General Secretary, President To Lam's visit to Ireland advances cooperation with 'Silicon Valley of Europe': Irish Ambassador
WVR - On the occasion Party General Secretary and State President To Lam leading the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation pays a State visit to Ireland, Irish Ambassador to Vietnam Deirdre Ní Fhallúin shared her expectations for the visit and highlighted potential areas of cooperation between the two countries.
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| Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Sơn (then Minister of Foreign Affairs) met with Irish President Michael D. Higgins during his official visit to Ireland in February 2024. (Source: VNA) |
Party General Secretary and President To Lam leading the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to pay a State visit to Ireland. Could you please share the context of the relationship between the two countries and the significances of the visit?
Ireland’s Embassy in Vietnam was established in 2005 and since then our two countries have shared a warm relationship, underpinned by our development cooperation programme. Much of our focus has been on supporting ethnic minority communities in Vietnam and on humanitarian mine assistance – working with partners to clear affected land, raise awareness of mines in schools, and support people who have been disabled by unexploded ordnance.
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| Irish Ambassador to Vietnam Deirdre Ní Fhallúin. (Photo: Irish Embassy to Vietnam) |
Recently, as Vietnam’s economy has continued its impressive growth, we have increased our bilateral cooperation in the areas of agriculture, food systems, and higher education, focusing on technical support and capacity building, and on building institutional links between our two countries
Our President, Michael D. Higgins, undertook a State Visit to Vietnam in 2016. I know that this visit is still fondly remembered in both countries, so we are delighted that the return State Visit of General Secretary, President To Lam to Ireland is now taking place, marking our countries’ deepening relationship.
After nearly 30 years of establishing diplomatic relations, the two countries have seen many positive results in bilateral cooperation. What are notable highlights in the cooperative relationship between the two countries in recent times?
At the Embassy, we’re very proud of our long development cooperation programme with Vietnam, particularly our focus on working with ethnic minorities, and humanitarian mine assistance, and also our programmes on nutrition and maternal health, and our growing work on increasing resilience to climate change. We were proud recently to be able to provide €250,000 in humanitarian funding for the response to the impact of Typhoon Yagi, which has had a devastating impact in northern Vietnam. That funding is supporting the work of UNICEF providing immediate assistance in the form of clean water and hygiene to affected families.
It is great to see the bilateral relationship between Ireland and Vietnam evolving in the years since we established our Embassy, as we seek to increase our cooperation in other areas such as education and agrifood, as well as to increase trade between our two countries. The relationship between Ireland and Vietnam will continue to evolve and develop with a positive trajectory. The State Visit of President Michael D. Higgins to Vietnam nearly a decade ago was an important milestone in our bilateral relationship. General Secretary, President To Lam’s visit marks another significant step, and I am delighted that this return visit is now taking place. I am looking forward to continuing my work to further deepen and strengthen our ties during my time as Ambassador.
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| Irish Ambassador Deirdre Ní Fhallúin and UNICEF Representative Silvia Danailov signed a Memorandum of Understanding for Ireland's Emergency Response Funding Programme in response to Typhoon Yagi, September 18. (Source: UNICEF) |
It is said that Ireland has strengths in many areas such as education and training, financial services, insurance, information technology, green technology, renewable energy... What are your comments on the potentials for cooperation between the two countries in the coming time?
Ireland was not a developed country until relatively recently - we experienced rapid development and economic growth in the latter half of the last century. We’re now often called ‘The Silicon Valley of Europe’, recognised globally as a centre for pharmaceuticals, technology (Ireland is home to the European headquarters of many big tech companies such as Meta and Google), and high quality education.
From our own development journey, we know how important education is for a country’s development. We have supported Vietnamese students to undertake fully-funded Masters degrees in Ireland under our scholarship scheme the Ireland Fellows Programme. These students return to Vietnam with high quality education and experience, and hopefully a lifelong connection to Ireland.
The Embassy is also increasing cooperation between universities and institutes in our two countries to share experience and build capacity in areas such as agriculture and agrifood, which are priority fields for both Ireland and Vietnam. The Ireland -Vietnam Agrifood Partnership (IVAP) is a great example of our strong collaboration in this area.
Ireland is a small island – we also face the growing and urgent challenge of climate change. We must tackle this challenge together and we are increasing our climate resilience work in rural communities in Vietnam and to deepening university cooperation and research in the areas of climate change and sustainability.
Ireland is implementing the strategy “The Global Ireland: Delivering in the Asia Pacific Region to 2025”. In your opinion, what are Vietnam’s roles in this such important strategy and efforts that the two sides should make to further promote cooperation, especially potential areas?
Southeast Asia is growing in importance, economically and politically. Recognising this, Ireland has significantly increased our presence in this region under our Asia Pacific Strategy. For example, just a decade ago we had three Embassies in Southeast Asia. We now have double that amount, with our latest Embassy in Manila opening a few years ago. As an EU country, the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement presents a significant opportunity for Ireland to boost its trade links with Vietnam, as Vietnam continues its impressive economic growth. The upcoming State Visit will provide us with the opportunity to advance trade cooperation between our two countries, as well as to raise visibility of Ireland here in Vietnam.
Diplomatically, Ireland and Vietnam share a common commitment to the multilateral system and to a rules-based order, and we look forward to continuing to work together at bodies such as the UN on our shared interests. Our two countries also share a proud history of active engagement in UN Peacekeeping.
People-to-people links are an important aspect of our relationship. Many Irish people have moved to Vietnam to live and work, particularly in the area of education, and they are great ambassadors of our sport and culture. Thousands more Irish people visit Vietnam as tourists each year – an estimated 23.000 came in 2023. We hope to see Ireland’s visibility in this part of the world increase over the coming years, and that the personal links between our countries, as well as our knowledge of each other’s culture, will increase also.
The visit of Irish President Michael D. Higgins to Vietnam in 2016 achieved active results with good impression by both sides. Could you please share us about the impressions of the President, the Irish people and the yourself about Vietnam?
The visit of President Michael D. Higgins to Vietnam in 2016 is still fondly remembered by both sides, including in the Embassy. While he was here, the President visited Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Quang Tri, and Ha Long, and I know he was impressed by the beautiful countryside of Vietnam. As the President himself remarked during the visit, although geographically we are quite far apart, Ireland and Vietnam share a common history of oppression and struggle for independence. This is something about the relationship that resonates with people home in Ireland when they think of Vietnam. We hope General Secretary, President To Lam will be left with similar good impressions of Ireland after he completes his visit.
As I said previously, we see tens of thousands of Irish tourists visiting Vietnam each year who are drawn to its beautiful natural landscape, dynamic cities, interesting culture and history, and fantastic food. The good memories of their holidays here stay with them once they return home.
For myself, now over a year into my posting as Irish Ambassador to Vietnam, I have to say that what strikes me most is the truly impressive pace and scale of Vietnam’s development, as well as the dynamism and energy of its cities and talented young people.
