Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs To Anh Dung (upper, right) and State Secretary of Germany’s Federal Foreign Office Miguel Berger (upper, left) chair the teleconferenced meeting on April 16 (Source: VNA)– Vietnamese Deputy Minister of
Foreign Affairs To Anh Dung and State Secretary of Germany’s Federal Foreign
Office Miguel Berger co-chaired the sixth meeting of the two countries’
strategic management group held in the form of videoconference on April 16.
Deputy Minister Dung informed about Vietnam’s diplomatic
orientations and policy after the 13th National Party Congress and
highly valued Germany’s important role and stature in Europe and the world as a
whole.
He affirmed that Vietnam wishes to further intensify and
develop the strategic partnership with Germany, which was established in 2011.
Congratulating Vietnam on the success of the 13th National Party Congress, Berger lauded the country’s efforts in the COVID-19
prevention and control, noting that Germany attaches importance to Vietnam’s
role in the implementation of its policy guidelines for the Indo-Pacific
region, adopted by the German Government in September 2020.
The two officials shared the view that despite impacts of
the COVID-19 pandemic, the Vietnam-Germany strategic partnership has been
growing strongly and effectively in various areas such as politics, economy,
development cooperation, education - training, science - technology, and
security - defence.
The cooperation contents under the countries’ strategic
action plan for 2019 - 2022 are being carried out on schedule, including the
establishment of a joint committee for economic cooperation, activities within
the framework of the dialogue on law-governed states, security - defence cooperation,
and the Vietnamese - German University.
They noted that in 2020, when both countries were
non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, Vietnam was Chair
of ASEAN, and Germany was President of the European Union (EU) in the last half
of the year, they coordinated closely to help upgrade the ASEAN - EU ties to a
strategic partnership and promote security, peace, climate, and COVID-19 issues, thus helping to deal with global concerns.
To further strengthen the Vietnam - Germany strategic
partnership, the two sides agreed to jointly build a strategic action plan for
the next period, increase contact and mutual visits at all levels, and step up
collaboration in priority fields like politics, diplomacy, security - defence,
trade, investment, development cooperation, renewable energy, digitalisation,
and vocational training.
They agreed to boost efforts to connect and assist the
countries’ businesses to seek investment and business opportunities in each
other’s markets and fully tap into chances generated by the EU - Vietnam Free
Trade Agreement (EVFTA) to drive post-pandemic economic recovery.
Germany pledged support for Vietnam to enhance comprehensive
cooperation with the EU, while pushing the ratification of the EU - Vietnam Investment
Protection Agreement (EVIPA) by the German parliament.
Meanwhile, Vietnam welcomed Germany’s initiatives to
contribute to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the
Asia-Pacific region and also showed support for the EU nation to strengthen relations
with ASEAN.
The two sides agreed to keep close cooperation and mutual
support at international organisations and forums, especially the UN, the Asia-Europe
Meeting (ASEM), and the ASEAN-EU cooperation.
At the meeting, the officials also discussed international and
regional issues of common interest.
Both voiced their concern over the recent complex
developments in the East Sea, reiterating the support for the settlement of all
disputes by peaceful means and on the basis of international law, especially
the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
State Secretary Berger added that his country backs ASEAN’s efforts to bring into play the bloc’s centrality and contribute to
regional peace, stability, and prosperity./.