Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh held talks with his French counterpart Francois Bayrou in Paris on June 10 afternoon (local time), after concluding his activities at the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC 3) in Nice.
Welcoming the Vietnamese leader, PM Bayrou thanked Vietnam for its presence and contributions at the UNOC 3 through the initiatives and proposals stated in the speech and 15 voluntary commitments of the Vietnamese side. He emphasised that following the recent state visit to Vietnam by French President Emmanuel Macron, PM Chinh's ongoing visit is a clear demonstration that the relationship between the two countries has made substantial and effective development steps.
Congratulating France on successfully organising the UNOC 3, PM Chinh stressed Vietnam's support for the role and voice of the host country in promoting international cooperation and enhancing the management, conservation and sustainable use of seas and oceans.
Regarding the bilateral relations, he affirmed that France is one of the important countries in Vietnam's foreign policy with Europe in general and the European Union (EU) in particular, and this visit demonstrates its strong determination in concretising the contents of the Vietnam-France Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
PM Chinh also informed the host of Vietnam's development achievements in recent times and its efforts to successfully implement two 100-year goals of turning itself into a developing country with modern industry and upper-middle income by 2030 and becoming a developed socialist country with high income by 2045.
With that determination, the Vietnamese PM affirmed that cooperation between the two countries has great potential for development, especially in the fields that France has strengths and Vietnam has needs such as aerospace, urban transport, nuclear energy, and manufacturing technology. These will be a "lever" suitable for Vietnam's development orientation and investment attraction in the new era, he added.
PM Bayrou said he is impressed with Vietnam's socio-economic achievements as well as its growing role and stature in the international arena over the recent past. He affirmed that France always attaches importance to strengthening cooperation with Vietnam in traditional fields as well as new areas of cooperation to live up to the current comprehensive strategic partnership.
The host held that in the context of rapid and complex developments in the global political and economic landscapes, the two countries should coordinate more closely to contribute responsibly to peace, stability, and development in the regions and the world.
In that spirit, the Vietnamese and French leaders affirmed that the two sides will closely coordinate and effectively implement the results achieved during the visits by the countries' leaders. Accordingly, they emphasised the need to continuously enhance political trust through delegation exchanges and engagements at all levels, especially at high level, through all channels, while considering the establishment of new cooperation mechanisms to deepen specialised partnerships.
The two sides emphasised that defence and security collaboration forms an important pillar of bilatral relations.
In terms of economy, trade and investment, they affirmed their determination to create breakthroughs in promoting the common points on liberalising trade, opening markets to each other, reducing dependence on third parties, and maintaining the stability of global supply chains.
PM Chinh called on France to soon ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) as well as work closely with Vietnam to continue implementing and effectively tapping into the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). He also called on French investors to partner with Vietnamese enterprises to develop strategic industries and services with high spillover effects such as automobile and logistics, among others.
The two leaders also agreed on close coordination to fruitfully implement the six major measures for promoting bilateral ties. They include unceasingly strengthening political trust; reinforcing defence-security cooperation; promoting economic, trade, and investment partnerships in a practical, effective, fair, and sustainable manner; making breakthroughs in science-technology cooperation, a new pillar of the bilateral relationship, including space science and nuclear energy; expanding cooperation in strategic infrastructure; and deepening and renewing traditional areas of cooperation.
The two sides agreed to promote cooperation in culture, education and training, tourism, health care and people-to-people exchange. The Vietnamese PM thanked and asked the French Government to continue to pay attention and create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in France to stabilise their lives and integrate well, so as to make more practical contributions to the socio-economic development of the host country and the friendship between the two nations.
The two leaders discussed international and regional issues of mutual concern and shared viewpoints on international solidarity, joining hands to solve global issues, resolving disagreements by peaceful means and respecting for international law.
Regarding the East Sea issue, the two sides underlined the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security and freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea on the basis of respect for the law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), settling disputes by peaceful means on the basis of international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS, and not using or threatening to use force.
On this occasion, PM Chinh extended his invitation to the French side to send a high-ranking delegation to attend the signing ceremony of the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime, to be hosted by Vietnam in Hanoi in October 2025. He also formally invited PM Bayrou to pay an official visit to Vietnam at an early date and the latter accepted the invitation with pleasure.
At the end of the talks, the two leaders witnessed the signing and exchange of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission and a tripartite cooperation agreement between the Department Geology and Minerals of Vietnam, France’s Bureau of Geological and Mining Research (BRGM) and the French Development Agency (AFD) on the sustainable management of mineral resources and enhancing geological knowledge for energy transition./.
