Affirming Vietnam’s position and prestige on international arena

NDO – At the invitation of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French Prime Minister Jean Castex, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has led a high-ranking panel from Vietnam to attend the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) as well as a working visit to the UK from October 31 to November 3, and an official visit to France from November 3-5.

The Vietnamese PM’s trip aims to carry out the 13th National Party Congress’s foreign policy of continuing to promote and improve the effectiveness of external relations work and international integration, along with Secretariat Directive 25 enhancing multilateral external relations until 2030. The visit also contributes to affirming Vietnam’s position and prestige on the international arena.

COP26 – Decisive moment

Climate change is becoming complicated and unpredictable on a global scale, attracting special attention from world public opinion and requiring urgent and bold coordination amongst all countries.

COP26 is an annual international conference that has been held under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) since 1995, aiming to achieve progress in dealing with climate change.

The conference took place in the context that urgent and bold action in the fight against climate change is more imperative than ever, towards realising the goal of keeping the global temperature rise to a maximum of 1.5C above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century, as set out in the Paris Agreement.

France – One of leading partners of Vietnam in Europe

48 years since the establishment of Vietnam-France diplomatic ties (April 12, 1973 - April 12, 2021), the strategic partnership between the two countries is entering a new stage of development, moving towards comprehensive and effective cooperation in all fields. In recent years, the strategic partnership between the two countries has recorded fruitful developments.

On the basis of trusted political relations, bilateral economic cooperation has recorded many positive results. France is Vietnam's fifth largest European trading partner. Bilateral trade turnover reached US$4.81 billion in 2020 and US$2.81 billion in the first seven months of 2021.

As of July 2021, France ranked 3rd among European countries and 16th in the total number of countries and territories investing in Vietnam, with 605 projects, totaling US$3.6 billion in registered capital. France's direct investment focuses mainly on the fields of information and communication, and the processing and manufacturing industries.

France is the leading European bilateral ODA donor for Vietnam and Vietnam ranks second among countries receiving French ODA in Asia. France supports an ODA loan of at least EUR 200 million per year, focusing on three priority areas: climate change, energy conversion and green growth.

Relations between the two countries in the fields of defence, culture, education - training, science - technology, has also achieved many good results. Education and training cooperation between Vietnam and France has developed since the early 1980s and is one of the bright spots in the bilateral relationship.

France always considers education and training a priority goal in its cooperation activities in Vietnam, focusing mainly on teaching and developnig French as a language, training human resources at undergraduate and graduate level in many fields such as economic management, banking, finance, law, and new technology.

The number of Vietnamese students studying in France has increased by about 40% over the past 10 years; and there are currently nearly 10,000 Vietnamese students studying in France. France is home to the third largest number of Vietnamese students in the world.

Many key projects in the field of training, such as the High-quality Engineers Training Programme in Vietnam, the France-Vietnam Centre for Management Education, the International Francophone Institute, are vivid proof of the positive educational cooperation between the two countries in recent years.

In addition, cultural exchanges between the two countries are growing. Every year, the French Government spends about EUR 5 million on cultural cooperation with Vietnam, including supporting the operation of French cultural centres in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hue and Da Nang. An agreement on cultural centers between the two governments was signed in November 2009, creating the basis and conditions for the operation of the Vietnamese Cultural Centre in Paris, one of two overseas Vietnamese cultural centres.

In terms of tourism, Vietnam is a favourite destination of many French tourists. France ranks 7th among the countries investing in tourism in Vietnam, with 14 projects, totaling US$188 million.

According to French Ambassador to Vietnam Nicolas Warnery, through the French Development Agency (AFD), the Institute for Research for Development (IRD) and the Pasteur Institute, France has made great efforts to support Vietnam’s public health system, as well as its scientific research activities aiming to curb the spread of the pandemic and reduce the impact on Vietnam’s socio-economy.

The Vietnamese community in France was mostly formed during the First World War 1914-1918, when many Vietnamese went to France at different times and under varying circumstances. The total number of Vietnamese people in France is now about 300,000, most of whom have naturalized French, mainly made up of workers, officials, small traders and students. The community is increasing in number and diversity in composition due to more and more students coming to study, including a small number of people moving from Eastern European countries.

Currently, there are about 40,000 overseas Vietnamese with university or postgraduate degrees in various professions and fields, accounting for 12% of the Vietnamese community in France. The majority of overseas Vietnamese intellectuals were those who went to France before and after 1954 and whose children grew up in France. Some have high professional qualifications, are experts with experience working at universities, the French National Centre for Scientific Research, research institutes, and at administrative and technical agencies.

Not only on a bilateral level, Vietnam and France also work closely together at multilateral forums such as the United Nations, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). French Ambassador to Vietnam Nicolas Warnery has emphasised that Vietnam is an important Southeast Asian partner and a bridge to help promote the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - France Development Partnership, as well as the ASEAN - European Union (EU) relationship.

On a phone call on June 14 with French Prime Minister Jean Castex, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed that France is one of the leading partners of Vietnam in Europe and that Vietnam wants to further enhance the traditional, trusted and strategic partnership between the two countries. This official visit to France by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will make an important contribution to further strengthening political trust and enhancing the Vietnam - France strategic partnership in a more effective and practical manner.

The UK - an active and responsible member of the international community

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) is a country that makes active, proactive and responsible contributions to the common international effort for peace, security, development and progress.

The UK is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a member of NATO, the G7, head of the 54 countries in the Commonwealth (mostly former British colonies), many important international organisations, and has diplomatic relations with 165 countries.

From 2016 to now, the UK has strongly implemented the policy of "global Britain", with a focus on strengthening its external economy; strengthening its voice and continuing to coordinate its positions with Germany and France in major documents such as Iran, Myanmar, Syria, East Sea/ South China Sea.

The UK always strives to improve the effectiveness of development aid in association with serving global foreign policy priorities, affirming its role as an active and responsible member in the international community. The UK's aid is mainly aimed at poverty alleviation, government capacity building, human rights, women's development, health, education, environmental protection, conflict prevention, disaster relief; implemented through two channels: international organisations (under the United Nations and the World Bank) and bilateral channels.

The UK is one of the leading countries in combating climate change, being the first to set a target of zero carbon emissions by 2050. The UK is the host of the COP26 Conference and the G7 Summit in 2021.

UK - ASEAN cooperation in recent years has witnessed many positive "bright spots". The UK applied to become a Dialogue Partner of ASEAN in June 2020, applied to be an observer at the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus (ADMM+) and was approved as a Dialogue Partner of ASEAN on August 5, 2021.

Significant imprints of Vietnam - UK cooperation

The cooperative relationship between Vietnam and the UK has undergone 48 years of development with many positive achievements in all fields. Vietnam and the UK officially established diplomatic relations in 1973.

The two countries signed a Joint Statement on the establishment of a Strategic Partnership in 2010, opening a beautiful new chapter in the history of their bilateral relations.

On the occasion of the visit to Vietnam by First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the UK Dominic Raab on September 30, 2020, the two sides issued a new Joint Statement on the Strategic Partnership with seven priority areas of cooperation and affirmed to raise the relationship to a higher level over the next 10 years.

Over nearly half a century, friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and the UK have been preserved and nurtured by the Governments and peoples of the two countries, reaping “sweet fruits” in all fields such as politics, the economy, culture, education, science – technology, and others. UK investment projects in Vietnam and activities to promote cultural and educational exchange such as teacher training and technology transfer in education have made an important contribution to tightening the bond between the peoples of the two countries and have become a vivid and meaningful symbol of the Vietnam - UK relationship.

Vietnam - UK cooperation in other fields has also achieved many fruitful results. Defence - security cooperation has also developed positively. The two sides have exchanged many defence and security delegations and promoted cooperation in training, information exchange, purchase and sale of equipment. The British Defence Minister paid an official visit to Vietnam for the first time in July 2021.

Regarding education and training, the UK also focuses on cooperation with Vietnam in this field with the presence of the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities (British Council) in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City actively promoting the participation of leading UK schools in providing training and developing higher education institutions in Vietnam.

Regarding climate change response, many British energy corporations are interested in investing in renewable energy in Vietnam, including offshore wind power projects, one of strengths of the UK.

Currently, the Vietnamese community in the UK is made up of about 100,000 people who are living in harmony with the local communities and have made practical activities to help strengthen community solidarity as well as looking towards building their homeland.

On the basis of the traditional relationship between the two countries, the spirit of solidarity and sharing continues to be upheld by Vietnamese and British people in the context of the raging COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, when the UK was heavily affected by the pandemic, Vietnamese agencies, organisations and businesses donated hundreds of thousands of masks to the UK to help the country in its fight against the pandemic. The British side expressed their thanks for Vietnam's noble gesture in the tough fight against the pandemic.

Promoting the spirit of mutual affection, the UK has also actively supported Vietnam in pandemic prevention and control. The UK is a major contributor to the COVAX mechanism, with the vaccine being jointly developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford. Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the UK Dominic Raab stated that the UK is ready to lobby AstraZeneca to transfer technology and assist Vietnam in building its own vaccine production capacity. On the morning of August 3, 2021, representatives of the British Embassy in Vietnam presented 415,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Vietnam to help the country fight the pandemic.

With the efforts of generations of the peoples of both countries, the good relationship between Vietnam and the UK will continue to be promoted in cultural, economic healthcare, and educational cooperation, contributing to opening up new opportunities for bilateral relations.

Production manager: NGOC THANH, HA VIET
Translation: TRAN THUY, KIM LINH, THUY LINH
Design: HOANG HA, PHAN ANH, BIEN DIEU
Sources: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, UNDP Vietnam, French Embassy, VNA, Reuters, Gov.uk