Illustrative image (Source: AP)
Hanoi (VNA) – President Tran Dai Quang on July 13sent greetings to his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on the occasion of the229th National Day of France (July 14, 1789 - 2018).
The same day, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc also cabledhis congratulations to French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minhextended his greetings to French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-YvesLe Drian on the occasion.
In the messages, the Vietnamese leaders emphasised theimportance of the year 2018 when the two countries mark the 45th anniversary of their diplomatic relations and five years of the bilateralstrategic partnership.
The leaders expressed their delight at the strong progressof the Vietnam-France relationship over the past time, and proposed that thetwo countries work closely together for the stronger and more effective developmentof bilateral ties in the interests of both peoples and for the sake of peace, cooperationand development.
Vietnam and France officially set up diplomatic ties on April 12, 1973.The two nations decided to establish the Strategic Partnership in 2013.
In recent years, the two sideshave maintained the exchange of high-ranking visits and various cooperationmechanisms. Notably, apart from organising the Vietnam-France Defence PolicyDialogue, the two countries have also maintained high-level economic dialoguesand financial and economic forums.
France was the first Westerncountry to have a defence attaché in Vietnam in 1991. In November 2009, the twoministries of defence signed an agreement on annual rotating organisation ofthe Vietnam-France Joint Committee on National Defence Cooperation, which wasrenamed “the Defence Policy Dialogue” with its first meeting in November 2016.
Trade links between the two sideshas witnessed strong development in recent years. Vietnam has enjoyed a tradesurplus in exports to the French market. Two-way trade hit 4.6 billion USD in2017, up 11.6 percent from the previous year.
France began investing in Vietnamin 1988. In 2017, France ranked third among European countries, and 16th among125 countries and territories investing in Vietnam, with 513 valid projectsworth 2.8 billion USD. France’s direct investment in Vietnam mainly focuses onIT and processing and manufacturing industries.
France is a leading European ODAprovider for Vietnam, and Vietnam is the second largest beneficiary nation ofFrench ODA in Asia, with total committed capital of 18.4 billion USD since1993.
Regarding educationalcooperation, France regards education and training as a priority in itscooperation with Vietnam, focusing on French language teaching and humanresources training at tertiary and post-graduate levels in various areas likeeconomic management, banking, finance, law and new technology.
The French Government allocatesabout 5 million EUR (6.1 million USD) for cultural cooperation with Vietnameach year, including support for French culture centres in Hanoi (L’Espace), HoChi Minh City (Institute of Cultural Exchange with France – IDECAF), Hue and DaNang.
With 14 projects worth 188million USD, France ranks seventh among countries and territories in terms oftourism investment in Vietnam, which considers the EU nation as a key source oftourists.
Beginning in early 1990s,cooperation among localities of the two countries has become a special featurein the bilateral relations. As many as 38 French localities have establishedpartnerships with 18 provinces and cities of Vietnam. Since 1990, there havebeen 235 projects between localities of Vietnam and France, focusing on healthcare, education, water and hygiene, heritage preservation, French-speakingcommunity, rural and sustainable development.
As members of the InternationalFrancophone Organisation (OIF), the two sides have many cooperation activitieswithin the organisation, especially in teaching French, higher education andparliamentary activities.
Currently, around 300,000Vietnamese people are living, studying and working in France, 40,000 of whomhave tertiary or postgraduate degrees. Many of them are working in universities,research institutes and administrative agencies of France.-VNA
