Since 2011, Germany and Viet Nam have had a “strategic partnership” involving cooperation projects at all levels and in numerous policy fields and relations are shaped by various forms of intersocietal contact. Germany and Viet Nam regard themselves as partners in endeavours to uphold the rules-based order, respect for international law, multilateralism, global free trade and investment, as well as environmental and climate protection.

Germany is Viet Nam’s most important trading partner in the EU. Viet Nam is also Germany’s number one trading partner within ASEAN. More than 350 German companies are currently represented in Viet Nam. German investment has created around 50,000 jobs in Viet Nam.

The free trade agreement between Viet Nam and the European Union, which entered into force on 1 August 2020, gave a further boost to economic relations between Germany and Viet Nam. The investment protection agreement that was signed at the same time, in mid-2019, still has to be ratified by the individual EU member states.

Development cooperation focusing on implementing the 2030 Agenda, the G7 Just Energy Transition Partnership and the Paris Agreement is another important element in relations between Germany and Viet Nam. The 2030 reform strategy of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development defines Viet Nam as a global partner country with a focus on key issues based on the country’s Green Growth strategy (sustainable growth, vocational education and training, energy and forest conservation).

Bilateral cultural relations are developing well. Many cultural, academic and scientific institutions (including the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Goethe-Institut, the Vietnamese-German University, the Central Agency for Schools Abroad (ZfA) and the International German School) are active in Viet Nam. The more than 100,000 Vietnamese who have worked or studied in Germany form a unique bridge between the two countries, sustaining and increasing mutual interest.

Since 1998, Germany and Viet Nam have also maintained institutionalised relations in the sphere of security and defence. In November 2022, the two countries’ defence ministries signed a declaration of intent on the further enhancement of bilateral relations in this field.