Germany President to visit Vietnam next week, meet with top 3 leaders

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife will pay a state visit to Vietnam on January 23-24 at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Vo Van Thuong.

With his trip, the president is underlining Germany's goal of expanding and diversifying political and economic relations with Vietnam, the German embassy said in a release, adding a business delegation will accompany the president.

During his stay in Hanoi, Steinmeier will hold talks with President Vo Van Thuong and pay courtesy visits to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinnh and Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue, the German embassy said in a release.

He is not scheduled to meet Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, who was not included in official schedules of meetings held with Vietnam's leaders by visiting Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Laos' Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone earlier this month.

According to the embassy’s announcement, President Steinmeier will also visit the Temple of Literature and meet with trainees, teachers and skilled worker recruiters to learn more about the exchange of skilled workers between Vietnam and Germany.

On the second day of his Vietnam visit, the president will fly to Ho Chi Minh City to attend talks between the German business delegation and local business representatives. Topics will include the prospects for economic and trade relations between the two countries.

President Steinmeier will later visit Vietnamese German University in the neighboring province of Binh Duong, where he will give a speech to students and teaching staff.

This is the third Vietnam visit by Steinmeier, after the first in March 2008 as Federal Foreign Minister, and the second in October 2016 as Vice Chancellor and Federal Foreign Minister.

Vietnam and Germany established diplomatic relations on September 23, 1975, and elevated their relationship to a strategic partnership during the visit to Vietnam in October 2011 by the then-Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Bilateral trade has moved in a range of $10-12 billion since 2018, with $11.1 billion in 2023, according to Vietnam’s customs data.

More than 350 German companies are operating in Vietnam, including Siemens, B.Braun, Messer, Bosch, Mercedes-Benz, Bilfinger, Deutsche Bank, and Allianz.

German firms committed to investing $366 million in Vietnam in 2023, more than tripling a year earlier, raising Germany’s cumulative direct investment in the country to $2.68 billion as of end-2023, ranking 17th among the 144 countries and territories that invest in Vietnam.

Germany has provided more than $2 billion in official development assistance (ODA) to Vietnam since 1990.

There are nearly 200,000 Vietnamese nationals living in Germany.