Vietnam PM invites Siemens to build urban railway lines

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has asked Siemens AG to research and participate in bidding for urban railway line projects in Vietnam and transfer technology to the country in this area.

Such projects include the Metro Line 2 in Ho Chi Minh City, the Prime Minister told Roland Busch, president and CEO of Germany's Siemens AG, at a meeting in Hanoi on Monday, according to the government's news portal.

Chinh noted that Vietnam always attaches importance to deepening relations with Germany in all fields.

"After nearly 50 years of diplomatic ties and over 10 years of establishing a strategic partnership, Vietnam-Germany relations have constantly been cemented, nurtured and developed in all fields, especially in trade and investment.

"The German side highly values the partnership with Vietnam in these two areas, especially after the fruitful visit to Vietnam by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in January 2024," the Prime Minister said.

Chinh added that he highly appreciated Siemens's business results in the world and in Vietnam, especially projects in the fields of electricity-gas, mechanical engineering, energy infrastructure, industrial automation and railway development.

In line with the agreements reached between senior leaders, the Prime Minister proposed Siemens promote cooperation in high-tech fields, green transformation, renewable energy, especially wind turbine production, transportation like electric vehicle manufacturing and digital transformation; build a Siemens R&D center in Vietnam; facilitate a partnership with the National Innovation Center; and expand cooperation with Vietnamese technology companies.

Siemens has also been asked to enhance cooperation in human resource training, governance improvement, and development of modern institutions in the above-mentioned fields.

In response, Siemens AG president and CEO Roland Busch praised Vietnam for its great development potential given the country's population of 100 million people and its trained, young workforce.

Busch said he highly appreciates Vietnam's goals in green transformation, climate change response, developing high-tech industries, especially semiconductors, and building transport infrastructure systems, especially railways.

He said Siemens is actively cooperating with the Vietnamese side and wants to continue expanding cooperation and business in the fields the Prime Minister mentioned.

Busch emphasized that the German corporation is interested in the North-South high-speed railway project and can provide solutions for locomotives, carriages, railway signaling systems, and transfer of technology for manufacturing carriages.

Siemens AG, a leading technology corporation, focuses on the fields of industry, infrastructure, transportation and healthcare. With nearly 320,000 employees in more than 200 countries globally, Siemens achieved revenue of €77.8 billion ($84.39 billion) and net profit of €8.5 billion ($9.22 billion) in fiscal 2023.

The group has been present in Vietnam since 1979 with the supply and installation of two industrial steam turbines for Bai Bang Paper Mill. It established a representative office in 1993 and a limited liability company in 2002. The group inaugurated a busbar manufacturing factory in Binh Duong province in 2005.

Siemens cooperates with Vietnam in many fields, especially renewable energy and transportation. The corporation has participated in solar power projects estimated to contribute 1 billion kWh of electricity to the country each year.

It is a leading supplier of effective power transmission solutions, having provided equipment and solutions for protection and automation for hundreds of 110-220 kV transformer stations and dozens of 550 kV stations in Vietnam. The corporation has also promoted automation and digitalization in Vietnam such as helping Saigon New Port maximize productivity and reduce ship clearance time.

Regarding transportation cooperation, Siemens was involved in a project to upgrade and modernize the signal system at Vinh railway station; a project to design and supply 16 diesel locomotives for Vietnam Railway Corporation; a Noi Bai Airport lighting system project; a project to provide automatic cargo handling systems for Tan Son Nhat Airport; and the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway project.

In the energy sector, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Siemens have signed an MoU on infrastructure development in the fields of gas-electricity and renewable energy.