Never before has economic diplomacy been so closely linked to the needs of localities as it is today.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Hang said that economic diplomacy is a fundamental and core task of Vietnamese diplomacy, a task of the entire political system, and a driving force to promote rapid and sustainable development.

Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Minh Hang at the Policy Dialogue session within the framework of the Ho Chi Minh City Economic Forum 2024. (Photo: Nguyen Van Binh)

On the afternoon of September 25, at the Policy Dialogue session between the Prime Minister, leaders of central ministries and branches, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, leaders of provinces and cities with guests, domestic and international corporations within the framework of the Ho Chi Minh City Economic Forum, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Hang answered questions from the program coordinator - Dr. Tran Du Lich.

Dr. Tran Du Lich asked: For a long time, the role of foreign economic relations has been very important. In the future, how will economic diplomacy be applied to attract strategic investment?

Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Hang said: I would like to affirm that economic diplomacy has never been promoted as it is now. This is the policy that the Party has directed and from the beginning of this term, it has identified three focuses of economic diplomacy: Economic diplomacy is the basic and central task of Vietnamese diplomacy; it is the task of the entire political system; it is the driving force to promote rapid and sustainable development.

In that spirit, the Prime Minister has given very strong instructions to concretize the Party's policy. In the recent past, the Prime Minister has directly directed with great enthusiasm and determination to promote economic diplomacy. And in fact, we have seen very clear results. For example, during the period of fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, the Prime Minister directed that economic diplomacy must focus on vaccine diplomacy, thereby creating a turning point in the situation.

Currently, the Prime Minister also continues to direct ministries and branches, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to continue promoting economic diplomacy and diplomacy must also create breakthroughs and turn the situation around in attracting external resources to serve the country's development.

We believe that, at present, more than ever, promoting economic diplomacy is both an objective and subjective requirement.

Objectively, we have discussed a lot about current global trends in a hyper-connected world, the need for cooperation between countries is also very large to promote cooperation for mutual development.

From Vietnam's subjective needs, the country is also entering a new stage of development with ambitious goals for national development by 2030 and 2045. Vietnam is now becoming one of the top 40 economies in the world, one of the 20 economies with the largest trade scale in the world. We have also become a very important link in the global supply chain and value chain, so our need is to attract more international partners and international resources.

International friends also highly appreciate Vietnam's potential for cooperation. Thus, it can be seen that our current policy is very correct, which is to promote economic diplomacy to meet both our objective and subjective needs.

Currently, under the direction of the Government, economic diplomacy is focusing on 5 major orientations:

Firstly , continue to implement Vietnam's foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralization, diversification, being a friend, a reliable partner, and a responsible member of the international community. In which, continue to create a peaceful and stable environment favorable for development and promote partnerships.

If we observe, we can see that in our high-level foreign affairs, economic content is key and all high-level foreign affairs activities aim at and achieve specific results in economic cooperation and contribute to national development.

Second , the Prime Minister regularly directs to promote growth momentum including: promoting investment attraction, trade, tourism, digital transformation, and green transformation.

Third , economic diplomacy must promote three strategic breakthroughs in institutions, infrastructure and human resources.

Fourth , economic diplomacy must grasp the trend of the times. This is the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with other ministries, sectors and through today's conference, so that we can grasp the latest trend of the times and the international situation to apply appropriately to the country's situation.

Fifth , economic diplomacy must be linked to localities and businesses. Perhaps never before have we promoted economic diplomacy linked to the immediate needs of localities as in the current period.

And now the Prime Minister is also directing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to promote technology diplomacy and corporate diplomacy to attract large investors in strategic areas. These are some of the orientations that economic diplomacy has implemented in the recent past as well as in the near future.

Regarding the question related to economic diplomacy, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said : Current issues in the world that affect the whole world and all people, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, strategic competition, resource depletion, population aging, etc. are very big problems that cannot be solved by foreign countries alone, so we must promote multilateralism and call for international solidarity.

Vietnamese diplomacy must contribute to maintaining a peaceful and cooperative environment for development, including economic diplomacy, to develop the economy, and participate in solving global and national issues.

On the specific issue, economic diplomacy is ultimately to bring the Vietnamese economy into the global value chain, global supply chain, global production chain; expand markets, partners, such as new markets in the Middle East, South America, Africa... Currently, we have done well, we must do better.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/thu-truong-ngoai-giao-nguyen-minh-hang-chua-bao-gio-cong-toc-ngoai-giao-kinh-te-duoc-gan-voi-nhu-cau-sat-suon-cua-cac-dia-phuong-nhu-hien-nay-287680.html