General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Viet Nam and President of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam To Lam, his spouse, and a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation are paying a state visit to the Philippines from May 31 to June 1, 2026, at the invitation of President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. and his spouse.

The state visit to the Philippines by General Secretary and President To Lam is an event of historical significance, as it marks the first visit to the Philippines by a General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam. Notably, the visit takes place as Viet Nam and the Philippines celebrate their 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations, thus providing an opportunity for both sides to reflect on half a century of cooperation and to jointly set directions and unify their vision for bilateral relations in the new phase.

The visit demonstrates Viet Nam's high regard for its friendship and cooperation with the Philippines, as well as with ASEAN and the Southeast Asian region. This is also an opportunity for high-level leaders of the two countries to have in-depth discussions on major orientations to further develop the Viet Nam-Philippines Strategic Partnership in a stronger, more substantive, and more effective manner in the coming period.

Half a century of nurturing friendship

Viet Nam and the Philippines are two countries with a fine traditional friendship and share many strategic interests in maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in Southeast Asia. The year 2026 holds special significance for Viet Nam-Philippines relations as the two countries celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties (1976-2026). From the initial foundations of cooperation, the two countries have gradually developed their relations strongly, including the establishment of their Strategic Partnership in 2015. This was an important milestone, helping expand cooperation across many fields while political trust has been increasingly consolidated.

The two sides have maintained regular high-level and all-level visits and meetings through Party, State, Government and National Assembly channels, as well as people-to-people exchanges. During meetings, Vietnamese leaders have repeatedly affirmed that Viet Nam always attaches importance to and wishes to develop its Strategic Partnership with the Philippines to a new, deeper and more comprehensive level.

During the meeting between Prime Minister Le Minh Hung and Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. on May 7, 2026 in Cebu, the Philippines, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung emphasised that 2026 is of special significance as the two countries celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations, and that the Vietnamese Government always attaches importance to and wishes to further promote the Strategic Partnership between Viet Nam and the Philippines.

Prime Minister Le Minh Hung affirmed that Viet Nam supports the Philippines in successfully fulfilling its role as ASEAN Chair in 2026, thereby strengthening ASEAN solidarity, unity and centrality. The Philippine President thanked Viet Nam for its active coordination during the Philippines’ ASEAN Chairmanship year, and expressed his wish to work with Viet Nam and other ASEAN member states to further promote intra-bloc economic and trade cooperation, while consolidating a regional environment of peace, stability and development amid global fluctuations and challenges.

Accompanying Development
in the New Era

Under the administration of President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr., relations between Viet Nam and the Philippines have remained fundamentally stable.

In recent years, Viet Nam–Philippines relations have continued to maintain positive momentum, notably through growing political trust, expanded economic cooperation and enhanced coordination on regional and international issues.

The establishment of the Strategic Partnership between the two countries in 2015 was an important milestone, laying the foundation for promoting comprehensive cooperation in the new era. Economic cooperation has gradually improved. Total bilateral trade turnover in 2025 was estimated at 7.8 billionUSD, with Viet Nam recording a trade surplus and total exports exceeding 5.4 billion USD. In the first two months of 2026, bilateral trade reached 1.3 billion USD, of which Viet Nam’s exports amounted to 880 million USD. The Philippines has consistently been one of Viet Nam’s largest rice import markets.

However, compared with the strong political relationship and the potential of the two economies, economic cooperation between the two countries still has considerable room for stronger development. Both sides have significant potential to expand cooperation in trade, logistics, high-tech agriculture, the digital economy, renewable energy, fisheries and the marine economy. Many major Philippine corporations have invested in food production, renewable energy, infrastructure and clean water supply projects in Viet Nam. Meanwhile, Viet Nam is also interested in learning from the experience of Philippine enterprises in operating international seaports.

According to Viet Nam’s Ambassador to the Philippines Lai Thai Binh, in the field of green transition, the Philippines’ demand for transport modernisation and energy transition is creating substantial opportunities for Vietnamese businesses, particularly in the electric vehicle sector, as demonstrated by the rapid expansion of GSM (Vingroup) in the Philippine market.

In defence and security, the two countries have maintained effective dialogue and exchange mechanisms at levels ranging from ministerial to the various service branches. Traditional areas of cooperation, including training, search and rescue, and experience-sharing, have continued to develop, while cooperation has extended to new areas such as the defence industry, logistics and military medicine. The two countries have also worked closely together on combating transnational crime, promoting human security, extradition cooperation and enhancing law enforcement capacity, while increasingly focusing on non-traditional security challenges.

Cultural cooperation and people-to-people exchanges have continued to expand, with a sharp rise in both Philippine tourist arrivals in Viet Nam and the number of flights between the two countries. In 2025, tourist arrivals from the Philippines to Viet Nam rose by 81.3% year on year, while the number of flights between the two countries reached 6,700, up 59% from the previous year.

According to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Manh Cuong, maritime cooperation remains a bright spot in bilateral relations. Viet Nam and the Philippines are both maritime nations with a shared interest in maintaining peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation in the East Sea/South China Sea. The two countries have promoted dialogue, cooperation and confidence-building in accordance with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Viet Nam-Philippines relations not only bring tangible benefits to the peoples of both countries but also play a vital role in strengthening ASEAN solidarity and reinforcing ASEAN centrality both regionally and on the world stage. Amid a geopolitical landscape still marked by numerous complex factors, the close cooperation between the two nations stands as a vivid testament to the spirit of strategic autonomy in pursuit of peace, stability and shared prosperity.

At regional and international forums, Viet Nam and the Philippines have maintained coordination in addressing issues in region, within ASEAN and other multilateral forums. They have regularly cooperated in nominations and elections at international organisations and supported each other as ASEAN candidates. The Philippines has supported Viet Nam in assuming the role of President of the 11th Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as well as in Viet Nam’s candidacies for the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for the 2030–2032 term and the United Nations Security Council for the 2032–2033 term as an ASEAN candidate. In turn, Viet Nam has supported the Philippines as ASEAN’s candidate for the United Nations Security Council for the 2027–2028 term.

In the context of achieving many positive achievements in Viet Nam–Philippines relations, the state visit by To Lam, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Central Committee and President of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, to the Philippines demonstrates the high importance attached by the Party and State of Viet Nam to relations with the Philippines and affirms the determination to elevate bilateral ties to a new high level that is more stable, sustainable, and substantive.