The German environmental industry developed in the 1970s and 80s when concern about environmental pollution was growing in Germany. Today the environmental industry is one of the driving factors of Germany’s economy, with more than 1.5 million people being employed in the sector. Also internationally the German environmental industry is a success story: Germany is the world’s leading exporter of environmental technology.

However, the industry still faces numerous difficulties in accessing international markets. For example, Germany’s water industry is characterized by small and medium sized enterprises that have excellent products but limited resources for successfully marketing their products abroad.

Vietnam on the other hand has a growing demand for environmental technology. Its rapid industrialization already causes severe environmental problems. Awareness of environmental problems is growing in Vietnam and the Vietnamese government is increasingly taking action to mitigate the negative environmental impacts of the country’s fast economic development. Important investments in environmental project will be realized in the near future and technological solutions that are suitable for Vietnam’s specific conditions will be urgently required.