German Development Cooperation with Vietnam

Vietnam is one of the most important partner countries of German Development Cooperation in Asia. The following priority areas of cooperation have been agreed upon between the Vietnamese and the German Governments:

• Sustainable Economic Development
• Environmental Policy, Conservation and Sustainable Use of Natural Resources
• Health Care

Sustainable Economic Development

The goal of the Vietnamese Government is sustainable and socially oriented economic development, which will ensure improved living conditions and increased income and employment opportunities for the population. Currently, Vietnam is aiming for better integration into the global market. Particularly the country’s accession to the World Trade Organisation in 2007 has necessitated far-reaching improvements in economic framework conditions. Vietnam also needs more skilled workers. To date only twelve per cent of the working population have received technical training. The provision of vocational training to modern standards is urgently required.

Contact Priority Area Coordinators

Environmental Policy, Conservation and Sustainable Use of Natural Resources

For decades Vietnam has suffered the depredations of war and poverty. In this once richly forested country, less than twenty per cent of its former forest area remains today. Illegal logging, slash-and-burn cultivation, soil erosion and contamination through the use of deforestation chemicals during the Vietnam War, and the associated decrease of biodiversity, clearly demonstrate an urgent need for action.

Rapid economic growth also results in considerable environmental pollution. Especially in the cities, the quality of life has deteriorated markedly: urban populations face exhaust fumes, noise pollution and growing problems of solid waste disposal. There are no disposal systems for industrial or domestic waste water and drains are often old and damaged. Untreated sewage runs into rivers, lakes and canals, resulting, among other things, in the spreading of infections diseases.

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Health Care

Over the last few years, the general level of health in Vietnam has improved considerably. However, the poor section of the population and members of ethnic minorities in remote regions have benefited relatively little from this positive development. Public health institutions often have insufficient equipment and supplies. The quality of health care is low and hardly affordable for poorer people. The development of a health insurance system is in its infancy.

Contact Priority Area Coordinators