair the European Union in the second half of the year, he added.

Petra Sigmund, Director General for East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Pacific at the German Federal Foreign Office, praised Vietnam’s achievements in coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. She said she has been impressed with Vietnam’s outstanding economic growth and its progress in national modernization. Ms. Sigmund said she believes Vietnam and Germany will achieve more success in many cooperative fields.