The President of the German Federal Council, Harald Ringstorff, is paying an official visit to Vietnam from September 3-8 at the invitation of NA Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong.

This is the third visit to Vietnam by Mr Ringstorff in his capacity as the President of the German Federal Council. He is being accompanied by leaders of the German Federal Council and 35 German entrepreneurs involved in different fields.

At talks with the German guest, Mr Trong hoped that the visit would help further strengthen the fine relations between the two countries and open up new cooperative prospects in all fields.

Vietnam is in the transitional period for further development towards the goal of basically becoming an industrialised nation by 2020. To reach that goal, Vietnam is in urgent need of assistance and investment from international friends, including Germany. Being a developed country, which has an important voice in the European Union (EU) and a high level of development, Germany can assist and cooperate with Vietnam in many fields, said Mr Trong.

The Vietnamese NA leader went on to say that many Vietnamese researchers and scientists who used to study and work in Germany are holding key positions in important agencies.

For his part, Mr Ringstorff praised the great achievements Vietnam has recorded during the Doi Moi (Renewal) process while affirming that his country always considers Vietnam an important partner in bilateral cooperation for mutual benefit, especially in the economic field.

With the available cooperative tradition, both countries should tap each others’ potential such as investment by German enterprises in Vietnam. The long-standing cultural history is an important basis for Vietnam to develop tourism, which German businesses are very interested in, Mr Ringstorff said.

Guest and host agreed to boost bilateral cooperation in tourism, services, science and technology, education and training, infrastructure development and trade. They also outlined results of the talks and a number of issues of media concern.

Mr Trong said, “The talks took place in a frank and friendly atmosphere and achieved great success. All agreements reached at the talks will contribute to consolidating friendship and cooperation in all fields, particularly cooperation between the Vietnamese NA and the German Federal Council.”

Mr Ringstorff expressed his delight at the results of the talks and briefed reporters about some issues of mutual concern. Regarding bilateral cooperation in designing legislation, Mr Ringstorff said, “Both countries discussed and agreed to boost cooperation in legislature by conducting parliamentary dialogues and exchanging visits between parliamentary delegations to share experiences from each other. A stable legal system is an important condition for foreign investors to do business in Vietnam as well as in Germany. I believe that the targets for socio-economic development set by the Vietnamese NA will be achieved and we will contribute to Vietnam’s success through our cooperation.”

On this occasion, Mr Ringstorff paid a courtesy visit to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and informed Mr Dung of the results of talks between him and NA Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong, describing this as a necessary foundation for both countries to promote future cooperation.

Mr Dung expressed his appreciation at the results of the talks and affirmed that the State and Government of Vietnam would create the best conditions possible for foreign enterprises including those from Germany to do business in Vietnam.

In the evening, Mr Trong gave a banquet in honour of the Council President and his entourage. During his stay in Vietnam, Mr Ringstorff is scheduled to visit a number of localities and German-invested projects in Vietnam.