German chancellor visits Vietnam
HANOI - Vietnam was the last stop
Thursday on German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's
tour of Southeast Asia, a visit meant to strengthen ties that
Hanoi built years ago with former East Germany.
Schroeder reviewed a military honor guard in the
morning's sultry heat where he was welcomed by Prime
Minister Phan Van Khai.
The chancellor later addressed students and alumni
educated at German universities.
The two nations have a long history of academic exchange
with some 7,000 Vietnamese earning German degrees.
The two sides signed an agreement Thursday
strengthening that legacy by calling for greater academic
cooperation and more access to scholarships.
"All of you form a bridge to Germany that is unique in Southeast Asia,'' Schroeder said at Hanoi
Polytechnic University.
"The exchange with Germany should contribute to the further modernization of Vietnam.''
Three German universities now offer degree courses in Vietnam.
An estimated 78,000 Vietnamese live in Germany, despite efforts by the government to encourage them
to return to their homeland.
Most of them emigrated to former East Germany before the Berlin Wall was brought down in 1989.
The two countries also have close economic ties, with Germany accounting for the largest chunk - 28
percent - of all trade between the European Union and Vietnam.
Bilateral trade between Vietnam and Germany has more than doubled since 1996.
Schroeder also signed agreements providing US$75 million to Vietnam for development of the
environment, health, flood damage and vocational training.
He pledged to help the communist nation gain entry into the World Trade Organization. Vietnam hopes
to become a member by 2005.
"Vietnam is strong enough to open itself up further to the outside and the inside,'' Schroeder said.
"We will not achieve lasting success until developing nations can fairly trade their competitive products on
world markets.''
He added that free Internet access should be available to everyone and information should flow freely.
Vietnam strictly controls access to information through state-controlled media and by blocking certain
Internet sites it deemed as potentially damaging.
Schroeder also stressed that the United Nationals should play a key role in rebuilding a post-war Iraq.
The stop in Hanoi concludes Schroeder's five-day tour of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam.
It also marks the first time a German chancellor has embarked on a trip specifically targeting the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) where hundreds of German companies are
represented, said Wolfgang Massing, German ambassador to Vietnam.
Schroeder's visit also was billed as a message to those who may be leery of traveling to areas hit hard by
severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.
Vietnam became the first country in the world to contain the virus last month, but not before five people
died out of the 63 infected here.
Schroeder's delegation was thinned and gatherings with large groups were minimized to lower the risk of
exposure to SARS, which has killed more than 590 worldwide.
Schroeder's trip was cut short to allow him to return to Berlin for talks with U.S. Secretary of State Colin
Powell on Friday.
The Associated Press - May 15, 2003.
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