President Vo Van Thuong (2nd from right), German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (3rd from right) and their spouses at the banquet. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – President Vo Van Thuong and his spousehosted a banquet in honour of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and hisspouse at the Hanoi Opera House on January 23 evening.
Speaking at the event, President Thuong said the visit to Vietnam bythe German President in the first month of 2024 and ahead of the traditional LunarNew Year (Tet) celebration fosters a sense of warmfriendship and positive expectations for the future of bilateral relations.
The bilateral friendly cooperation, which dated back to the1950s, has been continuously strengthened, consolidated and developed bymany generations of leaders and people from both countries, he said, addingthat since the establishment of bilateral strategic partnership in 2011, the twocountries have seen steady progress in bilateral ties with significantmilestones in various areas.
The President expressed his delight at the presence of outstandingindividuals from the Vietnamese community in Germany accompanying thePresident. He believed that the nearly 200,000-strong Vietnamese communityliving in Germany, along with tens of thousands who have studied and workedthere, many of whom are proficient in the German language, constitute anessential force to further enhance people-to-people exchanges, friendship andmutual understanding between the two countries.
In the upcoming journey, Vi🌸etnam hopes to further strengtheneffective cooperation with Germany in traditional areas and expandcollaboration in potential sectors such as energy transition, green growth,circular economy, labour cooperation, among others. The goal is to collectivelyaddress common challenges in the region and the world, in alignment with thespirit of their strategic pa𒐪rtnership, he said.
For his part, the German president said that this is his third visit to Vietnam, with the previous times in 2008 and 2016, and that compared to eight years ago, Vietnam is in constant motion with a growing middle class and thriving economy. He said he believes that with the current pace of development, in the next eight years, there will be self-driving electric cars controlled by artificial intelligence in Vietnam.
The leader held that the thing that connects Vietnamese and German peoples is the shared history of the two countries. It is the foundation that has created diversity and depth in the bilateral friendship. He also mentioned flourishing trade and intensified investment, vibrant cultural, scientific, and social exchanges, and political cooperation between the two states and peoples.
Agreeing with his Vietnamese counterpart, Steinmeier said the close ties between the two peoples, including the 200,000 Vietnamese people living and working in Germany and many who speak German, are an important foundation for the nations’ collaboration in politics, economy and culture.
He believed that the shared history of the two countries provides strength for a common future marked by flourishing trade and investment, skilled labour exchanges, cooperation in such global issues as climate protection, and the respect for international law, multilateralism, and peace.
The leaders and their spouses present gift to artists at the art programme. (Photo: VNA) 
