German Chancellor Angela Merkel has accepted the invitation of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to visit Vietnam this October, according to the government’s website.

The acceptance came during a teleconference Thursday during which Merkel said Germany strongly supports the cooperation between Vietnam and the European Union, especially the launch of the free trade association and EU approval of the two parties’ Partnership and Cooperation Agreement.

The two leaders also discussed solutions to make further progress in major cooperative projects – a metro line and the Vietnam-Germany University in Ho Chi Minh City.

Germany is Vietnam’s biggest EU partner with bilateral trade  topping US$4.1 billion last year.