At a press conference on the afternoon of October 3, new French Ambassador Olivier Brochet expressed his honor to take up his duties in Vietnam in 2023 - the year marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations and 10 years of strategic partnership between the two countries.

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French Ambassador to Vietnam Olivier Brochet. Photo: Hien Anh

The Ambassador said that France is currently the second largest EU country investing in Vietnam, creating 50,000 jobs. Over the past 30 years, tens of thousands of Vietnamese students have come to France to study. In the field of health, France has supported Vietnam in training 3,000 doctors. French research institutions also have many cooperative activities with Vietnamese partners in the fields of science and technology, agriculture and health.

"These activities contribute to creating an increasingly close bond between the French and Vietnamese people," said Mr. Brochet.

During his three-year term, the Ambassador set four priorities. First, supporting Vietnam in responding to global challenges, focusing on climate change, towards the goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050 as committed at the Climate Change Conferences (COP). One of the mechanisms demonstrating this commitment is the Equal Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), in which France supports Vietnam on the basis of financial resources of about 500 million euros.

Second, the Ambassador stated the goal of supporting Vietnam in both economic development and meeting social, legal and environmental standards, on that basis taking advantage of new cooperation frameworks such as the Vietnam - EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), helping Vietnam develop products that meet Europe's strict standards system...

Third, develop economic relations between France and Vietnam, promote France's strong products to Vietnam such as aviation, pharmaceuticals, agriculture...

Fourth, strengthen cooperation in the international arena through international and multilateral forums to share values ​​such as respect for international law and national sovereignty.

Ambassador Olivier Brochet affirmed: The 19th Francophone Summit in 2024 will be one of the opportunities for the two sides to exchange in depth and contribute to this common goal.