The year 2023 is coming to an end with a series of events celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and France (April 12, 1973 - April 12, 2023). Over the past half century, the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries have overcome many challenges and historical fluctuations to develop and become stronger.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh meets French President Emmanuel Macron. Photo: Duong Giang-VNARelationships are built on honesty.
Vietnam and France established diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level on April 12, 1973. Since the late 1980s, France has been the pioneer in opening relations and debt relief, helping Vietnam settle debts with creditor countries that are members of the Paris Club.
Twenty years after the two countries established diplomatic relations, in March 1993, French President Francois Mitterand visited Vietnam. According to French Ambassador to Vietnam Nicolas Warnery, this was the first Western leader to visit Vietnam after Doi Moi. At that time, the delegation led by the French President included many French officials and businesses. Since then, the two countries have established a comprehensive relationship in economics, research, education, health care, etc.
In 2004, French President Jacques Chirac paid a State visit to Vietnam. Ambassador Nicolas Warnery said: Speaking at the Embassy, President Jacques Chirac affirmed that the relationship between Vietnam and France is a “special, strong” relationship and a relationship formed from sincerity.
Then, in September 2013, the two countries signed a Joint Statement on the Vietnam-France strategic partnership during Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit to France. This milestone created momentum for the bilateral relationship to become increasingly deeper, more substantial and more effective.
Since then, the relationship between the two countries has developed very well. The two countries regularly exchange high-level visits, notably the visit to Vietnam by French President François Hollande (2016); by French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe (November 2018); President of the French Senate Gérard Larcher (December 2022) and visits to France by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (March 2018), National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (April 2019)...
In addition, the two countries’ senior leaders regularly send letters and hold phone talks with each other. Most recently, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and French President Emmanuel Macron had a phone call on October 20.
On the other hand, the two countries also maintain many regular exchange mechanisms on politics, economy, and defense at all levels, notably the 2+2 security-defense strategic dialogue between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense of Vietnam and France; the annual high-level economic dialogue co-chaired by the Minister of Planning and Investment of Vietnam and the Minister of Foreign Trade of France (the 7th meeting took place in Hanoi in January 2022); the Deputy Minister-level defense strategic dialogue between the two Ministries of Defense (the first meeting was held in Paris in July 2019).
Regarding cooperation within the framework of the Francophone Parliamentary Union (APF), the Vietnamese National Assembly is an active member and currently holds the position of President of the Asia-Pacific region of the APF (including Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and a number of island countries in the South Pacific). The cooperation between the legislative bodies of the two countries has been increasingly developing positively through regular exchanges, high-level contacts, and experience sharing between the agencies of the National Assembly and friendship parliamentary groups to enhance trust and promote comprehensive relations in all fields.
Economic cooperation highlights
Although the political relations between Vietnam and France are developing well, it can be said that the economy is the bright spot in this relationship. Ambassador Nicolas Warnery said: “Economy is one of the important areas of cooperation in the bilateral relationship between France and Vietnam, demonstrated through trade exchanges between the two sides, investments as well as French enterprises building factories and operating in Vietnam, in accordance with Vietnamese law”.
Vietnamese Ambassador to France Dinh Toan Thang visits and works in Saintes city. Photo: Thu Ha - VNA
France is currently Vietnam’s fifth largest European trading partner. Two-way trade between the two countries has more than tripled from about 1.6 billion USD in 2009 to 5.3 billion USD in 2019.
In the past three years, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, trade between the two countries has decreased slightly from 4.81 billion USD in 2020 to 4.8 billion USD in 2021, before increasing again to 5.33 billion USD in 2022.
Currently, Vietnam mainly exports to France footwear, textiles, ceramic-raft-bamboo products, seafood, machinery, equipment, and electronic components, while France mainly exports to Vietnam aviation equipment, industrial machinery, pharmaceuticals, agricultural-food products, chemicals, and cosmetics.
In terms of investment, as of March 2023, France is the second largest country in the European Union (EU) and 16th out of 143 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 673 projects, total capital reaching 3.8 billion USD. French investors focus mainly on processing and manufacturing industries; electricity production and distribution; services, wholesale and retail, real estate business... On the other hand, as of March 2022, Vietnam invested in 18 projects in France with a total capital of more than 38 million USD.
Regarding development cooperation, France is the leading bilateral European donor of ODA capital to Vietnam and Vietnam ranks second among countries receiving French ODA in Asia, with a total committed capital of up to 18.4 billion USD (since 1993). France supports ODA loans of at least 200 million euros (nearly 231 million USD) each year for Vietnam, focusing on three areas: climate change, energy transition and green growth. Vietnam is also one of the few countries that enjoys all three channels of French financial aid: official development assistance from the treasury, preferential loans from the French Development Agency (AFD) and from the Priority Solidarity Fund (FSP).
In addition to politics and economics, the two countries are also actively cooperating in the fields of education, training and health./.
Mai Huong
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