Speaking to Vietnam News Agency correspondents in France ahead of the official visit to France by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam, Professor Journoud, who heads the university diploma programme on Vietnam and cooperation with the country, and chairs the France-Vietnam Initiative (IFV), stressed that young people should play a greater role in bilateral ties, rather than being involved mainly in activities commemorating the past.

Drawing on his own experience, he said that he and his wife Nguyen Thanh Hoa have participated in numerous educational, cultural and university exchange projects between the two countries. Such programmes have enabled young people and students to discover Vietnam or France, often for the first time, while developing a basic understanding of the country they visited.

Professor Journoud noted that French and Francophone educational institutions in Vietnam have a long history, with efforts now underway to revive French-language teaching with support from the French Embassy and various public and private stakeholders. In France, meanwhile, Vietnamese language and history studies remain more limited, particularly outside Paris.

The first university diploma programme in France devoted entirely to Vietnam was established at University of Montpellier Paul-Valéry in 2019 and is entering its seventh consecutive year. Although enrolment remains modest, its students reflect the diversity of contemporary Vietnam-France ties, ranging from French students interested in discovering Southeast Asia to young people of Vietnamese origin seeking to reconnect with their heritage, as well as those with professional or family links to Vietnam.

According to the scholar, Vietnam’s growing development and achievements in diplomacy, economy and culture are creating a strong and lasting attraction among French people, constituting a genuine form of soft power. He called for more projects bringing together young people from the two countries, while stressing the need to increase the presence of young Vietnamese artists in France.

He also advocated greater space for Vietnam in French secondary-school curricula and for France in Vietnam’s education programmes. Teaching, he said, should go beyond the colonial period to cover the broader geopolitical, cultural and linguistic contexts of both countries. He proposed developing a joint Franco-Vietnamese history textbook, modelled on the Franco-German approach, with scholars from both sides contributing to its content.

High-level visits provide important momentum for bilateral ties, Professor Journoud said, but people-to-people exchanges between such visits are essential to nurturing mutual understanding and maintaining close bonds between the two peoples./