Hung Yen's comprehensive external relations open new development space

Political diplomacy of Hung Yen: Affirming position, expanding partnerships

In 2025, Hung Yen's political diplomacy was proactively and extensively implemented with numerous high-level receptions and meetings, laying a solid foundation for comprehensive cooperation with international partners.

At the beginning of 2025, within the framework of the Homeland Spring 2025 program, Hung Yen organized meetings with delegations of prominent overseas Vietnamese from 32 countries and territories visiting their homeland. Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Nguyen Le Huy, emphasized the role of the Vietnamese community abroad—currently over 8,000 Hung Yen natives living, studying, and working in 33 countries—as a vital resource and a cultural and economic bridge between the province and the world.​

One of the most notable political diplomacy events was the "Meet Korea 2025" conference held on May 14, 2025, at Ecopark Urban Area (Van Giang, Hung Yen). This large-scale event was co-organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Republic of Korea Embassy in Vietnam, and Hung Yen Provincial People's Committee, with the participation of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, Hung Yen Party Secretary Nguyen Huu Nghia, Republic of Korea Ambassador Choi Youngsam, and over 500 representatives from 25 northern provinces and cities, along with more than 150 Korean enterprises.​

During the meeting with the Korean Ambassador on the same day, Party Secretary Nguyen Huu Nghia affirmed that the cooperation between Hung Yen and Korea is thriving with 162 FDI projects from Republic of Korea, totaling 1.46 billion USD, creating jobs for nearly 25,000 workers. The province views Republic of Korea as a potential strategic partner in various fields and is committed to providing the most favorable conditions for investors.​​

Expanding relations with traditional partners, Hung Yen has proactively engaged with many high-level diplomatic delegations. On July 31, 2025, the Provincial Party Secretary met with the Japanese Communist Party delegation led by Vice Chairman of the Presidium, Acting Secretary-General Tanaka Yu, emphasizing the desire to continue expanding friendly relations and investment cooperation with Japanese localities, the leading partner in terms of FDI projects in Hung Yen with 192 projects and over 6.16 billion USD in registered capital.​

On the afternoon of October 13, 2025, the Provincial People's Committee met with the Vietnamese Embassy in Portugal, led by Ambassador Nguyen Manh Thang, along with the President of the Portugal-Vietnam Friendship Association, to explore new cooperation opportunities in processing industries, high technology, and renewable energy. These diplomatic receptions not only demonstrate Hung Yen's openness and proactivity in international integration but also create a solid legal and political foundation for subsequent economic, trade, and investment cooperation activities.​

Mr. Nguyen Le Huy, Permanent Vice Chairman of Hung Yen Province, speaking at the Homeland Spring 2025 Program in Hung Yen.

Economic diplomacy: Breakthrough in investment attraction, affirming FDI hub status

Economic diplomacy was the most prominent highlight in Hung Yen's foreign affairs in 2025, with impressive figures in attracting foreign investment and vibrant investment promotion activities.

From the beginning of the year to August 2025, Hung Yen attracted over 6.3 billion USD from 243 new and expanded investment projects, including 99 FDI projects with nearly 1.6 billion USD. In the first seven months alone, the province attracted 91 new FDI projects with a total capital of over 1.33 billion USD, a 36% increase compared to the same period, propelling Hung Yen to the sixth position nationwide in foreign investment attraction.​

As of October 2025, the province had 915 valid FDI projects with a total registered capital of 16.48 billion USD. The three largest investors were Japan (192 projects, 6.13 billion USD, accounting for 37.21%), China (340 projects, 4.31 billion USD, accounting for 26.13%), and Korea (206 projects, 2.19 billion USD, accounting for 13.29%).​

A special highlight is the emergence of large-scale, iconic projects such as the Trump International Hung Yen eco-tourism urban complex in Khoai Chau district, with a total capital of over 1.5 billion USD—the first Trump-branded project in Vietnam, commenced in May 2025. The presence of multinational corporations such as Hyundai, Canon, Toto, Inax, Dorco, Sumitomo, and CTP (Netherlands) has solidified Hung Yen's position on the international investment map.​

Not only receiving, but Hung Yen also proactively "seeks" investment opportunities through overseas promotion activities. On September 10, 2025, in Foshan City (China), the provincial working group organized an investment promotion conference in collaboration with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade - Foshan Branch and the Foshan Small and Medium Enterprise Development Association. Here, many important memoranda of understanding (MOUs) were signed, especially between Hai Long Industrial Park and Chinese partners, covering investment connectivity, legal support, and construction.​

Following this, on the morning of October 23, 2025, the provincial investment promotion delegation, led by Nguyen Quang Hung, Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee and Chairman of the Provincial Party Inspection Committee, organized an investment promotion conference in Shanghai (China) with the participation of nearly 100 enterprises. Shanghai businesses expressed particular interest in the fields of automotive component manufacturing, semiconductor industry, renewable energy, and green materials. Representatives from Hung Yen's departments directly addressed specific issues regarding preferential policies, infrastructure, and procedural processes, demonstrating the locality's professionalism and transparency.​

Chairman of the Hung Yen Provincial People's Committee Tran Quoc Van and a representative of Sumitomo Corporation (Japan) exchanged a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation to promote the Thang Long II Industrial Park project, Phase 4.

In February 2025, Hung Yen organized a program titled "Meeting, Exploring Cooperation, Investment, and Trade Promotion Opportunities between Japanese Enterprises and Hung Yen Enterprises" for the Japanese market. In September 2025, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Tran Quoc Van and the working delegation conducted a series of investment promotion activities in the Kansai region and Tokyo, affirming that investment attraction is one of the three key breakthroughs of the province.​

One of the crucial factors for success in attracting FDI is Hung Yen's administrative reform efforts. In 2024, the former Hung Yen province entered the top 10 nationwide for the first time in the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI), scoring 70.18 points, a 43-place increase from 2020. Notably, in the first eight months of 2025, Hung Yen rose to the top nationwide in PCI, reflecting significant improvements in the investment environment.​

The province has reduced processing time for procedures by at least 30% while supporting businesses throughout the project lifecycle, creating a transparent, open, and efficient investment environment. The "open - integration - companionship" policy has made Hung Yen a highlight on the investment attraction map of the Northern Key Economic Region.​

On October 8, 2025, the Hung Yen Provincial Business Association organized the 2025 Trade Promotion Conference, which drew over 300 businesses from within and outside the province. Here, representatives of business associations from provinces and cities signed memorandums of understanding on product consumption cooperation programs and market expansion. Nearly 30 booths showcased the province's signature products, especially food, pharmaceuticals, electrical and electronic equipment, creating opportunities for business connections between Hung Yen and other localities.​

Cultural diplomacy: Preserving identity, expanding international exchanges

Alongside political and economic diplomacy, Hung Yen's cultural diplomacy in 2025 also received significant investment, contributing to the promotion of the locality's image and cultural identity to the world.

From February 17 to 19, 2025 (20-22 of the first lunar month), Hung Yen City solemnly organized the Pho Hien Folk Culture Festival 2025, with the theme "Three Rivers Converge – Essence Radiates." The festival was held on a large scale at Nguyen Van Linh Square, the campus of the Pho Hien National Special Relic Management Board, and the Ban Nguyet Lake campus, gathering hundreds of professional actors and artists.​

The program recreated the history of Pho Hien - "First Kinh Ky, second Pho Hien" with unique activities such as the water procession from the Red River, palanquin procession, incense offering, dragon dance, lion dance, folk games (tug of war, chess, human chess, lemon passing, sack jumping), and a cultural heritage photo exhibition. Thousands of domestic and international tourists flocked to attend, contributing to the promotion of Hung Yen as an attractive cultural and tourism destination.

From October 30 to November 4, 2025 (10-15 of the ninth lunar month), the province continued to organize the Keo Pagoda Autumn Festival 2025 at the Keo Pagoda National Special Relic, Vu Tien Commune. The festival included two parts: the Ceremony (with traditional rituals such as the opening ceremony, procession of the Holy Saint, puppet show, lantern festival, and Mother Goddess worship rituals) and the Festival (boat singing, cheo club exchanges, phoenix-winged betel leaf offerings, Keo Pagoda art photography exhibition, and chess).​

Dragon Dance at the opening ceremony of the Pho Hien Folk Festival, Hung Yen City, Hung Yen Province.

In June 2025, the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism decided to announce three more typical cultural forms of Hung Yen to be included in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List, including: the traditional festival of Lang (Thu Tri Commune), the traditional festival of Ong Pagoda (Nhu Quynh Commune), and the folk knowledge of raising and processing Dong Tao chickens (Hoan Long Commune). Thus, Hung Yen now has 27 national intangible cultural heritages, affirming its position as a locality with a large cultural heritage of the country.​

The Tran Temple Festival (Long Hung Commune) - a national intangible cultural heritage since 2014 - continues to be held from the 13th to the 17th of the first lunar month each year with many traditional folk games and performances such as fish tray competition, earth cannon, making banh chung, phoenix-winged betel leaf offerings, ball wrestling, chess, fire cooking competition, tug of war, van singing festival, and cheo club exchanges. This is not only an occasion for people and tourists to worship but also contributes to the development of spiritual cultural tourism in the province.​

In October 2025, Hung Yen, in Hanoi, participated in the Autumn Fair 2025 - an event organized for the first time. With an exhibition area of over 200m² under the theme "Integration and Development", the province presented a colorful picture of potential, strengths, and efforts in innovation and brand building. More than 20 enterprises and production facilities participated in displaying handicrafts, local specialties, typical industrial products, and OCOP products.​

Particularly, Nam Cao silk products (Nam Cao Silk Weaving Cooperative, Le Loi Commune) - a traditional craft nearly 400 years old - attracted the attention of many visitors, showcasing efforts to "revive" the craft village amidst the flow of modern society.​

From October 25 to November 15, 2025, the Hung Yen Museum hosted the exhibition "Treasures of Vietnamese Buddhist Art," featuring 21 precious artifacts that allowed visitors to admire the beauty of art and the spirituality of Vietnamese Buddhist culture. This was also an opportunity for Hung Yen to promote the image of a land rich in cultural traditions to the international tourist community.​

On October 29, 2025, the province hosted the Hung Yen Science, Technology, Innovation, and Digital Transformation Forum 2025 at the Provincial Information and Conference Center, with the theme "Promoting Innovation and Sustainable Economic Development." This large-scale event brought together numerous leaders, experts, businesses, and prominent technology organizations from within and outside the country, reflecting the province's deep integration orientation in the field of science and technology.​

Development directions and recommendations for future foreign affairs

After merging with Thai Binh on July 1, 2025, the new Hung Yen province spans an area of over 2,514 km², with a population of more than 3.56 million people across 104 commune-level administrative units. This is a stable administrative entity with superior potential, boasting a large economic scale that combines industry, services, a coastal economy, and tourism. The first Congress of the Hung Yen Provincial Party Committee (2025-2030 term) set the goal: "Building Hung Yen into a modern industrial province, developing rapidly and sustainably, with economic scale and development level among the leading group in the country".​

In the 2025-2030 period, the province aims for an average annual GDP growth rate of 10-11%, with per capita GDP reaching over 180 million VND by 2030, and a GDP scale of approximately 600 trillion VND. Three strategic breakthroughs have been identified: developing science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation in tandem with strong private economic development; synchronously developing infrastructure, especially digital infrastructure and inter-regional transportation connectivity; and building high-quality human resources.​

The first Congress of the Hung Yen Provincial Party Committee (2025-2030 term) set the goal: "Building Hung Yen into a modern industrial province, developing rapidly and sustainably, with economic scale and development level among the leading group in the country".​

In terms of political diplomacy, Hung Yen aims to continue strengthening relations with traditional partners such as Republic of Korea, Japan, and China, while expanding relations with European countries (the Netherlands, Portugal) and the ASEAN region. Additionally, the province aims to leverage the role of the Hung Yen community abroad in people-to-people diplomacy, creating a bridge for economic and cultural cooperation, while actively participating in international forums and conferences on economics, trade, investment, and science and technology to promote the province's image.

In economic diplomacy, the province prioritizes attracting high-quality, high-tech, environmentally friendly FDI projects in processing and manufacturing industries; the semiconductor industry, automotive components; clean energy, renewable energy; digital government development, digital economy; high-tech agriculture; and logistics. Hung Yen also intensifies investment promotion activities in key markets such as Japan, Republic of Korea, China, ASEAN, Europe, and the US; considers establishing the Hung Yen Free Economic Zone based on the current Thai Binh Economic Zone to create a breakthrough in investment attraction, alongside continuing to improve the investment environment, maintaining and enhancing the leading position in PCI, and reducing administrative procedure processing time.

In cultural diplomacy, Hung Yen focuses on building the brand "Hung Yen - Land of Cultural Heritage and Prosperity" through international promotion programs, regularly organizing large-scale cultural festivals, promoting Hung Yen's cultural identity to international tourists, as well as strengthening the conservation and promotion of the value of 27 national intangible cultural heritages, linked with the development of cultural and spiritual tourism.

With the achievements from early 2025 to date, Hung Yen's external relations have made significant contributions to the comprehensive development of the locality. From this solid foundation, in the context of expanded development space after the merger, Hung Yen has the full potential and determination to become one of the leading modern industrial, service, and cultural centers of the Red River Delta region, contributing to the common prosperity of the country in the new era—the era of Vietnam's national resurgence.

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