HCM City, Leipzig city of Germany seek cooperation opportunity

Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan (right) poses for a photo with First Mayor of Leipzig City Torsten Bonew from Germany at their meeting on December 6

During the meeting, Nhan briefed his guest on the southern hub’s socio-economic development in recent years. He lauded the German city’s advantages in industry, information technology and education that match the city’s needs for cooperation.

He asked the mayor to introduce leading experts and education providers from Germany to HCM City who can share experience and discuss ways to address issues local higher education is facing. He wanted the German side to expand scholarship programmes for Vietnamese students and increase links between universities of the two sides.

HCM City also welcomes Leipzig’s enterprises in waste treatment and innovation to collaborate with the city, the HCM City leader noted.

Bonew, for his part, expressed his admiration for the city’s rapid growth and said developing metropolises like HCM City inevitably face challenges in terms of the environment, supplying sufficient electricity and improving infrastructure, among others.

Companies from Leipzig hope to cooperate with the city in healthcare, higher education, vocational training and more, he noted, adding that Leipzig was the first German city to open a representative office at the German House HCM City (Deutsches Haus HCM City), reflecting its commitment to ties with HCM City and Vietnam.

Earlier the same day, Nhan hosted a reception for Dr. Stefan Rudolph, State Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Health of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany during which the two sides discussed cooperation in renewable energy and human resources development in healthcare and waste treatment.

Bonew also visited Hanoi on December 3 where he met with Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung to learn about opportunities for cooperation, investment and trade.

Bonew took the occasion to invite Chung and local firms to attend the Leipzig Fair in 2019.