Ambassador seeks to boost Vietnam - Germany ties in nursing manpower

The ambassador had working sessions with Lingen Mayor Dieter Krone and District Administrator of Emsland Marc-André Burgdorf. He also visited and met with leaders of the St. Bonifatius Hospital Society and the Emsland economic association.

At the events, Vu updated the German side about the two countries’ cooperation, noting that Vietnam currently ranks first among ASEAN trade partners of Germany while the latter is also the leading EU partner of the Southeast Asian nation. Bilateral cooperation has covered various fields, from technology, investment to energy and environmental protection.

He held that Vietnamese localities’ partnerships with Lingen and Emsland could be expanded to such fields as new energy and training of nursing manpower.

The ambassador noted with a young population, Vietnam is able to meet German localities’ demand for nursing personnel, adding that the two sides can also work together in climate change adaptation as Vietnam is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change.

The leaders of Lingen and Emsland expressed their hope for stronger cooperation with Vietnamese localities, especially in the field of nursing manpower.

Ansgar Veer, General Manager of the St. Bonifatius Hospital Society, said about 60 Vietnamese are learning and working as nurses at establishments of this hospital, but the demand for nursing manpower is still on the rise amid population aging.

Bonifatius chose Vietnam as the supply source of nurses given the Vietnamese people’s hospitality, respect for the elderly, learning capacity, the readiness for learning, and industriousness, according to him.

Ambassador Vu said Germany views Vietnam as one of its main supply sources of nursing manpower, and this strategy has been included in the work programme of the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy. Therefore, German localities can seek support from the Federal Government to find nursing personnel from Vietnam.

At a separate meeting, the Vietnamese diplomat and representatives from the Emsland economic association discussed cooperation opportunities with Vietnam in manpower supply, trade, and investment. He said his embassy is ready to help German enterprises in seeking cooperation and investment opportunities in Vietnam.

Germany is among the most important partners of Vietnam in terms of vocational training. Via vocational training programmes, the number of Vietnamese studying and working in the nursing, tourism, hotel, and technical sectors in the European nation has been growing. By the end of 2019, more than 1,000 nurses from Vietnam came to learn and work there, and they received high evaluation.

Germany is forecast to need 200,000 foreign nurses between now and 2030.