The economic pillar "shines" with a significant milestone in Franco-Vietnamese relations.

After half a century of establishing diplomatic relations, the top leaders of Vietnam and France decided to upgrade their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership on October 7th, making France the eighth country to have this level of relationship with Vietnam.

The Economic & Urban Newspaper conducted an interview with the French Ambassador to Vietnam, Mr. Olivier Brochet, about the new impetus for economic, trade, and investment cooperation between the two countries in the coming period, following this milestone.

General Secretary To Lam and French President Emmanuel Macron.

France was the first country in the European Union (EU) to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership with Vietnam. What does this signify, sir?

Over the past 50 years, France has been one of the European countries that has maintained a strong, trusting cooperative relationship, contributing to and accompanying Vietnam in its development process.

Both sides highly appreciate the sense of responsibility and the assertiveness of their voices on international issues. While France is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, maintaining its commitment in the Indo-Pacific region, Vietnam is also a reliable partner worldwide, contributing a strong voice and commitment to common regional issues.

For France, upgrading relations with Vietnam demonstrates an even stronger commitment to supporting Vietnam's sustainable development, innovation, and the affirmation of its independence and sovereignty.

On the other hand, this is also the spirit that EU member states in general hope to promote in the future. I believe this important milestone will create further momentum for cooperation between Vietnam and France in particular, and the EU in general, in the future.

With this milestone, how can Vietnam and France cooperate to promote relations between the EU and ASEAN?

ASEAN is currently a very important partner for the EU, ranking third after China and the US in trade relations. France also has strong trade relations with ASEAN. France and the EU highly value ASEAN's central role in the Indo-Pacific region and the world.

In the ASEAN region, only Vietnam and Singapore have implemented free trade agreements with the EU – demonstrating their leading role in boosting the development momentum of ASEAN and the EU. During his recent official visit to France, General Secretary and President To Lam also visited the port of Le Havre – a major French seaport. This is considered a symbol of the bright potential for economic and trade cooperation and integration between the two countries. On the other hand, there is also a cooperation program between the EU and ASEAN at sea, which helps to strengthen economic development as well as maintain security, peace, and stability in the region.

With the upgrading of relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, how do you view the potential for strengthening trade relations between Vietnam and France?

Based on the Vietnam-European Union Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), trade cooperation between ASEAN and the EU in general, and between Vietnam and France in particular, has made significant progress in recent years.

In this context, the trade surplus still favors Vietnam compared to other EU member states. However, I believe that once regulations are more fully implemented, coupled with Vietnam's increasingly developing economy and the emergence of a middle class with new needs, it will create opportunities for European goods to gain a new foothold in the Vietnamese market.

I can mention four potential sectors: aviation, European healthcare and pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, and high-end cosmetics. These are service sectors that could experience a surge in growth from Europe to Vietnam in the near future.

On the other hand, in the context of upgrading relations, through exchanges, leaders of the two countries also expressed their expectation that France would support Vietnam in increasing the added value of its products and services, through increased investment by French businesses in the production process in Vietnam. Currently, there are already businesses cooperating to bring machinery and equipment to establish professional and high-quality production lines in Vietnam.

In addition, the two countries have identified several strategic, fundamental areas in which the participation of French businesses is clearly evident. For example, in sustainable transport, the Metro Line 3 project (Nhon-Hanoi Station) is a concrete example.

Another area is energy. Vietnam is known to have high energy needs to support its development goals and is currently undergoing an energy transition to achieve carbon neutrality. French businesses are ready to partner in this area.

Within the framework of the Joint Statement following the visit of the General Secretary, President To Lam also outlined several areas that the two sides plan to develop, including exploring new fields, especially innovation, nuclear power, and sustainable development…

How can Vietnam and France encourage more two-way investment between businesses and industries in both countries? What key policies or initiatives could be implemented to attract more French investment into Vietnam and vice versa?

French businesses have a strong presence in Vietnam with total investment of nearly 4 billion Euros and a community of approximately 220 businesses, employing tens of thousands of workers and making a significant contribution to the Vietnamese economy.

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the opening of a seminar in Paris between the chambers of industry and commerce of the two countries. In general, the aspirations of French businesses when investing or intending to invest in France are for improvements in intellectual property protection, simplification of administrative procedures, and the expectation that the EVFTA will be fully and strictly implemented.

French Ambassador to Vietnam Olivier Brochet.

On the other hand, I believe it is also necessary to strengthen the promotion and dissemination of information about Vietnam's investment potential to the French side. We welcome Vietnamese businesses to invest in the French market to take advantage of the favorable investment ecosystem here, with a chain of high-quality research centers and a favorable tax system that encourages innovation.

With its experience in innovation, how can France support Vietnam, sir? What areas of technological cooperation could be prioritized?

France continues to actively support Vietnam in the process of training innovative human resources. As affirmed in the Joint Statement, both sides agreed to promote people-to-people exchanges to increase the number of Vietnamese students undertaking training in France or studying at French-affiliated institutions in Vietnam.

On the other hand, France can also partner with Vietnam in the process of developing public policies that "pave the way" for the innovation sector. We are currently collaborating with the National Innovation Center (NIC) through Banque Populaire - the French public investment bank, and the French Development Agency (AFD), to help Vietnam build a startup ecosystem.

The FrancoTech Forum recently had the honor of welcoming General Secretary and President To Lam to attend as part of his official visit. Station F in France is also considered the largest startup incubator in Europe. Based on this, France believes it can share its experience with Vietnam in this field. Even businesses already operating in Vietnam are actively engaged in R&D to create new products in Vietnam for export worldwide, such as Decathlon in the sports equipment sector, or Sanofi in pharmaceuticals…

Regarding local cooperation, Vietnam and France also have notable achievements, with the relationship between Hanoi and the Ile-de-France region considered a "model" for the area. How will this aspect be promoted in the future, sir?

The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership encompasses many aspects, including local cooperation. When considering Hanoi and the Ile-de-France region, it truly serves as a model and a very relevant example. The two sides have implemented cooperation in many areas, especially sustainable transport.

As far as I know, a delegation from Ile-de-France recently visited Vietnam to discuss cooperation in multimodal transport design and to study the transportation needs of Hanoi residents, thereby providing useful guidance for French investors wishing to operate in Vietnam.

During the visit, General Secretary and President To Lam also expressed his pleasure in discussing local cooperation. While visiting Le Havre and meeting with former French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, General Secretary and President To Lam also mentioned the potential for a sister city relationship between Le Havre and a Vietnamese city.

Overall, I believe the potential for local cooperation in the future is enormous, through many specific projects with content that can span many fields from trade to tourism, culture, and people-to-people exchanges…

I believe that, with this new milestone in bilateral relations, local cooperation will also find new impetus, and the upcoming 2026 Local Cooperation Conference, scheduled to take place in France, will be a particularly exciting event to look forward to.

Thank you, sir!