Germany–Vietnam relations

In 2017, Trịnh Xuân Thanh, a former communist party member and businessman who was accused of being corrupt, was secretly abducted and kidnapped in Berlin by a group of unnamed Vietnamese personnel believed to be Vietnamese agents in Germany. In response, Germany accused Vietnam for "violating the territorial rights of Germany" and ordered a total expulsion of a number of Vietnamese foreign officials in Germany.[1] Germany also suspended Vietnamese workers from going to Germany to start for investigation.[2] Although tensions have been lessened, the German officials remain skeptical and distrust toward their Vietnamese counterparts, and sometimes the abduction was often retold as a consequence of distrusts.

In October 2011, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng signed the "Hanoi Declaration", establishing a Strategic Partnership between Germany and Vietnam that is designed to strengthen political, economic and cultural relations and development cooperation.[3]

Vietnam is in the process of ratifying a free trade agreement with the European Union which includes Germany as Europe's largest economy. In 2016, bilateral trade was worth US$10.3 billion.[3]

The Vietnamese-German University was opened in Ho Chi Minh City in September 2008.[3]

• Vietnamese people in Germany