Vietnam and France established diplomatic relations on April 12, 1973. In the context of Vietnam's Renovation process achieving important initial achievements and Vietnam's increasing integration into the international community, the visit to Vietnam by French President Francois Mitterand in March 1993 marked an important turning point in relations with Vietnam, especially in the strategies and policies that France implemented in Southeast Asia and the Asia- Pacific region.
On the Vietnamese side, Vietnam attaches special importance to its cooperative relationship with France, always considering France an important partner in its foreign policy and constantly deepening the traditional friendship, trust and strategic partnership between the two countries.
In 2013, the two countries signed a Joint Statement on the Vietnam-France Strategic Partnership. The good political relationship between the two countries is marked by mutual high-level visits, such as the official visits to France by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (March 2018), National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (April 2019); and the visit to Vietnam by French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe (November 2018) - a visit that marked 5 years of effective development of the Vietnam-France Strategic Partnership.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s congratulatory letter to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong after the success of the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam and subsequent phone calls between senior leaders demonstrate the close political relationship between the two countries. Most recently, for the first time, a French Defense Minister attended the 70th Anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory, affirming his desire to join Vietnam in “putting the past behind and looking towards the future”, for peace, cooperation and development.
On the bilateral level, a series of new agreements and treaties have been signed as a legal basis for cooperation in priority areas. Exchange mechanisms in the four pillars of the strategic partnership, namely politics - diplomacy; defense - security, economics, trade and investment; development cooperation; culture, education - training, scientific research, law and justice, have been further promoted and are playing an important role in future development orientation. The two countries are also having new cooperation projects, not only in trade and investment but also in technology, high-quality agriculture and the environment.
Since the establishment of bilateral relations, Vietnam and France have always made their mark in trade relations with impressive figures. In particular, the implementation of the Vietnam - European Union Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the Vietnam - European Union Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) has created momentum for Vietnamese goods to penetrate deeper into the European market, including France.
Currently, France is Vietnam's fifth largest European trading partner (after Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and Italy). Trade turnover in 2022 reached 5.3 billion USD, up 10% compared to 4.8 billion USD in 2021. Of which, export turnover to the French market reached 3.69 billion USD (mainly footwear, textiles, ceramic - porcelain - rattan - bamboo products, seafood and machinery, equipment, electronic components) and Vietnam's import turnover from France reached 1.63 billion USD (mainly aviation equipment, industrial machinery, pharmaceuticals, agricultural - food products, chemicals and cosmetics). Bilateral trade turnover in the first 7 months of 2024 reached nearly 3 billion USD. As of February 2023, France ranked 3rd among European countries (after the Netherlands and the UK) and 16th out of 114 countries and territories investing in Vietnam, with 633 valid investment projects, total registered investment capital reaching 3.62 billion USD. French direct investment focuses mainly on the following areas: information and communication, processing and manufacturing industry, production and distribution of electricity, gas and air conditioning;
Regarding development cooperation, France is the leading European bilateral ODA donor to Vietnam and Vietnam ranks second among the countries receiving French ODA in Asia (after Afghanistan). To date, France has provided Vietnam with a total of 3 billion euros in preferential loans. France supports ODA loans of at least 200 million euros each year, focusing on three priority areas: climate change, energy transition and green growth.
The two countries maintain many regular exchange mechanisms on politics, economics, and defense at all levels, notably: the Defense Security Strategy Dialogue between the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense of Vietnam and France; the annual high-level economic dialogue; the Defense Strategy Dialogue at the Deputy Minister level between the two Ministries of Defense.
Education and training cooperation between the two countries was established and developed since the early 1980s. France has always considered education and training as a priority goal in its cooperation activities in Vietnam, focusing mainly on teaching and developing French, training human resources at university and postgraduate levels in many fields: economic management, banking, finance, law, new technology... Every year, the French Government offers 80 scholarships for Vietnamese students to study in France, aiming to help Vietnam in the field of training high-quality human resources. France's scholarship policy focuses mainly on training programs at master's and doctoral levels. The number of Vietnamese students studying in France has increased by about 40% in the past 10 years and currently has over 10,000 students.
France ranks seventh among the countries and territories investing the most in tourism in Vietnam, with 14 projects worth a total of 188 million USD. Vietnam identifies France as a key tourism market. Cooperation between the two countries in the fields of science and technology, security and defense, local cooperation, and health has many marks. Both are members of the International Organization of La Francophonie, and the two countries have many cooperative activities within the framework of the Francophone organization.
The Vietnamese community in France was formed after World War I, coming to France at different times and circumstances, the current total number is more than 350 thousand people, the largest in Europe and most of them have French nationality. Knowledge is the strength of the Vietnamese community in France with about 40 thousand overseas Vietnamese with university or higher education. The Association of Vietnamese in France has a long tradition, has many contributions to the cause of fighting for national independence, unifying the Fatherland in the past and building the country today.
This visit to France by the General Secretary and President of Vietnam aims to further promote cooperation between the two countries, especially in the fields of trade, investment, culture, education, science and technology, and local cooperation. At the same time, strengthen party foreign affairs, especially with the French Communist Party, and strengthen people-to-people diplomacy, thereby urging the French government to continue to care for, support, and create conditions for the Vietnamese community in France to live, study, and work stably in the host country, promoting the role of a bridge, contributing to the friendly relations between Vietnam and France.
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