Vietnamese President Võ Văn Thưởng (right) greets German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and spouse in Hà Nội on Tuesday. — Photo from Bundespräsident Frank-Walter Steinmeier

HÀ NỘI — German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his spouse left HCM City on Wednesday evening, concluding their state visit to Việt Nam on January 23-24 at the invitation of President Võ Văn Thưởng and his spouse.

During their stay in Việt Nam, the German President and his spouse laid a wreath at the Monument to Heroic Martyrs on Bắc Sơn Street, Hà Nội.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier attended the official welcome ceremony, held talks, witnessed the signing ceremony of cooperation documents, met with the press, and joined a banquet with his Vietnamese counterpart Võ Văn Thưởng. He also met with Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and Chairman of the National Assembly Vương Đình Huệ.

At the talks and meetings, the Vietnamese leaders warmly welcomed the German President's state visit to Việt Nam, expressing a belief that the visit would contribute to strengthening the friendship and political trust, creating motivation to comprehensively promote the Việt Nam-Germany Strategic Partnership, for the benefit of the two countries' people as well as for peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

Thanking the Vietnamese leaders for their warm welcome, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed his impression of Việt Nam's dynamic socio-economic development. He emphasised the cohesion and mutual trust between the two countries have been continuously promoted over the past nearly 50 years. He affirmed a desire to enhance cooperation in various fields with Việt Nam, particularly in trade and investment, energy transition, labour and vocational training, development cooperation, as well as close coordination in contribution to regional and global peace and cooperation.

The Vietnamese leaders stressed that in its foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralisation and diversification of international relations, Việt Nam always attaches importance to and prioritises developing relations with Germany.

On this occasion, they thanked the State, Government, and people of Germany for supporting Việt Nam in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the support demonstrates the friendship and solidarity between the two countries, helping Việt Nam control the pandemic, reopen its doors for socio-economic recovery and development.

In an atmosphere of mutual trust and understanding, both sides exchanged views on major directions and measures to further deepen the Việt Nam-Germany Strategic Partnership, as well as shared regional and international issues of mutual concern.

While in Việt Nam, the German President visited Văn Miếu-Quốc Tử Giám (Temple of Literature) in Hà Nội, and met with HCM City’s leaders and visited the German House in the city. He also attended an exchange programme with students and lecturers of the Vietnamese-German University in the southern province of Bình Dương.

His spouse Elke Büdenbender and President Thưởng’s wife Phan Thị Thanh Tâm watched a traditional water puppet show in Hanoi.

The state visit by the German President took place in the context that the bilateral relations are growing intensively and making practical progress in various fields. More importantly, this was President Steinmeier’s first overseas trip in 2024, and the first high-level official visit between the two countries in the year. This was the second visit to Việt Nam by a German President since Germany’s reunification, following the first by President Horst Kohler in May 2007. — VNS