The significance of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's working trip to three European countries

TPO - Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's working trip is an important opportunity to further deepen the relationship between Vietnam and France, Sweden and Estonia, countries with important roles and positions in Europe.

At the invitation of United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and French President Emmanuel Macron , Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife, along with a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, will attend the 3rd UN Ocean Conference, conduct bilateral activities in France, and pay official visits to Estonia and Sweden from June 5-14.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

Deputy Foreign Minister Le Thi Thu Hang gave an interview to the press before the working trip.

Could you please tell us the significance of the working trip?

Deputy Minister Le Thi Thu Hang: Following the vibrant high-level foreign affairs activities of the Party and State since the beginning of the year, this working trip of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh is a practical step in implementing the foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralization, diversification, proactiveness, activeness, comprehensive, deep and effective international integration of the 13th National Party Congress and is an important foreign affairs activity to promote the implementation of Resolution No. 59 on international integration in the new situation.

This is also the first time the Prime Minister has visited France since the two countries upgraded their relationship to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (October 2024), the first visit to Sweden in 6 years by a Vietnamese Prime Minister, and the first time a key Vietnamese leader has visited Estonia since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1992.

In the context of the current profound changes in the world and the region, this working trip of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has extremely important meanings, reflected in three major points.

Firstly , it is a message of peace, stability, cooperation and development. On the bilateral level, this is an important occasion for us to further deepen the relationship between Vietnam and France, Sweden and Estonia, countries with important roles and positions in Europe. France is currently a comprehensive strategic partner, while Estonia and Sweden are traditional friends, having multifaceted cooperative relations with Vietnam.

In that spirit, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's bilateral activities in France will concretize the major orientations of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries as well as the Vietnam-France Joint Statement on the occasion of the State visit of French President Macron (May 2025), opening a new chapter for the multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and France.

With Sweden and Estonia, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the leaders of the two countries will review the cooperation journey and new development requirements of each country, thereby proposing specific measures to create momentum and breakthroughs, bringing the relationship to development, substantive and effective.

At the same time, through the working trip, we will also aim to promote deeper cooperation with the European Union (EU), promote the role of a bridge for multi-faceted cooperation between EU and ASEAN countries, strengthen coordination in solving regional and global issues, and contribute to peace, stability, cooperation and sustainable development in each region and in the world.

Second , the working trip is an opportunity for Vietnam to convey to the international community a message of determination and aspiration for development, attracting maximum international resources to serve the country's development goals in the new era.

We all know that France has strengths in telecommunications, aerospace, renewable energy, manufacturing technology, high-speed railways, etc. Meanwhile, since joining the EU in 2004, Estonia has achieved great achievements in socio-economic development and European integration, especially being a pioneer in digital transformation and applying e-government. Sweden is a developed country with strengths in science and technology, innovation, information and communication technology, environment, green economy, etc.

These will be the "leverage" areas of cooperation, the pillars to renew the relationship in line with Vietnam's development orientation and investment attraction to achieve the double-digit growth target in the coming time.

Third , from a multilateral perspective, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's attendance at the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC 3) with the theme "Accelerating action and mobilizing all parties to participate in the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean" conveys a consistent message that Vietnam is a reliable partner, an active and responsible member of the international community for a common prosperous future and sustainable development.

At the conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will represent ASEAN countries to deliver an important speech, affirming ASEAN's consistent stance on promoting multilateralism and international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, to address common challenges related to the seas and oceans.

The Prime Minister will also share the drastic and strong measures that Vietnam is implementing to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on the conservation and sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources.

Within the framework of the conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, together with the Presidents of Colombia and Iran, will chair the Summit on the world's deltas in the face of climate change, demonstrating Vietnam's readiness to contribute and participate in the international community's joint efforts to protect and develop an important development space for nations.

In addition, the Prime Minister will also attend a number of economic and ocean-related activities in Monaco with a number of other special guests at the invitation of the Government of the Principality of Monaco.

Could you please tell us about the positive developments in bilateral cooperation between Vietnam and Estonia, Sweden and France, as well as Vietnam's contributions to the UN Ocean Conference in recent times?

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's working trip took place in the context of Vietnam's relations with partner countries continuing to develop positively and achieving many good results.

Deputy Minister Le Thi Thu Hang. Photo: Mofa

For France, after the two countries upgraded their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in October 2024 during the official visit to France by General Secretary To Lam, France became the first EU country to have the highest level of cooperation with Vietnam.

With the State visit to Vietnam by French President Emmanuel Macron in late May 2025, political trust between the two countries has been increasingly consolidated and developed strongly. Economic and trade cooperation continues to be an important pillar in the relationship between Vietnam and France. France is currently the 5th largest trading partner, the 2nd largest investor and the EU's leading provider of development aid to Vietnam.

Trade between the two countries has always been vibrant due to the complementarity and taking full advantage of the Vietnam – European Union Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). Bilateral trade turnover has increased by 42% over the past 10 years and reached over 5.42 billion USD in 2024.

Currently, France has more than 350 leading enterprises and corporations operating in Vietnam. Along with that, the two countries are increasingly deepening cooperation in specialized and specialized areas in areas where France has strengths and Vietnam has needs such as aerospace, energy conversion, infrastructure and expanding to new areas such as satellites and nuclear energy.

Cooperation in other areas such as culture, education and training, health, etc. continues to demonstrate the dynamism and ability to interact and coordinate between the partners of the two countries. The two countries share many common views on global and multilateral issues and closely coordinate in international organizations.

For Sweden and Estonia, these are important traditional friendly partners, having multifaceted cooperative relations with Vietnam.

Sweden is a Western country with a strong movement to support Vietnam's resistance war for national independence and unification. Sweden is also the Northwestern European country that provides the largest non-refundable aid to Vietnam, with a total aid value from 1967 to present reaching over 3 billion USD, focusing on the fields of health, economic reform, institution building, administrative reform, etc.

Recently, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification Day, the Swedish Embassy in Vietnam presented Vietnam with touching film footage recording the atmosphere of Swedish people taking to the streets to celebrate the victory of the Vietnamese people's just resistance war, leaving extremely beautiful marks in the relationship between the two countries.

Over the years, Vietnam and Sweden have maintained regular political consultations. Trade turnover between the two countries has continuously grown well and reached 1.48 billion USD in 2024. Sweden currently ranks 29th out of 149 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 111 valid projects, total registered capital of over 743 million USD, most of which are concentrated in the fields of processing, manufacturing, information and communications industry, etc.

For Estonia, the bilateral relationship is based on a good foundation of friendship. Estonia has actively supported Vietnam in signing the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and was one of the first EU countries to ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).

Although two-way trade turnover is still modest, it has shown a steady growth trend in recent years. Both sides are exploiting the advantages of the Vietnam – EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) to expand market access, especially in areas of mutual interest.

Regarding the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC 3), this is an important conference, guiding the preparation for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 14 on the conservation and sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources. At previous conferences, Vietnam sent representatives to attend and discuss at the main sessions and thematic sessions, thereby contributing to the common efforts of the international community towards the conservation and sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources.

However, in the context that the ocean continues to face many risks due to climate change, acidification, plastic pollution and the implementation of SDG 14 still faces many difficulties, the Prime Minister's participation in UNOC 3 will strongly demonstrate Vietnam's commitment to being an active and responsible member of the international community, promoting multilateralism, the role of the United Nations and compliance with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982), in resolving sea and ocean issues, thereby contributing to strongly spreading the message of a proactive, positive, responsible Vietnam ready to promote cooperation and partnership for a blue, peaceful, stable, sustainable and prosperous ocean as the goal of the conference.

Thank you, Deputy Minister!

Tienphong.vn

Source: https://tienphong.vn/y-nghia-chuyen-cong-tac-cua-thu-tuong-pham-minh-chinh-toi-ba-nuoc-chau-au-post1748260.tpo