May 27, 2025
HANOI – Việt Nam and France should leverage their shared advantages to jointly respond to global challenges and emerging issues in the region, said State President Lương Cường during official talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Hà Nội on Monday.
Macron’s official visit to Việt Nam from May 25-27 is the first by a French President in the last decade and the first since the two countries upgraded their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in October 2024.
With France being the first European Union (EU) country to establish such a partnership with Việt Nam, President Cường underscored the importance of France in the Southeast Asian nation’s foreign policy.
Việt Nam aims to strengthen multifaceted cooperation with France and supports the European country’s role in international organisations such as the United Nations (UN) and the Francophonie.
Congratulating Việt Nam on its growing international standing, Macron affirmed France’s intention to strengthen cooperation with Việt Nam in traditional aspects such as healthcare, culture, education, agriculture and climate change adaptation, as well as new areas including infrastructure, urban transport, aerospace and new energy, in alignment with the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
Discussing key cooperation directions for the near future, the two sides agreed to increase high-level exchanges and effectively implement existing cooperation mechanisms.
They also intended to explore new areas of cooperation and enhance coordination at regional and international forums.
The two state leaders agreed to continue implementing signed agreements in the defence and security fields, particularly joint efforts against transnational crime.
On this occasion, President Cường invited senior French leaders to attend the signing ceremony for the UN cybercrime convention, to be held in Hà Nội in October this year.
Regarding economic cooperation, the Vietnamese and French presidents agreed to promote trade and investment ties and to effectively implement the EU–Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).
France will soon work to accelerate the ratification of the EU–Việt Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) and urge the removal of the European Commission’s ‘yellow card’ warning on Việt Nam’s fisheries sector, facilitating the Southeast Asian country’s seafood exports to France and the EU.
The two countries also plan to elevate cooperation in science and technology, innovation, artificial intelligence, semiconductors and digital transformation, especially in training high-quality human resources, research collaboration, fostering technology transfer, and investments in digital infrastructure.
In addition to traditional cooperation aspects, Việt Nam requests France’s continued support through official development assistance (ODA) and concessional loans for climate resilience and human resources development in the energy sector. France has also pledged to support Việt Nam in implementing specific projects under the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP).
Discussing regional and international issues of mutual concern, President Cường reiterated Việt Nam’s consistent ‘four no’s’ defence policy in international relations. Both French and Vietnamese leaders emphasised the essential role of multilateralism with the UN at its core.
President Macron also expressed France’s support for ASEAN’s position on the East Sea (internationally known as the South China Sea).
Both leaders underscored that the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) serves as the comprehensive legal framework governing all maritime and ocean activities and cooperation.
They reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining peace, stability, security and freedom of navigation and overflight in the region, resolving disputes through peaceful means based on international law, and supporting efforts to soon finalise an effective and substantive Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea, consistent with international law and especially the 1982 UNCLOS.
Thanking the French government for its continued support towards the Vietnamese community in France, President Cường also requested that the European country soon confirm the organisation of the 13th local cooperation conference between Việt Nam and France.
Following their talks, the two presidents witnessed the exchange of more than 10 bilateral cooperation documents between the two countries, including those on defence and security, archival work, justice, agriculture and the environment, transport, science and technology, peaceful use of nuclear energy, climate change adaptation, return of citizens, aerospace, civil aviation, power transmission, seaport use, and vaccine technology.
On the same day, the French President also met Party General Secretary Tô Lâm and National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn.