General Secretary and President To Lam’s working trip aims to continue implementing Vietnam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralisation, diversification, and proactive and active international integration in a comprehensive, extensive and effective manner, while at the same time promoting and deepening bilateral cooperation with Vietnam’s partners.
The first stop on General Secretary and President To Lam’s working trip is Mongolia. This is the first state visit to Mongolia by a Vietnamese president in 16 years, taking place on the important occasion that the two countries are celebrating the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
Over the years, the Vietnam-Mongolia relationship has continued to grow well. Mongolia has repeatedly affirmed that it attaches importance to the relations with Vietnam and considers Vietnam a particularly important partner in the region. The two sides regularly conduct delegation exchanges at all levels, implement many bilateral cooperation mechanisms, as well as coordinate and support each other at regional and international forums.
Regarding economic cooperation, the bilateral trade value reached 65.5 million USD in the first seven months of 2024. The two countries regularly maintain the mechanism of meetings of the Intergovernmental Committee on Trade, Economy, Science and Technology, with the most recent meeting held in Mongolia in 2022.
In addition, cultural, tourism, educational cooperation and people-to-people exchange have all made progress, with the notable signing of a visa exemption agreement for both countries’ citizens holding ordinary passports, thereby contributing to enhancing people-to-people exchange activities.
On the foundation of the good relationship, General Secretary and President To Lam’s state visit to Mongolia continues to affirm Vietnam’s consistent policy of attaching importance to friendly relations with traditional friends, including Mongolia. At the same time, it demonstrates the desire to promote the bilateral relationship to become deeper, more substantive, and more effective in accordance with the new situation.
For Ireland, General Secretary and President To Lam’s visit is the first state visit to Ireland by a Vietnamese president since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1996.
With the continuous cultivation by generations of leaders and people of the two countries, the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Ireland have been developing positively in recent years. The two sides maintain delegation exchanges and meetings at all levels, and coordinate closely at multilateral forums and international organisations.
Overcoming the geographical distance, economic cooperation between Vietnam and Ireland has produced many positive results. Ireland is Vietnam’s sixth largest trading partner in the European Union, with total two-way trade reaching 2.73 billion USD in the first seven months of 2024. Ireland currently has 41 investment projects in Vietnam.
Regarding development cooperation, Ireland considers Vietnam a priority partner in its development cooperation policy, with a focus on education, gender equality, climate change response, and support for ethnic minorities.
Ireland continues providing non-refundable ODA to Vietnam in the fields of poverty reduction, education and training, support for people with disabilities, and mine clearance. The two countries have also actively implemented agricultural and educational cooperation, achieving many results.
Building on the recent cooperation achievements, General Secretary and President To Lam’s state visit to Ireland contributes to enhancing political trust and consolidating bilateral friendship, while promoting cooperation between the two countries, especially in economics, trade, investment, science, technology, innovation, education-training, and agriculture.
One of the highlights of General Secretary and President To Lam’s working trip is his attendance at the 19th Francophonie Summit. in recent times, the cooperative relationship between Vietnam and the Francophonie community has continued to grow well.
Regarding politics and diplomacy, the Francophonie community values the role and contributions of Vietnam, considers Vietnam a model for economic and social development, and always takes Vietnam as the centre of Francophonie cooperation activities in the Asia-Pacific region.
Regarding the economy and trade, with 88 member countries and territories, a population of about 1.2 billion people, representing 16% of global GDP and 20% of global trade, the Francophonie community still has much potential and room to promote cooperation with Vietnam in areas such as agriculture, energy, and digital transformation.
General Secretary and President To Lam’s working trip aims to continue affirming Vietnam’s role as a key member of the Francophonie community in the Asia-Pacific region; while at the same time sending a message about Vietnam’s active and responsible participation in the activities of the Francophone community, as well as the international community in general, thus contributing to strengthening and consolidating multilateralism, cooperation and international solidarity.
Within the framework of this working trip, General Secretary and President To Lam will also pay an official visit to France. This is the first visit to France by a Vietnamese president in 22 years, aiming to deepen the strategic partnership between the two countries to be more substantive; further promote bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, culture, education, science and technology, and local cooperation; and strengthen party-to-party and people-to-people diplomacy.
In recent times, the Vietnam-France strategic partnership has recorded many positive results, with economic and trade cooperation as an important pillar. France is currently one of Vietnam’s main trading partners and a major investor and ODA donor from the EU. Bilateral trade has grown by 42% over the past ten years, reaching 2.96 billion USD in the first seven months of 2024. With more than 300,000 people, the Vietnamese community in France is the largest Vietnamese community in Europe, an important bridge to deepen the Vietnam-France strategic partnership in a substantive manner.
May the working trip of General Secretary and President To Lam and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation for state visits to Mongolia and Ireland, attendance at the 19th Francophonie Summit and an official visit to France be a great success, opening new and bright horizons of cooperation between Vietnam and Mongolia, Ireland, and France as well as the Francophonie community.
