Top leader’s France visit a milestone in bilateral ties

Throughout the summit, Lam attended a series of high-level events, including the official welcome ceremony hosted by President Macron and the Secretary-General of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF), the opening and plenary sessions focused on "Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship", the Francophonie Business Forum on innovation, and the award ceremony for exemplary Francophone enterprises.

Party General Secretary and State President To Lam (L) and French President Emmanuel Macron (Photo: VNA)

He also took the opportunity to meet with prominent Vietnamese intellectuals from Francophone countries, staff from the Vietnamese Embassy and other agencies in France, and members of the Vietnamese community. He also held meetings with leaders of several countries, international organisations and foreign businesses.

The concluding session of the 19th Francophonie Summit saw the approval of several important documents, including the Villers-Cotterêts Joint Declaration and a resolution on the political situation and peacebuilding in the Francophone space.

It also welcomed Ghana and the Republic of Cyprus as official members, increasing the OIF membership to 93. Additionally, Angola, Chile, Nova Scotia (Canada), French Polynesia, and Saarland (Germany) were granted observer status.

The summit decided that the 46th Francophone Ministers' Meeting will be held in Côte d'Ivoire in 2025, and the 20th Francophonie Summit will take place in Cambodia in 2026. This will be the second time the summit is hosted in the Asia-Pacific, following the 7th summit held in Hanoi in 1997.

During his official visit to France, the Vietnamese top leader attended the official welcome ceremony, met with the press and held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron. He also had a meeting with the President of the French National Assembly, received the National Secretary of the French Communist Party and representative of the France-Vietnam Friendship Association, visited the UNESCO headquarters in Paris and had a working session with its Director General. On this occasion, Lam and the high-ranking delegation of Vietnam laid flowers in tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his statue in Montreuil city attended the inauguration ceremony of the memorial plaque honouring President Ho Chi Minh and met with the Mayor of Le Havre city.

The leaders of the two countries agreed to announce the upgrade of the relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and identified major directions and measures to further deepen the Vietnam-France Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in a practical way, suitable to the new context of cooperation between the two countries. With this decision, France became the first country in the EU to have a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Vietnam.

At the end of the visit, the two sides issued a joint statement on upgrading relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, in which they affirmed their commitment to further deepening political cooperation in the face of international challenges; enhancing defence and security cooperation, as well as economic partnership, cooperation for sustainable development and self-reliance; and promoting people-to-people exchange.