Promoting gender equality and women's empowerment is Vietnam's consistent commitment.

Photo caption — *VicePresident Vo Thi Anh Xuan speaks at the opening ceremony of the Global Summit of Women 2025. Photo: Phuong Hoa/VNA correspondent in Germany*

According to a VNA correspondent in Berlin, German Vice Chancellor Lars Klingleil, Vice President of the German Bundestag Josephine Ortleb and Conference Chair Irene Natividad, along with nearly 1,000 delegates, including leaders of countries, businesses, and international organizations from more than 60 countries and territories, participated in the largest global women's forum on gender equality.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan highly appreciated the contributions of the Global Summit of Women over the past 35 years in promoting dialogue and international cooperation on gender equality. The Vice President especially highlighted the significance of this year's conference theme, especially in the context of a world full of instability, with the strong digital transformation process bringing opportunities for sustainable development, solving global problems, promoting innovation, effective governance and improving the quality of life, while also threatening to deepen traditional and non-traditional security challenges, especially for vulnerable groups in society.

Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan highlighted the country’s achievements in recent years related to gender equality, affirming that promoting gender equality and empowering women is Vietnam’s consistent commitment. In the two years from 2022 to 2024, Vietnam has jumped 11 places and is currently ranked 72nd out of 146 countries in terms of gender equality.

Sharing about Vietnam's Digital Transformation Strategy, the Vice President highlighted the movements of "Digital Literacy for All" and "AI Literacy for All" and the pioneering role of the Vietnam Women's Union in implementing these programs for women at the grassroots level, contributing to building an inclusive digital society. To ensure the safe and active participation of women and children in this process, Vietnam is making every effort to create a safe and friendly digital space for future generations, with many specific programs and actions in this direction.

To promote joint cooperation to contribute to creating a sustainable, inclusive and humane digital future, the Vice President called on the international community and countries to continue to put gender equality at the center of all discussions and legal frameworks on technology, share experiences from their successful models, and at the same time need to light up the torch of inspiration, spread and honor in a solemn and equal manner the contributions of female scientists and talented female technology entrepreneurs, thereby breaking down invisible barriers and sowing confidence and aspiration to conquer any peak.

Affirming that Vietnam is ready to share experiences from its successful models, the Vice President emphasized that Vietnam is committed to continuing to be a reliable partner and a responsible member, joining hands with the international community for an inclusive digital world, where all women and girls are fully involved, effectively protected and empowered for comprehensive development.

For their part, German Vice Chancellor Lars Klingleil and Vice President of the German Bundestag Josephine Ortleb affirmed that after 35 years of development, the Global Women's Summit has created many changes, bringing many opportunities to women around the world. Germany itself always considers gender equality as a guiding principle in the policy-making process; always focuses on strengthening the legal framework to ensure equal access to resources and protect women and children from violence. However, it is necessary to acknowledge that the world has not achieved gender equality despite global efforts; women and girls continue to be heavily affected by conflict and violence in many regions, discrimination, gender inequality, inequality in the division of positions, employment... still occur in both the public and private sectors. The German Vice Chancellor emphasized that reproductive health rights, diversity and inclusiveness in gender equality are declining in some places. German leaders called on delegates to join hands at the conference to shape a future of fuller, fairer participation of women and to believe that only with the full participation of women can global challenges be fully resolved.

Conference President Irene Natividad affirmed the role and contribution of the conference over 35 years in promoting common efforts for the advancement of women, raising international awareness of gender equality and promoting the role of women in all areas of social life, especially the economy; assessing the main improvements in the world related to the proportion of women in legislative bodies (over 27%) and in leadership of small and medium enterprises (30%), but still low among leaders of large corporations, especially in semiconductors and national and government leaders. Ms. Natividad said that this conference is an opportunity to connect for mutual development, and at the same time to honor and further promote the leadership role of women in the fields of technology, innovation, creativity and sustainable development.

Also at the conference, speakers emphasized the urgency of continuing efforts to promote gender equality and empower women and girls in the face of current challenges and fluctuations in the world; stating that the digital age with the rapid development of science and technology, artificial intelligence (AI) brings great opportunities in promoting the role and value of women, but also contains potential risks of discrimination, prejudice and inequality, especially in the economic and social fields; it is necessary to create conditions for women and girls to fully participate in the fields of science and technology, be equipped with skills and be supported to adapt to new employment trends, especially in technology enterprises; emphasizing that gender equality and women's development are the guarantee for sustainable development of humanity.

Speaking with German Vice Chancellor Lars Klingleil within the framework of the conference, Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan suggested that the two countries increase delegation exchanges at all levels, especially high-level ones, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of relations. This is an opportunity for the two countries to review and further promote cooperation in all fields, through all channels of the Party, State, Government, National Assembly as well as people-to-people exchanges.

On the same day, Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan visited and met with representatives of the Vietnamese community in Germany. The meeting took place solemnly at the Reception Room of the Vietnamese Embassy in Berlin.

Here, the Vice President reviewed the economic, political and social situation in the country, listened to the thoughts and aspirations and acknowledged the positive contributions of the Vietnamese community to the development of both homelands - Vietnam and Germany. The Vice President also highly appreciated the role of associations in preserving national cultural identity and fostering the Vietnam - Germany friendship.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Germany (1975-2025), Ambassador Vu Quang Minh respectfully presented certificates of merit to a number of outstanding individuals and associations with many achievements and positive contributions to community, cultural and social activities in Germany.

On this occasion, Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony to place the Vietnam-Germany Bear statue in the grounds of the Vietnamese Embassy in Germany. The idea of placing the Vietnam-Germany Bear symbol was proposed by Ambassador Vu Quang Minh to mark an important milestone, the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Germany (1975-2025), with the meaning that the Bear is both a symbol of Berlin and a symbol of hospitality, strength, solidarity, cooperation and friendship. In particular, the details of famous landscapes of Vietnam and Germany decorated on the body of the Vietnam-Germany Bear further demonstrate the solidarity and friendship between the two peoples of Vietnam and Germany. In addition, the Vietnam-Germany Bear also represents the successful integration achievements of the Vietnamese community in Germany over the past decades, contributing to the prosperity of the second homeland and serving as a bridge between Vietnam and Germany.

The Vietnamese community in Germany, represented by the Vietnamese Association in Germany, enthusiastically responded and provided spiritual and material support for this wonderful project in the grounds of the Vietnamese Embassy.

Source: https://vpctn.gov.vn/tin-tuc-su-kien/hoat-dong-cua-pho-chu-tich-nuoc/thuc-day-binh-dang-gioi-va-trao-quyen-cho-phu-nu-la-cam-ket-nhat-quan-cua-viet-nam.html