Phnom Penh (VNA) – General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and President To Lam held meetings with leaders of Romania, Senegal, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Switzerland on November 15 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on the sidelines of the 20th Francophonie Summit.
At his meeting with Romanian President Nicusor Daniel Dan, General Secretary and President Lam affirmed that Vietnam always values its traditional friendship with Romania, one of the first European countries to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam.
He spoke highly of the positive progress in bilateral ties, with two-way trade reaching nearly 557 million USD in 2025. He proposed that the two sides elevate and diversify cooperation in areas such as sustainable agriculture, supporting industries, electronics, tourism, digital transformation, cyber security, culture, and education and training.
For his part, President Dan said that Romania has always attached importance to Vietnam and the long history of friendship between the two countries. He agreed with the Vietnamese leader's proposals and pledged to actively promote cooperation in areas where both sides have strengths and considerable potential. The Romanian leader said his country will continue to increase the number of scholarships for Vietnamese students and postgraduate researchers in the coming years.
The two sides agreed to maintain exchanges of delegations at all levels, particularly high-level visits, through all Party, State and parliamentary channels, thereby consolidating political trust, enhancing mutual understanding and creating momentum for cooperation across various fields. They also agreed to strengthen coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums and on international issues of shared concern. The two leaders agreed to arrange an early visit to Vietnam by the Romanian President.
At his meeting with Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, General Secretary and President Lam affirmed that Vietnam and Senegal are close friends sharing many historical similarities in their struggles against colonialism and for national independence.
He said that 115 years ago, President Ho Chi Minh visited the port of Dakar and he stood alongside prominent African political activists, including Senegalese revolutionaries. General Secretary and President Lam expressed his wish for the two sides to build on their longstanding friendship and further develop substantive and effective bilateral cooperation in line with each country’s potential.
Discussing future cooperation, General Secretary and President Lam called on the two sides to effectively implement memoranda of understanding in agriculture and coordinate in mobilising domestic and international resources for joint agricultural projects, including the development of the rice and cashew industries. He highlighted the considerable potential for trade and investment cooperation, given the two countries’ roles as gateways to the ASEAN market and the Economic Community of West African States.
For his part, President Faye affirmed that Senegal values its good cooperative relations with Vietnam and regards the country as a model for development. He expressed his determination to make Senegal-Vietnam relations a model of cooperation between Africa and Asia. The Senegalese President agreed with the Vietnamese leader's proposals and affirmed that Senegal would facilitate Vietnamese businesses seeking investment opportunities in the country by providing information on potential projects and specific incentive policies.
The two leaders agreed to encourage businesses to actively explore cooperation and investment opportunities in energy, telecommunications, digital technology, mining, infrastructure construction and agriculture.
They agreed to continue stepping up exchanges and contacts at all levels and closely coordinate in implementing agreements reached, thereby further deepening the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Senegal.
On this occasion, the Senegalese President invited General Secretary and President Lam to visit Senegal, while the Vietnamese leader extended an invitation to the Senegalese President to visit Vietnam at an early date. Both leaders gladly accepted the invitations, affirming that stepped-up high-level exchanges would help elevate bilateral relations and promote comprehensive and effective cooperation between the two countries.
At his meeting with President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, General Secretary and President Lam expressed his pleasure at the country’s development achievements in recent years and spoke highly of its efforts in fulfilling its role as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2026-2027 term.
The Congolese President spoke highly of Vietnam’s role, standing and contributions to the Francophone Community, and expressed his desire to work with Vietnam to build a united, cohesive and inclusive Francophone Community and step up cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, digital transformation, artificial intelligence and people-to-people exchanges.
Highlighting the potential of the two economies, with a combined population of more than 220 million, General Secretary and President Lam proposed that the two sides identify expanded economic, trade and investment cooperation as a key task to effectively and substantively achieve their respective development goals. He also called on the Democratic Republic of the Congo to create favourable conditions for Vietnamese businesses to invest and operate in its market, particularly in infrastructure construction, green transport, agro-forestry and mining.
The two leaders agreed to strengthen measures to open up markets, diversify traded products and enhance connectivity between the two countries’ business communities, while promoting negotiations and the signing of documents to establish a favourable legal framework for business cooperation.
On multilateral cooperation, the two sides agreed to further promote their bridging role and advance interregional cooperation between Vietnam and regional organisations of which the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a member, including the East African Community (EAC), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS). They also agreed to promote relations between ASEAN and the African Union (AU).
On this occasion, General Secretary and President Lam invited President Tshisekedi to visit Vietnam. The Congolese President gladly accepted the invitation and extended an invitation to the Vietnamese leader to visit the Democratic Republic of the Congo at an early date.
Also on November 15, General Secretary and President Lam met with Swiss Vice President Ignazio Cassis, who affirmed that Switzerland attached great importance to its relations with Vietnam and said he will work to advance bilateral cooperation during his term in office.
The two sides spoke highly of progress in implementing commitments and agreements reached during the high-level meeting between General Secretary and President Lam and Swiss President Guy Parmelin in October 2026, as well as the signing of the trade agreement between Vietnam and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which comprises Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. They agreed to expedite ratification procedures so that the agreement could enter into force soon, bringing practical benefits to people and businesses in Vietnam and the other countries concerned.
General Secretary and President Lam called on the two sides to build on the current positive momentum to achieve breakthroughs in economic, trade and investment cooperation, and make science and technology and financial technology key areas of bilateral ties.
He urged Switzerland to share its experience and support Vietnam in financial technology (fintech) and the development of an international financial centre, as well as in training high-quality human resources in technology, particularly in semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.
The two sides agreed to promote negotiations to update the Vietnam-Switzerland Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement. They also recognised the potential for cooperation in reducing greenhouse gas emissions under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on climate change and affirmed their commitment to actively coordinate and promote the possibility of negotiating a bilateral agreement on carbon credit trading./.
