Building Bridges for New Collaborations in Vietnam-France Strategic Partnership
WVR - The Vietnam-France relationship has traversed a long journey and has faced numerous challenges since 1954. However, it is a relationship that has shown resilience, with continuous efforts to come closer, strengthen, and develop mutual understanding and respect. The establishment of diplomatic relations in 1973 and the establishment of a Strategic Partnership in 2013 mark significant milestones in this regard.
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| French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong during his official visit to France, March 2018. |
FOSTERING BONDS FROM HISTORY
France has always been one of Vietnam’s leading partners in Europe as well as in the world. France values Vietnam’s position in the region as well as in the strategies and policies being implemented in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific. The two countries are increasingly becoming trusted companions and partners, sharing many directions for development and cooperation. With the Strategic Partnership established in 2013, the two nations are truly maintaining an important foundation, accumulating both quantity and quality in bilateral cooperation, inheriting deep bonds in history, culture, and the close affinity between the two peoples.
High-level exchanges and engagements between the two countries are close and vibrant. The mechanisms guiding cooperation and coordination between the two sides in political-diplomatic, security-defense, economic-trade-investment, cultural-educational, and scientific-technical fields have a significant role, clearly demonstrating the nature of the various pillars within the Vietnam-France Strategic Partnership.
With a diverse and long-term economic cooperation, France has always been one of Vietnam’s top partners in the European Union (EU). Currently, France ranks as Vietnam’s fourth largest trading partner in the EU and represents a significant proportion in the trade between Vietnam and Europe. France is also the second largest investor from the EU in Vietnam and one of the few countries that has established special mechanisms to promote its support in Vietnam through the French Development Agency (AFD).
Trade exchanges between Vietnam and France are dynamic, mutually supplementary, and have seen many new advantages since the signing of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), in which France was a strong supporter. France has strengths in various fields such as telecommunications, renewable energy, environment, healthcare, manufacturing industry, food industry, infrastructure, logistics services, and high-quality agriculture, which are in line with Vietnam’s development orientation.
There are numerous cooperation mechanisms between the two countries shaped with active participation from various ministries, sectors, and agencies of both sides. The network of partnerships between the two countries is diverse, involving not only businesses but also economic entities of regional governments in France, associations, intellectuals, and Vietnamese entrepreneurs in the area, striving to enhance cooperation and connectivity between the two sides.
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| French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh during his official visit to the France, November 2021. |
The two countries are also promoting numerous exchange and cooperation programs in higher education and post-graduate training, which are various and diverse with hundreds of agreements signed between universities and research centers. Health cooperation brings together 30 French-Vietnamese medical cooperation associations, grouped by profession or region, with very frequent exchanges. Cooperation in science technology and justice continues to be innovated and enhanced, aiming at the new development demands of the two countries on the solid foundation of large-scale programs and projects in these areas between the two countries.
The traditional friendship and bond between the Vietnamese and French people continue to be nurtured and spread deeply and widely across various strata of the populations and sectors of both countries. The movement of French associations solidifying and fostering friendship with the Vietnamese people, developed during the years of Vietnam’s struggle for national independence, continues to expand. Alongside the movement of the Vietnamese expatriate community in France, initiated by Uncle Ho over 100 years ago, activities focused on the homeland have contributed significantly
to the protection and development of the country, while also contributing to strengthening connections and fostering friendship with Vietnam among various segments of the French population.
Cooperation among Vietnamese and French localities originated in 1989, reflecting the characteristic feature of relations between the localities of the two countries and has become a pillar in the current Vietnam-France Strategic Partnership. This relationship contributes to creating a distinctive feature, providing additional channels for relations with elected representatives from political parties and local governments within the overall framework of bilateral relations.
ATTRACTION OF A NEW VIETNAM
What Vietnam has demonstrated, from the courageous struggle for national liberation to resilience, innovation, and success in nation-building and development, as well as its faithful, peaceful, independent, and trustworthy foreign policy, always open and responsible, continues to create a strong attraction for the French people. In addition, between Vietnam and France, there exists a highly diverse system of partnerships spread evenly across all levels, from central to local, from ministries to enterprises, from associations to cultural and educational institutions.
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| On February 25, 2023, Vietnamese Ambassador to France Dinh Toan Thang and delegates attended a memorial service and honoring ceremony for female French communist Raymonde Dien, who courageously laid across the tracks at Saint Pierre station. des Corps to stop a train carrying weapons to Indochina on February 23, 1950. |
The foreign policies of the two countries intersect at crucial points. France is a key power in Europe, actively asserting its global role, with significant interests and influence in Asia. Vietnam is a rapidly developing, dynamic economy with nearly 100 million people, playing a crucial role in ASEAN and East Asia. The two countries also share many views and similar interests on international issues, sharing a common vision of a multipolar and multilateral world, adhering to the United Nations Charter, and committing to the respect of the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political systems of each country.
France is one of the leading countries globally in ecological transition, shifting towards a low-emission economy, and is also a significant player contributing to climate finance. Currently, France is prioritizing support for Vietnam in coping with climate change, including areas of cooperation where France has strengths such as infrastructure, energy transition, transportation, sustainable infrastructure, green technology, etc. In the framework of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), the French Development Agency has committed to supporting Vietnam with at least 500 million euros.
In addition, the geo-political shifts and economic challenges in the global economy are currently impacting the resources and policies of both countries to some extent. In this context, partners from both sides need to make efforts and implement swift measures to chart a course that can effectively meet the increasingly urgent and diverse demands faced by both countries.
BELIEF IN THE FUTURE
The achievements in Vietnam-France cooperation are due to the enthusiastic response from associations, communities, friends, and French partners; it is the sharing and empathy of all strata of the people, the supportive groups of Vietnam in France.
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| On November 3, 2018, Mr. Jacques Allaire, 94 years old, a former French Army officer who fought in the battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, stood before a stone plaque commemorating the Vietnamese martyrs who sacrificed in the Dien Bien Phu campaign. This was his third visit to Vietnam. |
The determination and aspiration to further enhance the Vietnam-France Strategic Partnership have been demonstrated through the phone talks between General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Emmanuel Macron in October 2023, as well as the meeting at COP28 between Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and President Emmanuel Macron in December 2023. The leaders of the two countries agreed that both sides need to coordinate more effectively and comprehensively in all areas, from economic cooperation, security-defense, trade, and investment, to science and technology, education and training, innovation, digital transformation, green transition, culture, and people-to-people exchanges.
History is an unforgettable link between the two countries, but it is also the foundation to promote further Vietnam-France cooperation, for the present and the long-term future. It can be said that we are facing many opportunities to elevate Vietnam-France cooperation to new heights.
The determination of the leadership, the support of all strata of the population, and the active engagements of partners across all sectors are giving us confidence in a deep and effective development of the Vietnam-France relationship in the future. This relationship will help both countries continue to build their strength and position in a world undergoing many changes and in great need of enhanced cooperation to address common challenges related to development and stability jointly.
