Within the framework of the national program on trade promotion 2022, the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency, the Ministry of Industry and Trade in coordination with the Vietnam Trade Office - Vietnamese Embassy in Germany, Consulate General of Vietnam in Frankfurt, the German Federal Association for Economic Development and Foreign Trade (BWA) has successfully organized the Vietnam - Germany Economic Cooperation Seminar on September 22, 2022 in Frankfurt, Germany.
 

Attending the seminar, the Vietnamese side included Mr. Le Quang Long, the Consul General of Vietnam in Frankfurt; Mr. Le Hoang Tai, Deputy General Director of Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency, Ministry of Industry and Trade; Mr. Bui Vuong Anh, Commercial Counselor, Vietnam Trade Office in Germany and 25 Vietnamese enterprises doing business in many fields (textiles, agricultural products, handicrafts, pharmaceuticals, trade...).

On the German side, participants included Mr. Manfred Florian Welker, representative of BWA in Hessen; Ms. Zhiruo Zhao, Asia Division Manager, TMF Deutsland AG; Mr. Alexander Lott, representative of OCO-Global group and more than 50 delegates, representing German businesses.

Speaking at the Seminar, the Consul General Le Quang Long emphasized the importance of the Vietnam - Germany strategic partnership. On the solid foundation of political relations, the bilateral economic cooperation with great openness, potential and complementary characteristics has been implemented actively and dynamically. The Consulate General of Vietnam is always willing to support, connect Vietnamese businesses with German partners as well as penetrate in the German market.

Emphasizing the importance of trade promotion activities, Mr. Le Hoang Tai, Deputy General Director of Vietrade said that Vietnamese enterprises need to strengthen their trade promotion activities, improve their competitiveness; promoting the application of information technology and digital transformation in trade promotion activities to improve the efficiency of their participation in trade promotion activities.

The representative of BWA in Hessen, Mr. Manfred Florian Welker, has provided valuable information and experience on German business and investment activities, confirming Germany is a market with great potential for Vietnamese businesses to cooperate in many fields such as trade, investment, finance... BWA has been working closely with the Vietnam Trade Office in Germany to act as an effective bridge for businesses of two countries.

Speaking at the seminar, Mr. Bui Vuong Anh, Commercial Counselor has also informed Vietnamese and German enterprises about opportunities from EVFTA, the Joint Committee on Economic Cooperation Vietnam – Germany as well as from the Vietnamese business communities in Germany. Furthermore, it is very necessary for Vietnamese businesses to coordinate with German partners, distributors, trade centers, supermarkets and importers in Germany.

The Vietnam Trade Office has been working with some consulting units such as OCO Global, TMF Deutschland AG, Dornbach GmbH, Desk Vietnam to support, advise, connect and introduce German partners for Vietnamese enterprises.

After the plenary session, the business matchmaking took place successfully with the participation of a large number of German and Vietnamese enterprises. Both sides exchanged information, specific needs and learned about business cooperation opportunities in the coming time.

In the framework of the general program, Vietnamese businesses will take a visit to Frischezentrum -  food and agricultural goods distribution center in Frankfurt on September 23, 2022 and have a B2B with German importers and distributors. Frischezentrum is a distribution center specializing in supplying agricultural and aquatic products, fresh and processed vegetables and fruits imported from many different countries to German and EU supermarkets. The center has more than 110 wholesalers that are connected with retail supermarkets throughout Germany. With a scale of 23,000 m2 including logistics, customs, tax, quarantine facilities etc, Frischezentrum has played the key role as a leading distribution hub of Germany and EU.

After the year-long separation period due to the Covid - 19, this is the first trade promotion program of the Vietnamese business delegation in the German market. The trade promotion activities have taken place successfully and effectively and opened up many cooperation opportunities for both sides in the future.