National Assembly (NA) Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Thanh arrived in Paris on July 10, beginning her five-day working visit to France, and attending the 50th meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie (APF) General Assembly.
The Vietnamese official held talks with French Senate Vice President Loic Hervé and French NA Vice-President Nadège Abomangoli, met with Anne Le Hénanff, Chairwoman of the France – Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians’ Group (FVFG) in the French NA, and Amélia Lakrafi, General Delegate of the APF.
During the meetings, Thanh affirmed that Vietnam treasures and wishes to further deepen its comprehensive strategic partnership with France, the first EU member state to establish such a partnership with Vietnam. She suggested the two countries continue to enhance all-level delegation exchanges across all channels of the Party, State, Government, and parliament to further deepen cooperation in other areas.
Thanh expressed her hope that France will support Vietnam's participation in the annual summits of the Group of Seven (G7) and the Group of Twenty (G20) as a guest or an observer, particularly when France is expected to assume the G7 Presidency in 2026.
She called on both sides to further enhance the effective implementation of the EU–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). She urged France to soon ratify the EU–Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) and advocate for the European Commission to lift the "yellow card" warning against Vietnamese seafood exports, taking into account Vietnam’s recent efforts in this work.
She hoped that France would continue to provide concessional financing, including official development assistance (ODA) loans and non-refundable aid, and support in high-tech fields to help accelerate Vietnam’s modernisation and improve living standards. The official underlined the need to deepen cooperation in traditional areas such as culture, healthcare, and education – training; in priority fields including strategic infrastructure, smart cities, nuclear and renewable energy, and aerospace; and expand cooperation into potential areas based on mutual strengths and demand such as innovation, artificial intelligence, and digital transformation.
She proposed the French side continuously offer scholarships for Vietnamese doctors to receive training at French hospitals, and enhance support for French language teaching and French-medium education in Vietnam.
She highlighted the positive cooperation between the two countries’ legislative bodies, saying that the two sides regularly exchange delegations at all levels to share parliamentary experience, and coordinate and support each other at multilateral parliamentary forums, contributing actively to strengthening bilateral ties and elevating the Vietnam–France relationship to new heights.
Thanh also highly appreciated France’s viewpoint, stance and policies regarding the East Sea, and called on the European nation to continue voicing strong support for the stance of ASEAN and Vietnam, particularly in safeguarding maritime and aviation security, safety, and freedom in the region, and promoting the peaceful resolution of disputes in line with international law.
For his part, Loic Hervé emphasised the importance of the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and France, as well as the strong ties between the French Parliament and the Vietnamese NA. He affirmed that the French Senate will continue to play a role in fostering connections between localities of the two countries, thereby promoting people-to-people exchanges and cultural cooperation.
He also shared concerns regarding maritime and ocean issues, noting that the East Sea is a vital region for ensuring maritime security and safety, as well as a significant geopolitical area.
Meeting with Anne Le Hénanff, Thanh hailed the active engagement of the France – Vietnam and Vietnam – France parliamentary friendship groups, noting their important role in strengthening ties between the two legislative bodies and contributing to the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.
Hénanff expressed her commitment to contributing to the bilateral relationship, including supporting the ratification of the EVIPA and advocating for the EU to lift the IUU “yellow card” on Vietnamese seafood.
On the occasion, Thanh had a meeting with representatives of the Vietnamese community in France, during which she expressed her hope that Vietnamese expats will continue to stay connected with their homeland and contribute to the goals of bringing Vietnam into a new era of development./.
