Vietnam and France move towards a new level of strategic partnership

French National Assembly President Yael Braun-Pivet welcomes General Secretary and President To Lam.

General Secretary and President To Lam thanked the French Government and Parliament for the warm and sincere welcome extended to the high-level Vietnamese delegation; congratulated Ms. Yael Braun-Pivet on her re-election as Speaker of the National Assembly and conveyed an invitation from Speaker Tran Thanh Man to visit Vietnam soon; congratulated France on successfully organizing the Francophone Summit with many practical results, contributing to strengthening economic cooperation within the Francophone Community; proposed that both sides continue to promote exchanges of delegations at all levels, especially at the high level, through Party, State, Government and Parliament channels to create momentum for deepening cooperative relations in all fields, and suggested that France soon re-establish the Vietnam-France Parliamentary Friendship Group so that the group can continue to support and bridge the gap between the Parliaments and people of the two countries.

Speaker of the National Assembly Yael Braun-Pivet expressed his honor to welcome the General Secretary and President to the 19th Francophone Summit and on an official visit to France; highly appreciated the program with many rich activities of the General Secretary and President with high-ranking French leaders to jointly set major directions to promote relations between the two countries; expressed admiration for Vietnam's great economic and social achievements in recent years, especially Vietnam's efforts in harmonizing socio-economic development and environmental protection, contributing to ensuring the lives of the people; welcomed Vietnam's role as ASEAN Chair in 2020 contributing to promoting relations between the EU and ASEAN as well as between the parliaments of EU member states and ASEAN; agreed on the need to continue strengthening bilateral and multilateral solidarity and cooperation through all channels, including parliaments.

General Secretary and President To Lam met with President of the French National Assembly Yael Braun-Pivet

The two leaders affirmed their commitment to valuing and further deepening the strategic partnership, agreeing to elevate the Vietnam-France strategic partnership framework to a new level; promoting enhanced cooperation and exchanges between the parliaments of the two countries to share experiences and improve the effectiveness of their legislative bodies, while coordinating and supporting each other in regional and global inter-parliamentary forums.

Regarding economic, trade, and investment relations, General Secretary and President To Lam highly appreciated France's continued position as Vietnam's fourth largest trading partner and second largest investor in the EU, and its leading role in providing ODA (Official Development Assistance) to Vietnam in Europe.

The General Secretary and President requested the French National Assembly to expedite the ratification of the Vietnam-EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) to facilitate investment from both countries as well as from the EU; and supported the European Commission (EC) in lifting the "yellow card" imposed on Vietnamese seafood to ensure the livelihoods of thousands of Vietnamese fishermen and meet the needs of French consumers.

The President of the French National Assembly acknowledged the proposals of the General Secretary and President; highly appreciated Vietnam's efforts in sustainable fisheries transformation and noted the lobbying efforts to lift the IUU yellow card from the EU as soon as possible.

As a JETP partner of Vietnam, the President of the French National Assembly pledged continued support for Vietnam in its adaptation to climate change, particularly in terms of finance, technology, human resource training, and policy development during the implementation of the Energy Transition Partnership, contributing to addressing global challenges.

Both sides assessed cooperation between localities as a typical and distinctive feature in the Vietnam-France relationship, contributing to strengthening people-to-people exchanges and cultural exchanges between the two countries, especially the very successful hosting of the 12th Conference on Cooperation between Localities in Hanoi in April 2023.

Both sides agreed to facilitate the successful integration of citizens of both countries living, studying, and working in the other country, enabling them to contribute to the socio-economic development and cultural diversity of both nations.

Regarding regional issues, both sides emphasized the importance of ensuring peace, stability, security, safety, freedom of navigation and overflight, and the need to resolve disputes peacefully in accordance with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

On this occasion, the President of the French National Assembly extended an invitation to the Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly, Tran Thanh Man, to attend the General Assembly of the Francophone Parliamentary Union in July 2025.

TB (according to VNA)

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/viet-nam-va-phap-huong-toi-quan-he-doi-tac-chien-luoc-tam-cao-moi-395105.html