The commitment was highlighted during a meeting on June 17 between Secretary of Dien Bien Provincial Party Committee Tran Tien Dung and French Ambassador to Viet Nam Olivier Brochet, accompanied by experts from the Caen Memorial Museum in France.
Ambassador Brochet, making his sixth visit to Dien Bien Province, described Dien Bien Phu as a site of profound symbolic significance for both Viet Nam and the wider international community.
He recalled former French President François Mitterrand’s landmark visit in 1993 and noted the participation of France’s Minister of the Armed Forces in the 70th anniversary commemoration of the Dien Bien Phu Victory in 2024 as evidence of France’s commitment to acknowledging the past while building a shared future.
The French Ambassador said the ability of France and Viet Nam to come together and tell this shared story demonstrated the maturity of bilateral ties, adding that historical memory could become a foundation for dialogue, mutual understanding and peace.
Secretary of Dien Bien Provincial Party Committee Tran Tien Dung welcomed continued support from the French Embassy and the French Development Agency (AFD), stressing that Dien Bien aims not only to preserve history but also to present it in more engaging and contemporary ways. He said the museum should modernise its exhibition spaces and visitor experience to meet the expectations of both domestic and international tourists.
French historian Clément Fabre, a specialist adviser to the Caen Memorial Museum, said the Dien Bien Phu Victory Museum possessed considerable potential but could benefit from a more internationally oriented visitor experience.
The cooperation project between the two museums is built around three priorities: transferring modern museum-management practices, redesigning exhibition content and visitor routes to provide a balanced historical perspective, and identifying valuable documents and artefacts held in France and elsewhere for future display in Dien Bien.
On the occasion, Clément Fabre handed over a detailed recommendations dossier to Dien Bien Provincial Party Secretary Tran Tien Dung, reflecting months of research and collaboration by experts from Caen.
Both sides also discussed broader cooperation initiatives, including cultural exchanges, tourism partnerships and potential twinning arrangements with Calvados in Normandy, a region renowned for its successful “memory tourism” model.
Dung further proposed an AFD-supported infrastructure project, dubbed the “Road to the Future”, linking Dien Bien with the A Pa Chai border area. He described the initiative as a powerful symbol of how former battlefields can become pathways to peace, cooperation and shared prosperity.
