Enhancing the Vietnam-France strategic partnership

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with Mr. Nicolas Warnery, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the French Republic in Vietnam

Mr. Nicolas Warnery said that the establishment of the Vietnam-France strategic partnership in 2013 was an important step forward based on regular consultations and specific projects that France wants to develop further in the coming years.

Vietnam and France have established a strategic partnership on the basis of comprehensive, rich, and effective cooperation. How do you rate this relationship?

The France-Vietnam bilateral partnership has created close cooperation for the benefit of the two countries in many fields, such as health, environment, culture, energy, transportation, Francophone, security, etc. This relationship is consistent with France's Indo-Pacific strategy and four pillars: security and defense; economics; connectivity; research and innovation; multilateralism; anti-climate change; biodiversity; and sustainable management of the oceans.

This strategy also exemplifies France's vision of a multipolar, stable, and inclusive order, especially one based on multilateralism and respect for international law.

Although Vietnam-France investment and trade are developing strongly, they are not commensurate with the potential of both countries. In your opinion, how should this activity be promoted?

Our trade with Vietnam is very large (6.4 billion EUR in 2020 despite the impact of the pandemic) but very imbalanced in favor of Vietnam, with a significant trade deficit from the French side. We are working to strengthen France's position as a trading partner of Vietnam. The same is true for direct investments: with $3.6 billion in investment capital, France ranked third among European countries that are present in Vietnam at the end of 2020. While there are 20 Vietnamese companies have invested in France for easier access to the European market.

I am confident that the resumption of ministerial and Vietnamese businessmen's visits to France, as well as visits by French businessmen to Vietnam, will create a new impetus for our economic and trade relations. Besides, EVFTA will also promote and rebalance our trade and investment. In addition, France is promoting financial and technological cooperation with Vietnam. France is currently the third bilateral donor to Vietnam, especially through the participation of French companies in large infrastructure projects such as the Hanoi metro project.

Mr. Nicolas Warnery, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the French Republic in Vietnam

According to you, what barriers are French businesses facing when operating in Vietnam? What solutions should the Vietnamese government take to attract French investment in Vietnam?

The Vietnam-France bilateral joint statement issued during the visit of the Prime Minister of Vietnam to France at the end of 2021 outlines our roadmap for the coming years as well as the sectors where French expertise will be useful to Vietnam: sustainable transport, energy transition, aviation, space, agriculture, food, and especially sustainable cities.

Vietnam has made significant progress in helping foreign investors access its market. In my opinion, this process must be deepened towards the implementation of the EVFTA. The main points that Vietnam needs to improve to increase its attractiveness to foreign investors in general and to French ones in particular are that Vietnam needs to strengthen administrative reforms, simplify sanitary measures, and improve plant and animal quarantine. French companies want to better protect their intellectual property rights and operate in a legal environment that ensures good predictability and legal safety while complying with international standards. Finally, I would like to add that the immigration and residency processes in Vietnam, which are still particularly complicated, need further simplification.

Thank you very much!