- French Consul General Emmanuelle Pavillon-Grosser: As I mentioned, France and Vietnam have very close relations in many areas and we hope that this relationship will be developed and strengthened in every possible field. We hope to be able to implement the content of the Joint Statement of the two countries on November 5, 2021, signed during the visit to France of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh .
The two sides have agreed on a number of priority areas of cooperation, such as sustainable transport, energy transition, aviation and especially space. Therefore, we hope to increase exchanges and cooperation in these areas. Regarding the measures to be taken, I would like to note that the European Union and Vietnam signed a Free Trade Agreement in 2020, right at the epicenter of the pandemic.
We are very pleased and pleased that the agreement has been implemented at this time. However, there are still many issues to be resolved regarding tariffs, market access and intellectual property rights enforcement. All of these are key issues if we are to continue to attract foreign investment from both sides.
French Consul General Emmanuelle Pavillon-Grosser had an exclusive interview with Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper. Photo: Quoc Thang
I also welcome the fact that the Vietnamese Government has clearly expressed its desire to continue to attract foreign direct investment into Vietnam, which is a wonderful thing and of course we are happy about that. It is just that if we want to attract foreign businesses, especially French businesses, we need to ensure that business leaders can settle in the best conditions and especially facilitate the issuance of visas and work permits so that they can carry out their duties. We also need to create conditions for their children to study in international schools.
Fortunately, we have many French schools in Vietnam and we hope that the Vietnamese authorities can support so that the staff, especially teachers, can be granted visas and work permits without any problems.
Consul General of France Emmanuelle Pavillon-Grosser
People-to-people exchange and cooperation between localities are important areas in the France-Vietnam relationship, especially after the pandemic . Will France facilitate and increase exchanges or travel between people of the two countries?
- For us, the relationship between our two countries is first and foremost a people-to-people relationship and obviously, being able to travel to each other’s country is the best way to learn and explore other cultures, lifestyles and ways of thinking. For us, it is important to be able to promote exchanges between the young generation, between business people as well as between localities of the two countries.
Last February, former French Prime Minister and current Mayor of Le Havre, Mr. Édouard Philippe, visited Vietnam. Le Havre, home to one of Europe's major seaports, many major universities and leading businesses in the maritime, logistics and seaport sectors, wishes to establish a partnership with Vietnam to enhance human and economic exchanges, especially in the seaport sector.
French Consul General Emmanuelle Pavillon-Grosser had an exclusive interview with Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper. Photo: Quoc Thang
This is an example that I give to demonstrate the interest of French localities in building partnerships with Vietnamese provinces. We attach great importance to this and in mid-April, Hanoi will host the Vietnam-France Decentralized Cooperation Conference, which is an opportunity to bring together individuals and organizations involved in this exchange process, between the localities of the two countries.
We will do our best to continue to promote the relationship between cities and provinces. We are very pleased to see that Ho Chi Minh City has had regular exchanges with Lyon City, through which some buildings here have been illuminated, following the model of the light festival that Lyon organizes every December.
The pandemic has indeed slowed down the exchanges between the French and Vietnamese people. We hope that the number of tourists and business people will grow again and even exceed the pre-pandemic level. We have restored the entire visa policy to France to facilitate the access of Vietnamese tourists and business people to our beautiful country. I would like to note that during the pandemic, we have not stopped issuing visas to Vietnamese students who wish to study in France. They enjoy the same benefits as French students, especially cheap meals and other amenities. We are very happy that things can continue and hope that this will be strengthened and that the relations between the people, as well as between the localities of the two countries, will develop in 2023 and beyond.
Are you familiar with the Vietnamese lifestyle and cuisine?
- I was fortunate to have lived in Vietnam and especially Ho Chi Minh City for a year and a half, experiencing two Tet holidays here. Thanks to that, I had the opportunity to explore Tet customs and Vietnamese traditions in general. I also had the opportunity to have two Ao Dai made by a famous Vietnamese designer and had the opportunity to wear them in the annual photo shoot with all the staff of the Consulate General. At the Consulate General, we also respect some Vietnamese customs and are very happy to be able to do so.
I am very happy to live here. For Westerners, discovering Vietnamese cuisine is always a new thing. I especially like Pho and Mi Quang. I always enjoy eating Vietnamese style. In addition, I hope that with my husband, we will have the opportunity to explore more of Vietnam and especially the provinces north of Ho Chi Minh City in the coming months. That is one of our main goals.
. Do you have anything to share with the readers of Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper and your wishes for the events planned to celebrate the 50th anniversary of France-Vietnam diplomatic relations?
- I would like to share with our readers our interest in developing all cooperation relations with our Vietnamese friends. We hope to celebrate this 50th anniversary in as many places and with as many Vietnamese people as possible. We hope that this Year of the Cat will give us the opportunity to further promote these relations. I believe that the Cat is synonymous with ambition, talent and success. These are all the wishes I would like to give to our readers and the relations between our two beautiful countries this year.
Thank you for taking the time to do this interview!
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