Economic Diplomacy 2025: Turning the tide, unlocking resources, creating new development spaces
WVR - The year 2025 holds foundational significance as it sets the stage for the nation to advance rapidly and robustly into a new era of development. Amidst a world full of upheavals and unprecedented challenges from natural disasters, economic diplomacy has demonstrated its role as a central driving force, not only contributing to "turning the tide" but also creating sustainable values for the future.
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The year 2025 holds foundational significance as it sets the stage for the nation to advance rapidly and robustly into a new era of development. Amidst a world full of upheavals and unprecedented domestic challenges from natural disasters, economic diplomacy has demonstrated its role as a central driving force, not only contributing to "turning the tide" but also creating sustainable values for the future.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyễn Minh Hằng shared this in an exchange with World and Vietnam Report when reflecting on this breakthrough journey.
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| Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Hang. |
Looking back at the achievements of 2025, how does the Deputy Minister assess the role and contributions of economic diplomacy to the country's growth and development?
In 2025, the world continued to undergo rapid, profound, and unpredictable changes; global economic growth slowed, and instability risks increased; strategic competition intensified; tariff policies and trade protectionism rose; supply chain and value chain restructuring, fragmentation trends in trade, technology, green development standards, and digitalization became more apparent. Domestically, unprecedented natural disasters and storms caused severe damage, making development challenges require more management acumen and adaptability than ever.
In this context, economic diplomacy closely followed the directives of the Party, State, and Government, implementing comprehensive, methodical, and decisive measures both in breadth and depth, achieving significant results characterized by "state transformation, turning the tide" as Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh evaluated at the Conference on summarizing economic diplomacy in 2025 on January 10, 2026.
It can be said that 2025 was a year when economic diplomacy maintained a proactive stance amidst fluctuations, created momentum in difficulties, and laid the foundation for breakthroughs, effectively contributing to growth goals, consolidating trust, and expanding development space. Economic diplomacy has innovated its mindset from advancing with growth to pioneering in creating development opportunities, establishing strategic space, generating resources, and laying the groundwork for deeper integration into the global value chain.
The most significant highlight is the elevation of strategic positioning, creating political-diplomatic leverage and opening up new cooperation opportunities. Over the past year, we have conducted 75 diplomatic activities of key leaders, upgraded relations with 17 countries, and signed a record 350 cooperation agreements, a significant increase of 2.5 times compared to 2024, focusing on economy, trade, investment, science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation.
These are not just signed documents but the establishment of unprecedented favorable political-economic spaces with leading partners, creating a crucial basis for attracting high-quality investment, expanding sustainable markets, and enhancing access to and ownership of technology, thereby boosting the economy's potential and competitiveness.
Secondly, contributing to breakthroughs in economic capacity. In 2025, Vietnam officially entered the group of the world's top 15 trading nations with total import-export turnover exceeding 930 billion USD. Diplomacy played a "pioneering" role in allowing a range of key agricultural products like durian, bird's nest, and passion fruit to penetrate deeply into the Chinese market, addressing tariff issues with the United States, placing Vietnam in the priority group for negotiating fair trade agreements; actively expanding markets, creating breakthroughs in some new, potential markets like Latin America, Middle East - Africa, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, Halal; advocating for the opening of numerous new international direct flights, even amidst complex geopolitical contexts, contributing to an impressive tourism growth result of 21.5 million international visitors, the highest ever.
Thirdly, an important "state transformation" highlight is science and technology diplomacy, advancing in various aspects, from policy development, framework establishment, connecting business and investment opportunities both domestically and internationally, enhancing multilateral cooperation, leveraging knowledge networks, contributing to the development of 11 strategic technology groups, making substantial contributions to the implementation of the Politburo's Resolution 57.
The economic, science, and technology content has become the focus of foreign activities, especially high-level diplomacy, creating strong momentum for Vietnam's economic, trade, and science and technology relations with partners. As a result, we have gradually established strategic links in future technology sectors. The establishment of R&D centers for artificial intelligence and semiconductors by corporations like NVIDIA, Qualcomm, Samsung in Vietnam, Dassault Systèmes opening an R&D Center and Center of Excellence for digital twins and AI; ASML considering opening a representative office, expressing commitment to support training, research, and development of semiconductor chips; Viettel commencing construction of Vietnam's first high-tech semiconductor chip manufacturing plant is a recognition of our country's potential and new position in the global value chain.
In terms of institutional and orientation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued the Plan for implementing science and technology diplomacy until 2030 and is submitting to the Government the Strategy for international cooperation on strategic technologies until 2030, with a vision to 2045. The overarching spirit is to make science and technology diplomacy, innovation a priority focus of foreign affairs serving development.
Another point to emphasize is that Economic Diplomacy has become more substantive in supporting and connecting localities and businesses. The promotion of Vietnamese product brands has seen significant changes. In 2025, Vietnamese representative agencies abroad conducted nearly 500 trade-investment-tourism promotion activities; supported localities in organizing over 150 activities; connected localities to sign about 100 cooperation agreements with international partners. Diplomacy has "accompanied" localities and businesses in removing bottlenecks, opening access channels, and bringing Vietnamese goods, brands, and products closer to key and emerging markets.
Looking ahead to 2026, what prominent international trends does the Deputy Minister foresee? How will these trends impact the economies of nations in the coming time?
We are entering a new development phase with a different position and strength, with very high development goals in a world and regional context that continues to undergo fundamental and profound transformations, shaping new trends. It is clear that the trend of slower growth, potential instability due to conflicts, tariff policies, policy adjustments by countries, competition for resources, markets, technology, and high-quality human resources is evident.
Technological innovation is happening very quickly, and the trend of technological separation both facilitates countries to take shortened development steps but also makes it difficult to access advanced technology, posing a significant risk of lagging behind. The process of globalization and international integration continues, but the trend of increasing protectionism, separation, fragmentation, clustering, and inequality; geo-economic-political competition is becoming more intense, especially in the Asia-Pacific, Southeast Asia, increasing pressure on medium and small countries. Traditional and non-traditional security issues are increasingly impacting the security and development of many countries.
The year 2026 is a strategically significant time for the nation, marking the first year of implementing the 14th Party Congress Resolution and the 2026-2030 socio-economic development plan, initially establishing the development model and long-term growth trajectory of the country towards achieving the two strategic 100-year goals. With the foundation, potential, position, and international reputation accumulated over time, along with strategic revolutionary decisions being implemented decisively, our country stands at a new turning point, a new opportunity in history to strive for acceleration, breakthrough, and advance higher, further, and more firmly into a new era of prosperity, civilization, and happiness.
The 14th Party Congress Resolution sets the requirement for foreign affairs and international integration to play a pioneering and creative role, along with national defense and security as "key, regular tasks" and "promoting the comprehensive foreign strategy at a new height", contributing to the world economy, global politics, and human civilization.
What should Vietnam's economic diplomacy do in this context, Deputy Minister?
The new context, new potential, and new expectations pose new tasks and requirements, demanding that economic diplomacy, or more broadly, foreign affairs serving development, must continuously innovate in thinking, be sensitive and decisive in implementation; be creative and breakthrough in approach; and be consistent with the principle of putting national interests first, serving businesses and the people as the center.
Accordingly, the action motto of economic diplomacy in 2026 should be to Create new development spaces; Connect strategic resources and Verify through effective implementation, determined to accelerate the implementation of the Party's new perspectives and policies, especially the directions of the 14th Congress and the Party, National Assembly, Government Resolutions, Politburo Resolution 59, National Assembly Resolution 250 on international integration; transforming strategic orientations into specific, substantial, and measurable results.
Firstly, create new development spaces, in terms of markets, technology, capital, energy, and supply chains. Creating also means positioning Vietnam in future value chains, on the global technology map in key areas (AI, semiconductors, data, green technology, new energy...).
Secondly, connect strategic resources for development, including connecting partners, projects; connecting central with local and businesses; connecting knowledge and resources of overseas Vietnamese.
Thirdly, verify and measure results, follow up, and expedite implementation. This is the "effectiveness measure" of economic diplomacy. Verification begins with progress commitments, verifying documents through projects, verifying declarations through actions. We need to continue to enhance the effectiveness of mechanisms for reviewing, expediting, and monitoring the implementation of signed agreements; clearly identify focal points, timelines, and responsibilities; promptly address obstacles, protect the legitimate interests of businesses, localities, and people. Verification also means measuring output effectiveness through specific markets, projects, and technologies connected, with strategic significance and high feasibility.
What message does the Deputy Minister wish to convey for 2026?
In my view, 2026 will be the year when economic diplomacy shifts strongly from "pioneering" to "creating development", from "connecting opportunities" to "connecting strategic resources", from "commitment" to "verifying effectiveness".
We have a broad foreign relations foundation with a network of 17 free trade agreements, diplomatic relations with 194 countries, having established comprehensive partnership frameworks with 42 countries, including 17 G20 members, and comprehensive strategic partnerships with all five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. But that foundation only holds significance when it is transformed into specific values, high-quality investment projects, sustainable export markets, technology, and knowledge serving innovation, ensuring safe supply chains, enhancing the competitiveness of Vietnamese enterprises, and the international position of the country in the region and the world.
Entering a new development phase, amidst more difficulties and challenges, we need more determination, steadfastness, proactivity, and decisiveness. Create – Connect – Verify is not just a slogan, but a discipline of action. Create to open up the future, connect to turn opportunities into resources, and verify to ensure that all foreign efforts serve the practical interests of the country, the people, and businesses.
I believe that with the attention, leadership, and close direction of the Party, State, and Government, with the spirit of solidarity, unity, with the determination to innovate and the strong involvement of the entire political system, economic diplomacy in 2026 will create new momentum for Vietnam to accelerate, breakthrough, advance rapidly, strongly, and steadily in the era of rising, contributing to realizing the aspiration for a powerful, prosperous nation.
Thank you, Deputy Minister!
Produced by: Minh Anh; Design: Lim Dim; Image sources: VNA, VGP, baoquocte.vn, VOV, Daibieunhandan, Nhandan…
