German president, businesses visit Vietnam eyeing labour deal, investment

PNE AG

23/01/2024 05:28

By Francesco Guarascio and Phuong Nguyen
       HANOI, Jan 23 (Reuters) - A German business delegation,
including top firms for tunnel machines, wind farms and
industrial supplies, is joining President Frank-Walter
Steinmeier in a visit to Vietnam starting on Tuesday, as Berlin
pushes its China de-risking strategy.
    German companies have invested over $3 billion in the
Southeast Asian manufacturing hub, with automotive giant Bosch
being the main investor, according to the German chamber of
commerce in Vietnam, which sees the country as an important
partner to diversify some activities from China. 
    During the visit, Steinmeier and German labour minister
Hubertus Heil are expected to sign with their Vietnamese
counterparts a memorandum of understanding on skilled labour
mobility to facilitate transfers of Vietnamese workers to
Germany.   
    Among companies participating in the business mission is
Herrenknecht, which dominates the global market for tunnel
boring machines. It is already selling tools for the building of
the metro in Ho Chi Minh City, amid Vietnam's plans to expand
its railway and metro systems.
    Wind farm developer PNE AG  PNEGn.DE  is also part of the
delegation, possibly trying to tap into Vietnam's planned
expansion in the offshore wind sector, despite regulatory
delays.
    Building materials multinational Knauf Gips KG and
automotive sector's supplier Tesa are among other participants.
Both already have operations in Vietnam.
    The visit "underlines Germany's interest in looking beyond
China and diversifying its economic relations," said Florian
Feyerabend, the representative in Vietnam for Germany's Konrad
Adenauer Foundation, a think tank. 
    He also said the expected labour agreement was part of
Germany's strategy to recruit skilled workers from abroad,
noting that in the 1980s thousands of Vietnamese workers moved
to East Germany. 
    Steinmeier's visit was delayed by a year because of a
political reshuffle in Vietnam that led early last year to the
resignation of the country's former president.
    In a sign of Berlin's growing interest in Vietnam,
Steinmeier's visit follows a trip to Hanoi by German Chancellor
Olaf Scholz in November 2022, the first then for a German leader
in more than decade.
    After meetings with leaders in Hanoi, Steinmeier will visit
Ho Chi Minh City, the country's business hub, on Wednesday.  

 (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio and Phuong Nguyen; Editing by
Kim Coghill)
 ((francesco.guarascio@thomsonreuters.com;
Phuong.Nguyen@thomsonreuters.com;))