On 22 September 2016, Parliamentary State Secretary Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter welcomed Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung to the BMUB for a talk scheduled as part of his tour of Germany. The discussion centred around progress made on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement and on bilateral cooperation. Both parties praised the in-depth exchange of experiences and the long-standing successful cooperation on soil conservation, contaminated site management, water management and climate action. With regard to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement, Schwarzelühr-Sutter emphasised: "The transformation towards sustainable development must be tackled with resolve. The Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda constitute the basis for the long overdue structural transformation towards greenhouse gas-neutral, climate-resilient and sustainable development. Focus is now on the ambitious implementation of the milestone outcomes achieved over the past few years." Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung reaffirmed that the implementation of the commitments set out in the Paris Agreement is a priority for the Vietnamese Government. A national strategy is currently being drawn up for implementing the 2030 Agenda. Schwarzelühr-Sutter announced that two new bilateral climate action projects with Vietnam totalling 18 million euros will be approved in the upcoming project selection of the BMUB International Climate Initiative (ICI).
The BMUB has a long-standing tradition of fruitful cooperation with Vietnam. For over ten years, both countries have been successfully cooperating in the fields of soil conservation and contaminated site management, for instance, on the revision of soil conservation law and the cultivation of energy crops in decommissioned mining waste facilities. In addition to this, Vietnam is a focus of the BMUB's International Climate Initiative (ICI) which currently supports 10 bilateral projects. The objective of the ICI projects is to assist the development and implementation of ambitious climate policies. Assistance is provided, for instance, in the form of consultation services, capacity-building for Vietnamese project partners, facilitating knowledge and technology transfers and also through South-South exchange and concept development, arising from the results of climate negotiations.