At the reception, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Chairman emphasized that the visit would help lay the groundwork for a range of new projects and collaborative activities between Germany and Vietnam, making practical contributions to bilateral relations on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Vietnam–Germany diplomatic ties.
He noted that Germany is currently Vietnam’s second-largest trading partner in Europe, with more than 500 German businesses operating in Vietnam, many of which are active in Ho Chi Minh City.
Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc affirmed that Ho Chi Minh City attaches great importance to cooperation with German localities, highlighting Leipzig as a partner city with a 10-year history of collaboration, notably the partnership between Military Hospital 175 and hospitals in Leipzig.
With Leipzig’s strengths and the similarities between the two cities, Chairman Nguyen Van Duoc suggested that the two sides could further expand cooperation in healthcare, education, finance, railway technology and climate change response through the development of sustainable energy sources such as wind and solar power.
On the side of Leipzig, Mayor Burkhard Jung expressed his strong impression of Vietnam’s overall development, especially that of Ho Chi Minh City. He praised the joint projects successfully carried out by the two cities, as well as highly valued the effective activities of the Vietnamese Association in Leipzig, which has become a strong bridge connecting the Vietnamese community with the city of Leipzig, contributing to the promotion of people-to-people diplomacy between the two localities.
Mayor Burkhard Jung affirmed that drawing on the longstanding good relationship between Germany and Vietnam in recent years, Leipzig wishes to continue contributing to Ho Chi Minh City’s development, especially in sectors which Leipzig has strengths and the city has priority, such as healthcare, science and technology, automobile manufacturing and clean energy.
