Minister-President of Germany’s State of Hessen Boris Rhein (left) had talks with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyễn Hoà Bình on March 25 (local time). — VNA/VNS Photo

BERLIN — Minister-President of Germany’s State of Hessen Boris Rhein affirmed the locality’s readiness to support Việt Nam in developing international finance centres and share its experience in financial market management, while meeting with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyễn Hoà Bình, who is on a working visit to the European nation.

During the meeting on March 25, the two officials highlighted the effective development of relations between Việt Nam and the German state, and agreed to elevate bilateral ties to a higher level.

Bình stated that Việt Nam always attaches importance to deepening its strategic partnership with Germany, and with the State of Hessen in particular.

He urged Hessen to continue supporting Việt Nam in education and training, including providing scholarships for Vietnamese students and researchers, promoting training partnerships between research institutions, expanding the supply of Vietnamese human resources to work in Hessen, and facilitating the Vietnamese community's deep integration into German society, contributing to strengthening the friendship between the two countries.

Rhein showed his belief that the Vietnamese-German University (VGU), established under Hessen’s initiative, offers programmes that can support Việt Nam in developing financial centres.

The two sides also agreed to work together in organising practical activities to enhance mutual trust and understanding between the two countries’ people on the occasion of the 50th founding anniversary of diplomatic relations (1975–2025).

On the same day, the Vietnamese official had a working session with Minister of Finance of the State of Hessen Alexander Lorz.

Bình highly valued Hessen’s role in the Việt Nam-Germany strategic partnership, expressing Việt Nam's interest in learning from Hessen’s experience in developing and managing financial centres. He affirmed that Việt Nam stands ready to cooperate in workforce supply, including partnership with the VGU.

For his part, Lorz agreed with Bình's proposals, noting that Hessen is undergoing economic development with a high demand for skilled labourers. He affirmed the state’s commitment to supporting the VGU in finance training and developing its financial centres with concrete initiatives.

During the meeting, the Hessen official provided an overview of the Frankfurt Financial Centre, which is regarded as the gateway to Europe’s economy, and among the world's top 15 financial hubs.

The Vietnamese guest shared that Việt Nam is building a legal framework for its financial centres and hopes for Hessen’s support in organisational models, investment incentives and preferential policies. He stated that Việt Nam intends to leverage the VGU for financial workforce training, and proposed Hessen sending financial experts for teaching, training, and developing human resources in Việt Nam.

Lorz said Hessen is willing to share information, and experience in organising and operating financial centres. He also pledged to support training and connect financial experts from Frankfurt while promoting future cooperation between Hessen and Việt Nam.

Earlier, on March 23 afternoon, Bình also had meetings with representatives of top German financial firms, including DZ Bank, Brosnan Norden GmbH, Mountain Alliance AG, and DAS Investment. He appreciated the interest and commitment of German experts and major enterprises in supporting the development of international financial centres in HCM City and Đà Nẵng.

He called on German enterprises to pour their investment and do business in Việt Nam, and participate in developing the Southeast Asian country’s financial centres.

During his stay, Deputy PM Bình also met with staff and officials of the Vietnamese Consulate General in Frankfurt, during which he underlined the need to boost Việt Nam-Germany cooperation in developing international financial hubs and training human resources, and encourage potential investors to engage once these centres are established and operational. — VNA/VNS