Vietnam could see rise in German aid despite economic crisis
Hanoi - Germany would maintain or raise its level of aid to Vietnam despite the global economic downturn, a visiting senior German diplomat told Vietnamese officials Thursday.
"At the moment, the world economy is in financial and economic crisis, but not only are we not reducing ODA [official development assistance] for Vietnam, but we also strengthen the cooperation between the two countries in development," said State Secretary of Foreign Affairs Peter Ammon, one of the top six officials in Germany's Foreign Ministry.
Germany pledged 117 million euros (147 million dollars) in development aid to Vietnam in 2008 and 2009.
The country's worldwide development aid budget was scheduled to rise by 12 per cent in 2009 to 5.7 billion euros, in line with a commitment by European Union countries to raise their foreign aid budgets to 0.51 per cent of their national incomes by 2010.
Ammon, who met with Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Cuong as part of a four-day visit to Vietnam, emphasized development aid for education and vocational training.
A German-Vietnamese technical university was established last year in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's economic capital, to award degrees in electrical engineering.
German aid was also important in environmental conservation in Vietnam. The development organization GTZ has conservation programmes in several Vietnamese national parks, and the Frankfurt Zoological Society is the main sponsor of efforts to conserve Vietnam's rare primates.
Germany and Vietnam have strong bilateral relations stemming in part from the relationship between Hanoi and the former Communist East Germany. Germany is Vietnam's largest trading partner in Europe with 4 billion dollars in bilateral trade in 2008. (dpa)