Hanoi (VNA) – General Secretary of theCommunist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong highlightedthe bright prospects for Vietnam-France relations in his recent article publishedby Le Monde newspaper on the occasion of his ongoing visit to France from March25-27.

He wrote the world is changing rapidly and humansface political and economic turning points at the global scale, which offerboth opportunities and challenges to all countries. The fourth industrialrevolution has forced all nations to seek ways to shift to a new developmentperiod, he said.

Asia-Pacific has become one of the most dynamicregions in the world in all aspects. With the robust development of China,Russia and India, the Asia-Pacific region, especially Asia, features the most importanteconomies in the world and has also become a complicated “playing ground” forpowerful countries.

The region has also brought about hugeopportunities for promoting cooperation and connectivity. Regional andinter-regional forums as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and theAsia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) have played a crucial role in linking coastalPacific and Asian nations as well as Europe and Asia, the Party chief said.

Lying in the heart of a vast region from thePacific to the Indian Ocean, Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries holdsignificant positions in Asia-Pacific cooperation.

Previously, Vietnam was known as a battlefield,but now it has emerged with dynamic development and as an intriguingdestination for foreign tourists and investors. Vietnam is also a friendly andimportant partner of many countries around the globe, he said.
More than 30 years of reform has brought Vietnamfrom a poor and war-torn country to a middle-income nation with high economicgrowth, political and social stability and security. Vietnam’s externalrelations have been expanded while its position in the global arena hassignificantly increased.

From a backward agricultural economy, Vietnamhas entered a period of stepping up industrialisation and modernisation withannual economic growth of seven percent over the past three decades. In 2017,the country recorded 425 billion USD in export-import turnover and attracted 36billion USD in foreign direct investment (FDI). Vietnam moved up five places incompetitiveness and 14 places in business environment according to the rankingsof the World Economic Forum (WEF). Economic restructuring is shifting towards asmaller agricultural sector and larger service and industry sectors. Thecountry is rising to become a dynamic economy in Asia-Pacific.

Pursuing an external policy of independence,self-reliance, peace, cooperation and development, Vietnam is pushing aheadwith international integration. The country has established diplomatic tieswith nearly 190 nations, and strategic and comprehensive partnerships with manycountries, including all five permanent members of the United Nations (UN)Security Council. Vietnam is also an active member of the UN, the Associationof Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), APEC, ASEM and the World Trade Organisation(WTO). 

Vietnam has joined multiple bilateral andmultilateral free trade agreements, including the Comprehensive and ProgressiveAgreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU-Vietnam Free TradeAgreement (EVFTA).

Vietnam has actively promoted its role atregional and international multilateral mechanisms and engaged in UNpeacekeeping activities and non-traditional security exercises. Internationalcooperation and exchanges in various fields from culture, society, science andtechnology to education and training are developing extensively. Vietnam hasbecome a reliable partner of multiple countries and a responsible member thatplays a crucial role in the international community and makes effectivecontributions to peace, stability and cooperation in the region and the world.

๊[Vietnam, France mark 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties in Paris]

Although Vietnam and Franceare located in two different continents, they have very special relations withclose-knit connections in terms of history, culture and society.

Looking back on the 45 years of diplomaticrelationship which was founded in 1973, it is obvious that bilateral relationshave made meaningful strides. A significant event was the official visit toFrance by then Chairman of the Ministers’ Council (now the Government ofVietnam) Pham Van Dong in 1977, which opened a new chapter in their ties.

Economic, trade, cultural and educationalcooperation has been promoted. Particularly, in the 1980s, when Vietnam sufferedan embargo, France was the only western country that maintained cooperation inculture, science-technique and education-training with Vietnam by re-openingthe Institute of Cultural Exchange with France (IDECAF) in Ho Chi Minh City inJuly 1982. Now, French culture centres have been expanded to many otherVietnamese localities.

The Vietnamese culture centre in France has alsomade tireless efforts to popularise Vietnamese culture and language to Frenchpeople, he wrote.

General Secretary Trong noted that since thelate 1980s, especially since Vietnam obtained important reform achievements andbegan to re-integrate into the international community, the two countries’relations have had diverse developments with a visit to Vietnam by then FrenchPresident François Mitterrand in March 1993 and a visit to France by thenVietnamese Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet in June the same year.

Since then, France has considered Vietnam apriority in its foreign policy towards Asia-Pacific, and as a bridge linkingFrance and countries in the region. This was affirmed by what then ForeignMinister of France Alain Juppe said during a trip to Vietnam in November 1994:“France is located in the European continent, an Europe that is increasinglyunited and Vietnam is located in the Asian continent, an Asia that has beenreconciled and is recording strong economic growth. Our two countries cantogether do many big things.”

Vietnam-France relations developed even moreafter Vietnam entered ASEAN in 1995 within the framework of relations betweenthe European Union and Vietnam, and part of France’s policy towards SoutheastAsia, the Party leader said.

He highlighted the two countries’ commonviewpoints on many major international issues, particularly those relating toSustainable Development Goals and the promotion of cultural diversity andmultilateral institutions in managing globalisation.

In his article, General Secretary Trong notedthat this year, the two countries celebrate 45 years of diplomatic ties andfive years of the strategic partnership. Over the last 45 years, France hasbeen a leading partner of Vietnam. Their relations within bilateral andmultilateral frameworks have developed in a more and more diverse manner.

France is the leading bilateral European sponsorof Vietnam. Hundreds of agreements have been signed between their universitiesand research centres. There are some 7,000 Vietnamese undergraduates andpostgraduates in France currently.

Locality-to-locality cooperation has been expandedwith the participation of 20 localities of France and 15 provinces and citiesof Vietnam. Ten cooperation conferences between their localities have been heldrecently.

Notably, the Vietnamese community in France isone of the most long-standing and biggest Vietnamese communities in Europe. Thecommunity is closely connected with both countries and always an importantbridge in Vietnam-France relations.

The leader wrote that the countries are alsolooking forward to new forms of cooperation to ensure sustainable developmentthrough projects on climate change response and agricultural development.Vietnam-France green projects are bringing hope to places where Vietnamesepeople are strongly affected by climate change.

However, he added, there remains hugecooperation potential that hasn’t been fully tapped. For example, France’sdirect investment in Vietnam is just 2.78 billion USD so far, one-third of theNetherlands’ FDI in Vietnam. Bilateral trade is still modest, representing onlymore than 1 percent of Vietnam’s total export and export revenue. Theseoutcomes have yet to match the cooperation potential of Vietnam-Francerelations.

According to General Secretary Trong,Vietnam and France could intensify their relations. France is a powerful countryin Europe, which is reforming strongly and promoting its global role and has animportant impact on Asia. Meanwhile, Vietnam is a quickly developing economywith a population of nearly 100 million and plays an important role in ASEANand East Asia.

The two countries also shared similar pointsof view and interests in international issues, Trong wrote, adding thatstrengthening bilateral relations is an objective and essential need for theinterests of both nations.

The Vietnamese Party chief stressed the needto create a new driving force to deepen the Vietnam-France strategicpartnership, enhance political trust, boost high-level meetings and visits, improvethe efficiency of dialogue and cooperation mechanism, expand collaboration inpolitics, diplomacy, defence, security, judicial affairs and environmentalprotection, and step up people-to-people exchanges and cooperation betweenlocalities.

As key members of the European Union andASEAN, each country plays a special role in promoting EU-ASEAN relations.

Vietnam will serve as a bridge connectingFrance with ASEAN, and hopes that France will help link Vietnam with the EU,Trong wrote.

He said that cooperation in environmentalissues and climate change adaptation should be a priority in bilateral ties.

Both should join hands with theinternational community in carrying out national commitments to climate change,while intensifying global partnerships for sustainable development towards theeffective implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

He went to write that in the context of a complexand fast-changing world situation, the two countries need to coordinate moreclosely on regional and international issues of mutual concern.

According to him, both Vietnam and Franceshare a common vision of a multipolar world and multilateralism based on mutualrespect, equality and mutually-beneficial cooperation for peace and sustainableand inclusive development. They affirm the central role of the UN in promotingpeace and security, prosperity and sustainable development, while respectingthe UN Charter and pledging to respect each country’s independence,sovereignty, territorial integrity and political institution. The two countriesalso back the principle of solving disputes by peaceful means, without using orthreatening to use force on the basis of international law and the UN Charter.

All these things will make theVietnam-France strategic partnership grow sustainably, comprehensively andeffectively in the next decades of the 21st century, the leaderwrote.-VNA