Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son. (Photo: MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS)

Successfully implementing the foreign policy of the 13th National Party Congress

Foreign affairs activities, especially high-level foreign affairs, have been vigorously implemented, raising the level of the country's foreign relations. Closely following the foreign affairs policy of the 13th National Party Congress, under the leadership and close direction of the Party Central Committee, the Politburo, the Secretariat, and Party and State leaders, foreign affairs activities in 2024 have been systematically and widely implemented with many partners and at many important multilateral forums and mechanisms.

We have established diplomatic relations with 194 countries, upgraded relations to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Australia, France and Malaysia, upgraded to Strategic Partnership with Brazil and established Comprehensive Partnership with Mongolia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), bringing the total number of partners with which we have a framework of relations to 32 and signed more than 170 cooperation agreements in many fields.

Our key leaders conducted a total of 60 foreign affairs activities, including 21 visits to other countries and attendance at major multilateral conferences; and welcomed 25 delegations of foreign leaders to visit Vietnam.

These visits and foreign affairs activities have achieved many results of strategic and long-term importance, especially in raising and upgrading relations with key partners and bringing the relationship into depth and effectiveness.

The favorable and open foreign relations situation has been consolidated, creating a solid foundation for protecting and building the Fatherland. We have established diplomatic relations with 194 countries, upgraded relations to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Australia, France and Malaysia, upgraded to Strategic Partnership with Brazil and established Comprehensive Partnership with Mongolia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), bringing the total number of partners with which we have a framework of relations to 32 and signed more than 170 cooperation agreements in many fields.

This, on the one hand, demonstrates the dynamism and proactiveness of Vietnam's foreign affairs and diplomacy, and on the other hand, shows the importance that countries attach to Vietnam's geostrategic value and role and their desire to promote deeper relations with Vietnam.

On the multilateral level, Vietnam has increasingly affirmed its capacity, role and responsibility in international issues. In international forums such as ASEAN, the United Nations, the Mekong Sub-region, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Group of 20 (G20), the BRICS, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (AIPA), the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Francophonie, Vietnam continues to play a proactive and positive role.

For the first time, we successfully organized the ASEAN Future Forum, establishing an exchange mechanism and promoting Vietnam's role in shaping the future of ASEAN after 2025, with a vision to 2045.

The recent adoption of the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime by the United Nations General Assembly and the selection of Vietnam as the venue for the Convention's signing ceremony marks a new milestone in Vietnam's international legal integration in particular and multilateral diplomacy in general, affirming that Vietnam is an active, trustworthy and responsible partner of the international community.

In organizations where Vietnam is undertaking important responsibilities such as the United Nations Human Rights Council and 6 out of 7 important governing mechanisms of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Vietnam has demonstrated its capacity to contribute, putting forward many widely supported initiatives. At the same time, Vietnam's responsible contributions to common issues such as climate change response, peacekeeping, cyber security, etc. are increasingly appreciated by the international community.

Contributing to protecting the Fatherland from afar and protecting the country when it was not yet in danger, foreign affairs effectively coordinated with forces to carry out the "important, regular" task of firmly protecting the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the Fatherland, ensuring the highest national interests.

Faced with major changes in the world, we have properly handled relations with partners, maintained a peaceful, stable and cooperative land border, made progress in negotiations with countries, promoted the development of an effective, substantive Code of Conduct in the East Sea in accordance with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. At the same time, we have promoted the resolution of outstanding issues by peaceful means on the basis of international law... Foreign affairs agencies have advised the Politburo, the Secretariat and the Government to effectively handle many issues in the face of complicated developments in the international situation.

Clearly defining the central role of diplomacy in the new era, economic diplomacy has made an important contribution to creating momentum for growth. Traditional growth drivers in trade, investment, tourism, and labor have been renewed, deepened, and made more effective, especially with large markets and traditional key investment partners in Northeast Asia and the Americas, opening the way for breakthroughs in the Middle East and African markets.

With the new approach, we have effectively exploited 17 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with more than 60 partners, removed market barriers, thereby contributing to export recovery, bringing the expected trade turnover to a record of nearly 800 billion USD; catching the wave of investment shift, making Vietnam continue to be one of the largest FDI recipients in the world; effectively exploiting the benefits of international commitments and agreements; promoting European Union (EU) members to ratify the Vietnam-EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA); searching for and opening new markets such as Halal products for Vietnam's exports.

At the same time, economic diplomacy also promotes new driving forces, especially technology diplomacy, innovation, semiconductor cooperation... with key partners and large corporations, thereby connecting and enlisting partners in digital transformation, green transformation, semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI)...

Attracting high-quality investment in the field of new technology, especially investment from the world's leading technology corporations in Vietnam, is of great significance, contributing to supporting the development of the semiconductor industry, establishing innovation centers for AI, chip design, training high-tech human resources, taking advantage of the opportunities of the 4.0 Industrial Revolution to create breakthroughs, and realizing the country's development goals by 2030 and 2045.

Along with that, the country's position and power are enhanced from the effective resonance of foreign information work, cultural diplomacy, work with overseas Vietnamese, and citizen protection. Diplomacy has contributed to successfully lobbying UNESCO to add 6 more titles/heritages, bringing the total number of UNESCO titles to 71, which is a new resource for sustainable economic, cultural, and social development in localities.

Overseas Vietnamese affairs have well implemented the Party and State's care policy for nearly 6 million compatriots, mobilizing resources for development with thousands of investment projects and tens of billions of USD in remittances. Citizen protection has actively protected the security, safety, legitimate rights and interests of Vietnamese citizens and businesses, especially in war zones, natural disasters, and instability, evacuating thousands of citizens back to the country. Foreign information has strongly promoted the image of the country, its people, culture, and achievements in innovation to the world.

The construction of a comprehensive, modern, and professional diplomacy, especially the arrangement of the organization and apparatus of foreign affairs agencies in the spirit of Resolution 18 of the 12th Party Congress, has been vigorously implemented, along with the building and rectification of the Party in terms of ideology, politics, ethics, and lifestyle. Working methods and procedures have been constantly innovated in the direction of professionalism, efficiency, and modernity, to meet the requirements of work in the new situation.

The important and meaningful achievements in 2024 are associated with the close leadership and direction and wise and timely decisions of the Party Central Committee, the Politburo and the Secretariat. This success is also the crystallization of the efforts, joint efforts and consensus of all sectors, all levels and the entire political system, including the positive contributions of foreign affairs forces.

Creating momentum to bring the country into a new era

2025 is an important year of special significance for our nation, the year of celebrating the 80th anniversary of the founding of the country and the 50th anniversary of national reunification, the final year that determines the successful implementation of the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress, and at the same time, the pivotal year entering the era of national development. Our country is standing at a new historical starting point, posing new tasks for foreign affairs and diplomacy.

At the working session with the Party Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs last August, General Secretary To Lam requested that in the coming time, foreign affairs and diplomacy need to proactively and promptly detect opportunities and challenges, increase the positive contribution of diplomacy in successfully implementing the 100-year strategic goals under the leadership of the Party, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the country, raise the level and expand Vietnam's contributions to the world revolutionary cause, to peace, cooperation, development and progress of humanity and strongly spread the version of Vietnam as an independent, self-reliant, peaceful, cooperative, friendly, developed, prosperous and happy country.

Therefore, the overarching task of foreign affairs and diplomacy in 2025 as well as for the new era is to continue to inherit the goals, principles, mottos, and methods of foreign affairs that have been affirmed in the 80-year journey of Vietnam's revolutionary foreign affairs and diplomacy. At the same time, facing the great changes of the times, Vietnamese foreign affairs and diplomacy must have fundamental innovations to meet the requirements of the new period.

Firstly, promoting the "important and regular" role, consolidating a favorable foreign policy situation for the country, creating a solid framework of relations in the face of profound changes of the times.

In today's interdependent world, the stability and development of countries cannot be separated from the external regional and international environment. The new stature of foreign relations after upgrading the framework of relations with other countries since the beginning of the term has set new requirements for creating sustainability in relations with higher political trust, deeper cooperation and more intertwined interests. At the same time, foreign affairs together with national defense and security protect the Fatherland early and from afar, maintain a peaceful and stable environment, and focus on national development.

Second, foreign affairs play a constructive and dynamic role, opening up new opportunities for the country, connecting internal resources with external resources, in which internal resources are fundamental and long-term, and external resources are important and breakthrough. These are trade and investment resources, economic development and linkage trends, a multipolar and multi-center world order based on international law, and the strength of the era of scientific and technological revolution and knowledge economy...

From the lessons of the previous countries, of the Asian "dragons and tigers", in the breakthrough period, the task of foreign affairs is how to position the country in an optimal position in the main development trends and movements of the world; to open up and connect cooperation with leading partners in breakthrough and strategic fields such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, etc.

Third, a new approach to foreign affairs from receiving to contributing, from learning to leading, from deep integration to full integration, from a lagging country to a rising country, ready to take on new responsibilities.

The country's new position and power have changed, allowing Vietnam to have the ability and conditions to participate more deeply and responsibly, but also to be expected to contribute more to solving common problems of the world. Vietnam will actively participate in building and protecting a fair and equal international order based on international law, enhancing Vietnam's contribution to common issues, not only participating in building and shaping multilateral institutions, but also promoting its core and leading role in important issues and mechanisms of strategic significance, in line with our interests.

Fourth, promote the nation's "soft power" commensurate with the country's historical and cultural stature, political and economic position. Vietnam's "soft power" is a culture imbued with national identity, great achievements of historical significance in the renovation process, a peaceful foreign policy, handling international issues in a harmonious, reasonable and emotional manner, respecting international law, and the sympathy and support of the people of the world.

In the new development stage, the country's soft power is not only a resource serving the goal of socio-economic development but also aims to connect Vietnam with the world, increase the country's position and influence in world politics, global economy and human civilization.

Fifth, to successfully carry out that task, one of the essential things is to build a comprehensive, modern, and professional Vietnamese foreign affairs and diplomacy.

In the organizational structure, perfect the organizational structure of agencies doing foreign affairs work in the direction of streamlining, operating effectively and efficiently, and building a clean and strong Party.

In personnel work, with the motto "cadres are the root of all work", foreign affairs and diplomatic cadres in the new period must not only have qualifications, capacity and political courage but also dare to think, dare to do, dare to innovate and be increasingly professional in working methods, approaches and manners.

A new spring has come with many good wishes for the country. Under the wise leadership of the Party, based on the achievements in 2024, Vietnamese diplomacy will continue to make worthy contributions to the successful implementation of foreign policy in the spirit of the 13th National Party Congress, contributing to bringing the country into a new era.

According to nhandan.vn