Attending the workshop, on the German side, there were Mr. Jörg Rüger, Head of Environment, Construction, German Embassy in Vietnam; Mr. Felix Richter, Representative of the Project Management Agency of the German Ministry of Economy and Energy. On the Vietnamese side, there were Mrs. Ha Thi Lam Hong, Deputy Director of International Cooperation Department and representatives of some units of the Ministry; representatives of Science and Technology Departments of the Northern and Northern Central provinces; business representatives and scientists from research institutes and universities and etc.

The ZIM program is implemented within the framework of the Letter of Intent on S&T Cooperation between the Ministry of Science and Technology and the German Federal Ministry of Economy and Energy signed in December 2012. Compare to other bilateral cooperation programs with German partners, the ZIM Program has a difference that requires the participation of small and medium enterprises; Sponsored research must provide new, superior and technologically oriented products.

So far, the two sides have posted a notice calling for proposals for joint research tasks 04 times and the 5th ZIM Program is being posted on the website of the Ministry of Science and Technology from March 1, 2019, deadline for submission to the end of 09/10/2019. The new feature of the 5th ZIM Program is that it does not limit the priority areas as before but extends to all areas. With this new point, the two sides would like to receive many good cooperation proposals in this announcement as well as the next time.

With the aim of supporting S&T organizations, scientists and businesses understand and can participate in the 5th ZIM Program, the Ministry of Science and Technology collaborated with the German Ministry of Economy and Energy to organize the workshop to introduce and guidance on the approval process, financial mechanisms, modes of participation, ways to support connecting scientists and businesses of the two countries.

Speaking at the workshop, Deputy Director of Ha Thi Lam Hong International Cooperation Department said that in the past, Vietnam has always considered Germany as the leading partner in Europe not only in economic and trade cooperation, investment, but also about academic exchange, scientific research and technology development. Science and technology cooperation and innovation with Germany in general and Germany Ministry of Economy and Energy in particular is one of the priorities of the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam.