These achievements provide a valuable foundation for both nations to move forward confidently in an increasingly turbulent world.
Despite being located on different continents, Viet Nam and France have built a long-standing connection, overcoming historical challenges and upheavals.
France played an important role in the negotiation and signing of the Paris Agreement, ending the war and restoring peace in Viet Nam.
In April 1973, Viet Nam and France officially established diplomatic relations, opening a new chapter in their bilateral ties.
With the 2024 upgrade of their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership, France became the first European Union (EU) member state to hold this level of partnership with Viet Nam.
According to the Viet Nam News Agency, Vietnamese Ambassador to France Dinh Toan Thang has emphasised that history has forged a special bond between the two countries, encompassing politics, culture, architecture, cuisine, language, and people-to-people exchanges.
The ambassador affirmed that Viet Nam-France relations have deepened across all fields, with tangible benefits for the peoples of both nations.
Economic cooperation is a key pillar of the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership.
French Ambassador to Viet Nam Olivier Brochet noted that Viet Nam is one of France’s top priority partners in the Asia-Pacific region.
Conversely, France is among Viet Nam’s most important trade partners within the EU. In 2024, bilateral trade reached 5.42 billion USD, an increase of 12.9% compared to 2023.
In addition to these positive outcomes, there remains significant potential to further promote economic, trade, and investment cooperation between the two countries.
At a recent Viet Nam-France investment promotion forum co-organised by the Vietnamese Embassy in France and the Francophone Economic Forum (FFA), many enterprises expressed confidence that amid global trade fluctuations, Viet Nam, with its steady economic growth and high-quality workforce, would become an increasingly attractive destination for French investors.
Ambassador Dinh Toan Thang stated that French businesses are ready to engage with the Vietnamese market to take advantage of cooperation opportunities in France’s areas of strength, including energy, sustainable development, infrastructure, and semiconductors, as well as other sectors such as agriculture, transport, and healthcare.
Cooperation between localities in Viet Nam and France, which began in 1989 with the establishment of a partnership between Ha Noi and the Ile-de-France region, has become a hallmark and a highlight of bilateral relations.
To date, a total of twelve Viet Nam-France decentralised cooperation conferences have successfully been held alternately in the two countries.
Ambassador Dinh Toan Thang revealed that both sides are currently preparing for the 13th conference, expected to take place in France in 2026. This upcoming event will feature cooperation projects tailored to the needs of Vietnamese localities and the strengths of France in fields such as culture, language, tourism, heritage conservation and museums, vocational training, healthcare, sustainable development, the environment, and agricultural and rural development.
With a strong foundation and concerted efforts from both sides, the Viet Nam-France Comprehensive Strategic Partnership is expected to further deepen the relationship, delivering practical benefits to both peoples.
The enduring relationship between Viet Nam and France is one of the key factors enabling both countries to enhance their strength and standing in a world full of uncertainties, where cooperation and interconnectedness have become indispensable to meeting shared challenges.
