Vietnam attaches great importance to its strategic partnership with France and considers the relationship part of its independent, self-reliant, friendly, and cooperative foreign policy.

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong and France’s President of the Senate Gerard Larcher. Source: VNA

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong stressed the view during a meeting with France’s President of the Senate Gerard Larcher on December 8.

At the meeting, Trong welcomed the guest whose visit takes place while the two countries are heading towards the  50^th anniversary of diplomatic relations and the 10^th anniversary of the strategic partnership in 2023.

Vietnam’s Party chief welcomed the strong progress of bilateral relations in all spheres, including politics, economy, culture, decentralized cooperation, and people-to-people diplomacy, with a significant contribution from the Vietnamese community of around 350,000 people in France.

Trong called for both sides to take the partnership to a new height to bring mutual benefits for the two peoples, contributing to peace, cooperation, and development in the region and the world.

For his part, Larcher congratulated Vietnam’s socio-economic achievements under the leadership of Party General Secretary Trong.

He noted the bilateral strategic partnership is progressing positively in all spheres, with France looking to deepen the relations by pushing for cooperation in new fields, including digital technologies, digitalization, green transition, renewables, climate change response, and security.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the French President of the Senate.

Economic cooperation as a major pillar in bilateral relations

On the same day, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh held a  meeting with France’s Senate President Gerard Larcher.

The Vietnamese prime minister called for both sides to strengthen all-level exchanges to contribute to bilateral cooperation, especially in the economy, trade, and investment.

Chinh highlighted the huge potential of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) for mutual benefits and suggested France continue opening its market for Vietnam’s exports, especially farm produce. “Vietnam encourages French companies to invest in the country in fields of their expertise, such as digitalization, green transition, and renewables,” Chinh said.

In particular, Chinh expected France soon to ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) to facilitate investment cooperation between the two countries.

Chinh also pointed out Vietnam’s efforts in responding to the European Commission (EC)’s recommendations on stopping illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing for sustainable aquaculture development and asked France to work with the EC for the soon lifting of its IUU yellow card on Vietnam’s seafood products.

Overview of the meeting.

Chinh called for France to give more scholarships to Vietnamese students and support the country in cultural activities, including the preservation of French heritages and those recognized by UNESCO in Vietnam.

According to Chinh, Vietnam is among a handful of the most vulnerable countries to climate change and sea level rise, as such support from the global community, including France, is essential for Vietnam to ensure a sustainable future.

Larcher reiterated the importance of Vietnam in France’s foreign policy, saying the latter is committed to further pushing for substantial and effective bilateral relations.

In this context, he shared the prime minister’s view that economic cooperation is the center of the partnership.

Larcher thanked the Vietnamese Government’s efforts for supporting French companies operating in Vietnam for mutual benefits and would continue to support Vietnam in boosting its economic cooperation with the EU. He said that France is looking to cooperate with Vietnam in fields of high interest, such as agriculture, food security, transportation, culture, education training, and preservation of cultural works.

Larcher also noted France would work with other partners to push for the soon ratification of the EVIPA and resolve the IUU yellow card on Vietnam.

With climate change and rising sea levels seen as a global issue, Larcher said France would support Vietnam in both bilateral and multilateral means to promote sustainable development.

Both sides shared the view to ensure security, stability, peace, and freedom of navigation on the East Sea, calling for the settlement of territorial disputes via peaceful means and international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).