Konrad Adenauer Foundation: Promoting Friendship and Cooperation between Germany and Vietnam

Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) is an independent, not for profit German political foundation guided by the principles of the Christian Democratic movement. KAS was established with an aim to promote international cooperation as well as European unification. The main activities of KAS include political education, preparing scientific analyses to serve as a basis for future political action, offering scholarships to gifted students, and researching the history of the Christian Democratic movement.

Since KAS established its presence in Vietnam in 1992, the Foundation has taken an important role in promoting political relations between Germany and Vietnam. By organising seminars and programmes to promote open dialogue during the past 12 years, KAS has made a considerable contribution to the modernisation of Vietnam, to the strengthening of democratic structures and the establishment of the rule of law in Vietnam. Dr. Willibold Frehner- the Country representative of KAS to Vietnam, said that the presence of KAS in Vietnam is part of the goals of the Foundation, which is to help countries, especially developing ones such as Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia, to make progress and development in every field so that they can co-operate with other countries like Germany. The Foundation’s operating principle is that “Helping others means helping ourselves. Only when two sides have a nearly equal level of development, they can co-operate. The aim of the German Government is to make Vietnam strong and modern enough to be able to co-operate with us.” said Dr Frehner. That is why KAS decided to establish a representative office in Vietnam in 1992 after the Vietnamese government initiated its policy of openness, modernisation and reform in 1986, although Vietnam’s economy was still weak at that time.

The main targets of KAS in Vietnam include supporting economic and administrative reforms, promoting democratisation and civil society, assisting in building a state ruled by law, promoting poverty-reduction in rural development, and strengthening the education system. In the economic reform field, KAS often holds seminars, in which they invite economists to explain the economic model of Germany in particular and the EU in general. For example, they explain the social market system in Germany to Vietnamese economists so that the Vietnamese can discuss the model applied in Vietnam.

In politics, KAS co-operates with Vietnam’s Department of Justice to strengthen administrative reform. They implement seminars with the Congress, invite politicians or professors from Germany to Vietnam to talk about methods of democratising society within the frame of Vietnamese law. This activity is conducted according to the Vietnamese Government’s projects, in which the main task of the Foundation is to give support and assistance. For several years, KAS has been working with the Institute for State and Law (ISL) in establishment of the rule of law in Vietnam and the implementation of legal reforms. They have supported a survey on the progress of legal reform in Vietnam, further need for reform related to the compatibility of the different areas of law and the inclusion of political and economic reform measures in the transformation process of the legal system.

In education, KAS has been very active in giving scholarships to good students who can speak German and have a good language certificate to study in Germany. This activity helps Vietnam to have a good labour force in the future, as well as improve the friendship and cooperation between Germany and Vietnam.

KAS also takes an important role in reducing poverty by supporting farmers in the rural areas. In this field, KAS is supporting the Socio-Economic Development Centre for Coastal Areas in Binh Thuan province (SEDEC), a non-government organisation established in 1997 with the aim to reduce poverty in Binh Thuan province. They give money to their partners for scientific research, to enabling farmers to produce more productively and effectively. Take growing shrimps as an example, KAS helps the farmers move the shrimps from salt water to sweet water in order to grow shrimps more effectively by way of providing money for means, techniques etc. In 1998, KAS in co-ordination with SEDEC started to operate a grape nursery. Thanks to financial help from KAS, several types of grapes were researched to choose the kind most suitable to local climatic conditions, and new varieties have been cultivated by a growing number of project households. As a result of this, income for the farmers has increased 2.5 fold and about 6,000 project households will benefit.

KAS also co-operates with the Centre for Rural Progress (CRP) in promotion of self-help, community-based coastal resource management, and income generation projects. The main target of cooperation is to build and strengthen self help-organisations and cooperatives. All in all, the amount of money invested in these projects in Vietnam by KAS is about 1 million EURO per year.

Apart from the above-mentioned partner organisations, KAS has also established close ties with a number of government agencies. In general, KAS maintains a lot of contacts in organisations, provinces, districts, and communes all over the country. Recently, the Foundation has intensified its contact with the Association of Cities, providing consultation services to Vietnamese NGOs in its efforts to strengthen local government.

In the future, KAS is going to continue its activities in Vietnam with a view to further promoting friendly cooperation between Vietnam and Germany.

• My Hanh