General Secretary To Lam: Vietnam-France relations have many special features

The General Secretary emphasized that the Vietnam-France relationship has many special features, has gone through many different stages in history and is currently built on a foundation of high trust and mutual respect.

General Secretary To Lam receives French President Emmanuel Macron. Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA

On May 26, at the Party Central Committee Headquarters, General Secretary To Lam met with French President Emmanuel Macron, who is on a state visit to Vietnam.

General Secretary To Lam expressed his pleasure to meet President Emmanuel Macron again in Vietnam after his official visit to France in October 2024; emphasizing that the visit is of special significance, affirming the strong determination of both sides to implement specific results of the Vietnam-France Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

General Secretary To Lam emphasized that France is Vietnam's first comprehensive strategic partner in the EU; affirmed that Vietnam attaches importance to and wishes to strengthen multifaceted cooperation with France; supports France's important role and voice in the region and the world, at international forums and organizations, and suggested that the two countries continue to promote similar advantages to harmoniously handle regional and world issues.

President Emmanuel Macron expressed his pleasure at his first state visit to Vietnam, a partner with an important role and position in France's policy in the Indo-Pacific region; thanked the warm, respectful and thoughtful reception that the Vietnamese side had given him and the high-ranking French delegation; emphasized that the Vietnam-France relationship has many special features, has gone through many different stages in history and is currently built on a foundation of high trust and mutual respect.

Recognizing that the Vietnam-France Comprehensive Strategic Partnership framework is a bright spot in the context of the rapidly evolving and complicated world situation, the two leaders had a comprehensive discussion on all aspects of bilateral cooperation since the upgrade of relations in October 2024.

The two sides were pleased with the remarkable progress made in recent times, especially in economics and trade, high-level delegation exchanges and mutual support at international and regional forums...

The two sides affirmed to continue prioritizing promoting cooperation in politics-diplomacy, defense-security including cyber security, economy-trade-investment, maritime economy, development cooperation and people-to-people exchange including culture, education and training, and promoting the signing of important cooperation agreements in many fields.

The two sides agreed to promote cooperation in the field of energy transition, with France supporting Vietnam within the framework of JETP, expanding to nuclear energy cooperation, human resource training and atomic applications for peaceful purposes such as in the medical field; striving to have key projects that are new symbols of cooperation between the two countries in the new era of Vietnam's development.

The General Secretary proposed that France accompany Vietnam in making science and technology a new pillar of cooperation between the two countries in the new era; and suggested that France support Vietnam in strategic areas such as aerospace, biotechnology, digital technology, semiconductor technology, quantum technology, digital economy, etc., and in training high-quality human resources.

The two leaders also agreed to strengthen cooperation in areas where both sides have great potential, where France has strengths and Vietnam has needs, such as strategic infrastructure, urban transport and railways, to meet the goals of the new era, the era of development and prosperity of the Vietnamese people.

General Secretary To Lam receives French President Emmanuel Macron. (Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA)

President Emmanuel Macron congratulated Vietnam on its important achievements in socio-economic development and international integration, affirming its important role and position in the region and the international arena; affirming that France always wishes to strengthen cooperation in all fields with Vietnam, especially strategic fields such as economics-trade, security-defense, science-technology, culture, education, health... in accordance with the nature and scope of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

President Emmanuel Macron highly appreciated Vietnam’s international commitments at multilateral institutions in many key areas such as sustainable development, environmental protection, emission reduction, climate change adaptation; promoting multilateralism including multilateral trade; affirming that France is ready to support and accompany Vietnam in implementing these commitments.

The General Secretary emphasized that Vietnam and France have cultural and historical exchanges, especially through French imprints that still exist and are inherited in the social life of Vietnamese people such as architectural works, culinary arts, modern fine arts, etc. Vietnam's modern education system has absorbed the quintessence of the world, including France.

Based on existing advantages, the General Secretary and the French President agreed to cooperate in preserving and promoting cultural values ​​through sharing experiences in the fields of heritage conservation, museum activities, cinematographic arts, cooperation and support, sharing documents on Vietnamese cultural heritage, cooperation in training professional artists and actors, etc.

Promoting the long-standing tradition of cooperation, the two sides agreed to promote cooperation in the medical field, especially in vaccine research, early screening technology for serious diseases, application of science and technology in medical examination and treatment... for the goal of ensuring people's health.

On this occasion, General Secretary To Lam and the French President exchanged views on many international issues of mutual concern, including security issues, and agreed on the need to address the viewpoint of resolving conflicts through dialogue; called on countries in the region to fully implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and support all regional efforts to soon achieve a Code of Conduct (COC) that is truly effective, substantive and consistent with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS); promoted cooperation in UN peacekeeping operations, search and rescue, combating organized crime, transnational crime, cybercrime, etc.

General Secretary To Lam congratulated and appreciated France for successfully organizing the AI ​​Action Summit in February 2025, and announced that Vietnam will send a delegation to attend the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice.

The two sides agreed to strengthen Vietnam-France cooperation in line with the interests of the two countries, while supporting the promotion of Vietnam-European Union and France-ASEAN relations; continue to coordinate to promote multilateralism, build a fair, democratic international system based on international law with the central role of the United Nations.

According to VNA/Vietnam+

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/tong-bi-thu-to-lam-quan-he-viet-nam-phap-la-quan-he-co-nhieu-diem-dac-biet-post325002.html