Ho Chi Minh City (VNA) - The successful third Ho Chi Minh City Friendship Dialogue (FD 2026), themed “City Diplomacy: A Driving Force for Innovation and Sustainable Development,” has reaffirmed the forum’s position as a pioneering and leading local diplomacy platform in Vietnam, while highlighting the city’s efforts to make external relations a driver of socio-economic development.
Held from September 10-12, FD 2026 brought together more than 400 delegates, including leaders of 35 local delegations and international partners from over 20 countries, along with representatives from central agencies, experts and businesses.
Turning diplomacy into development resources
Speaking at the Mayors' Conference, which was part of FD 2026, Standing Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Loc Ha said that in an era of integration, external relations and international integration had become an important development tool for localities, rather than simply a means of maintaining friendship and expanding international exchanges.
While national foreign policy creates the framework and favourable conditions, localities are where strategic opportunities are translated into concrete programmes, projects and development outcomes, he noted.
The city entered FD 2026 with a new development landscape following its administrative merger with Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces on July 1, 2025. Its expanded area of more than 6,770 sq.km and population of over 14 million bring together three dynamic growth poles: finance, trade, services, science and technology in the urban core; high-tech industrial production in Binh Duong; and deep-water ports, the marine economy, energy and sea tourism in Vung Tau.
Under the Law on Urban Development, adopted by the National Assembly in August 2026, and Resolution No. 09-NQ/TW on building and developing Ho Chi Minh City in the new era, the southern metropolis targets annual GRDP growth of at least 10% during 2026-2030, with the digital economy accounting for around 40% of GRDP.
To realise these goals, the city is leveraging its network of friendship cooperation with 88 international localities and nearly 20 partner organisations to attract high-quality FDI, green technologies, knowledge resources and advanced management experience. FD 2026 provided a platform to connect international financial centres, attract high-tech capital and expertise to the urban core, promote investment and technology transfer in Binh Duong, and expand port and logistics cooperation in Vung Tau.
Through the Mayors’ Conference, thematic sessions, nearly 10 bilateral meetings and exchange programmes, FD 2026 created opportunities for localities to share experience and explore practical cooperation.
Governor of Kratie province of Cambodia Va Than expressed his belief that municipal diplomacy and local-level cooperation are effective tools for forging new partnerships and promoting socio-economic, cultural, tourism, environmental, technological and human resource development.
Deputy Governor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area of Japan Sato Tomohide shared Tokyo’s experience in strengthening urban resilience through the TOKYO Resilience Project and its financial instrument, while expressing interest in sharing technologies on flood prevention, drainage and AI-based disaster management.
Governor of Artemisa province of Cuba Ricardo Concepcion Rodriguez said cities could not act alone in addressing global challenges, calling for stronger institutionalisation of urban diplomacy and cooperation through public-private partnerships in education, public healthcare and sustainable development.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Hoang Long praised Ho Chi Minh City’s breakthrough approach to external relations, saying its local diplomacy had promoted Vietnam’s international cooperation while serving as a model for making diplomacy contribute more substantively to development.
From commitments to measurable projects
Delegates focused on three key questions: how localities can respond quickly to new cooperation opportunities, how multilateral networks can generate practical value, and how diplomatic commitments can be translated into measurable projects.
Representatives of international local delegations expressed their strong readiness to work with Ho Chi Minh City to open up broader and more effective avenues for cooperation in the new context.
Alounxay Sounnalath, Chairman of the People’s Council of Champasak province of Laos expressed support for shifting from “simple cooperation” to technical cooperation in key areas such as high-tech agriculture, cross-border logistics, supporting industries, eco-tourism and MICE, healthcare and education, with Ho Chi Minh City.
He proposed developing rail-sea connectivity routes and said Champasak was ready to work with Ho Chi Minh City to translate diplomatic ties into concrete development cooperation projects, including factories, farms and jobs for local people.
Delegates adopted a joint declaration, reaffirming the role of local governments as pioneering actors in national foreign policy. The declaration also supported Ho Chi Minh City’s initiative to study and promote a multilateral city-level cooperation mechanism on seaports and the marine economy, focusing on data sharing, green-port management, global supply-chain connectivity and new ESG standards.
Local leaders agreed to task relevant agencies with promptly developing concrete action plans to implement bilateral and multilateral agreements towards the fourth Friendship Dialogue in 2028. The outcomes reaffirmed the growing role of local diplomacy in mobilising resources for innovation and sustainable development, contributing to Vietnam’s broader external relations in the new era./.
VNA
