German president to visit Vietnam in May

German President Horst Kohler will pay an official visit to Vietnam from May 21-23, a Vietnamese spokesman announced Thursday.

The three-day trip is expected to promote friendship and multi- faceted cooperation between the two countries, especially in the fields of economy, trade, culture and education, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Dung said at a regular press briefing.

Kohler is scheduled to hold talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Minh Triet, and meet with General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nong Duc Manh and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, he noted.

Trade between Vietnam and Germany has annually reached around 2 billion U.S. dollars in recent years, according to the Vietnamese Trade Ministry.

Vietnam exports mainly textiles, garments, footwear, coffee, coal, and rice to Germany, and import machines, foodstuffs, steel and chemicals from it.

Source: Xinhua