 |
| National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and delegates attending the Japan - Mekong Delta Meeting Conference in Can Tho city, August 8, 2025. |
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son once emphasized that local diplomacy has made important contributions to the great overall achievements of Vietnam's foreign affairs. How does the Deputy Minister assess the stature, role and outstanding changes of local diplomacy in recent times?
Local foreign affairs is identified as one of the important components of foreign affairs, affirming its "pioneering position" in strengthening and deepening friendly relations and cooperation with partners, mobilizing external resources to serve socio -economic development and enhancing the position and prestige of localities in international integration. Many positive results have been achieved, specifically:
On average, every year, 200 international agreements are signed between Vietnamese localities and foreign partners in the fields of friendly cooperation, trade and investment promotion, human resource training, etc. These agreements actively contribute to strengthening friendly cooperation, promoting the image and potential of localities. Nearly 300 foreign working delegations of local leaders are organized every year, closely following the needs of localities in promoting investment and trade, establishing and promoting cooperative relations in various fields, achieving many positive results.
 |
| Deputy Foreign Minister Ngo Le Van speaks at the "Meet Korea 2025" conference jointly organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Korean Embassy in Vietnam and the People's Committee of Hung Yen province, on May 14, 2025. |
Economic diplomacy has been strongly implemented, which is an important driving force for the rapid and sustainable development of provinces and cities. Investment - trade and tourism promotion conferences have been organized to help expand the market for local products and attract foreign direct investment (FDI). FDI is present in all provinces and cities nationwide. The total FDI capital in the period from 2021 to May 2025 is 12,225 newly licensed investment projects, with a total registered capital of nearly 164.15 billion USD, the registered capital is equal to 96.4% compared to the period 2016-2020. Foreign non-governmental aid (NGO) contributes significantly to hunger eradication - poverty reduction and socio-economic development in localities in Vietnam. The total value of NGO aid in the period 2016-2025 is about 250 million USD per year.
Cultural diplomacy in localities has been carried out with many diverse, rich and creative activities, contributing to raising the level and spreading the cultural values of Vietnamese localities to the international community, serving the socio-economic development of localities. Localities also focus on coordinating border and territorial work, contributing to firmly protecting independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, maintaining a peaceful and stable environment for national development. Friendly exchange and cooperation activities between localities in border areas continue to receive attention and implementation. Coastal localities have done a good job of protecting sovereignty, security, sea and island borders; coordinating economic development in association with ensuring national defense and security...
Localities proactively carry out work for overseas Vietnamese (VVN) such as creating favorable conditions for overseas Vietnamese to return to the country to do business and live, organizing activities to promote culture, preserve the Vietnamese language, and welcoming overseas Vietnamese delegations to visit the locality... External information work is carried out in localities in many diverse and rich forms, including printed newspapers, online newspapers, radio, television, and through international delegations coming to work and visit for tourism.
 |
| Delegates attending the 21st National Foreign Affairs Conference with the theme "Promoting the pioneering role of foreign affairs to serve sustainable development of localities" in Hanoi, December 18, 2023. |
Besides the positive results, in the process of implementing local foreign affairs, are there any limitations or challenges worth noting, Deputy Minister?
Besides the achieved results, it is also necessary to frankly acknowledge the limitations and shortcomings in this work, which are:
Local foreign affairs work sometimes lacks creativity and sensitivity, especially in the context of rapidly changing situations. Research and advisory work, although efforts have been made to improve quality, needs to further promote timeliness, depth and coordination between ministries and branches.
Local cooperation with some strategic areas has not yet fully exploited its potential and is not commensurate with the framework of the relationship; many local cooperation agreements have only stopped at the signing stage, without specific directions or implementation roadmaps, without highlighting the focus and key points, and with low efficiency.
Some regulations related to foreign affairs have revealed many shortcomings but have not been amended in time. Some localities are still confused when developing plans for delegations to go out and to come in every year. The dissemination and updating of foreign affairs knowledge and skills for civil servants in the field of foreign affairs and international integration is still uneven in localities.
And finally, the work of mobilizing foreign non-governmental aid in some localities still lacks initiative and continuity, and some projects of foreign non-governmental organizations cannot be implemented according to schedule and plan.
 |
| Signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding on cooperation between Korean and Vietnamese enterprises at the "Meet Korea 2025" Conference organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in coordination with the Korean Embassy in Vietnam and the People's Committee of Hung Yen province at Ecopak Urban Area (Van Giang), May 14, 2025. |
What has the Ministry of Foreign Affairs done to support localities in implementing foreign affairs, Deputy Minister?
Identifying local foreign affairs as a key task, “taking the locality as the center of service”, with the spirit of service, service and the highest responsibility, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs becomes a “trusted companion”, effectively supporting localities in building and implementing foreign affairs programs and plans, promoting international integration and cooperation, practically contributing to the socio-economic development process of localities. Typical examples are:
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has developed and chaired activities to effectively support localities in connecting with international partners in diverse and creative ways to attract external resources for development. More than 20 conferences to meet, connect trade, and promote investment cooperation opportunities with foreign partners are held annually. The Ministry also plays a good role in supporting localities in welcoming foreign delegations; examining and verifying foreign partners who have investment needs in the locality. In addition, the Ministry also supports information and connects localities and domestic enterprises with foreign partners through the network of Vietnamese representative agencies abroad and the online information system.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has coordinated with localities to successfully lobby UNESCO to register a number of local dossiers. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also continuing to lobby UNESCO to recognize new titles. To date, Vietnam has 8 world heritages, 15 intangible cultural heritages, 9 documentary cultural heritages, 11 world biosphere reserves, 4 UNESCO global geoparks and other titles.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also provides practical support for foreign aid mobilization in localities, actively mobilizing foreign partners to bring investment projects and aid capital to localities. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs contributes opinions and supports localities in developing and signing agreements to establish cooperative relations with international partners, promoting the effective exploitation of signed cooperation agreements. At the same time, promoting the establishment of relations between Vietnamese localities and foreign localities through visits by foreign high-ranking leaders to Vietnam and supporting localities to participate in local-level foreign affairs activities.
Training, fostering, and providing information to raise awareness of foreign affairs officers of agencies and localities are implemented practically, effectively, and in accordance with practical needs through projects to foster foreign affairs and foreign language skills.
Thank you very much, Deputy Minister!
Source: https://baoquocte.vn/ban-giao-huong-cua-tinh-than-tan-tam-va-su-dong-hanh-cua-bo-ngoai-giao-325465.html
Comment (0)