Vietnam - France towards Strategic Partnership

 

In the dialogue, the two ministers highly appreciated this exchange mechanism, particularly sessions of the high-level dialogue and the discussion between the authorities and experts of both countries on structuring of economic relations as well as business meetings to tighten ties towards Vietnam and France strategic partnership. The two ministers also agreed that the two countries should continue to coordinate to further strengthen economic and trade relations. Currently, the two countries also have good relations in the field of aviation, food, pharmaceuticals, tourism and energy infrastructure. However, both parties also agreed that the economic relationship is not really commensurate with the potential and needs to be elevated to a higher level. The enterprises of the two countries will help to boost the relations and the two ministers will monitor closely to create favourable conditions for partnerships between businesses of the both sides and have specific actions to remove barriers in market access.

 

In addition, Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh said the organisation of high-level dialogue was essential, thereby contributing to overcoming obstacles and providing solutions to create further momentum for strong collaboration between Vietnam and France. 2013 and 2014 are regarded as pivotal years, with a series of investment and trade promotion activities between the two countries' authorities, aiming to raise the Vietnam-France relations to a strategic partnership.

 

For her part, French Foreign Trade Minister Nicole Bricq emphasised her desire to balance trade between the two countries, towards equality and mutual development. To demonstrate this, she added that French delegation to Vietnam this time included more than 100 businesses and were willing to cooperate with Vietnam to produce high value-added products. Among the big names are Peugeot France, Dassault Systèmes and Sanofi, who were the first French companies to successfully invest in Vietnam. Specifically, luxury car manufacturer Peugeot Group has signed a cooperation deal with Truong Hai Auto Company (Thaco) to exclusively distribute Peugeot in Vietnam. With the signed contract, the famous French brand Peugeot officially arrived in Vietnam, with 5 Peugeot showrooms will be opened by Thaco in Hanoi, Thai Nguyen, Vinh, Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong in 2013, before increasing to 15 showrooms in 2014. In addition, Dassault Systèmes and the University of Science and Technology of Hanoi (USTH) have signed an agreement on raising the skills and technology in USTH by establishing a centre of product lifecycle management to help USTH become a leading university in 3D design software and 3D solutions. With the signed commitment, Dassault Systèmes will provide software, technical support and expertise for USTH to implement this project. USTH was established in 2009 by agreement between the two Governments of France and Vietnam. Its task is to combine the human resources of the two countries to establish a centre of science and technology according to international standards.

 

According to the statistics, in the recent years, the economic, investment and trade relations between Vietnam and France have constantly increased. The total value of the exchange between the two countries in 2012 amounted to EUR 3.3 billion, up 22 percent compared to 2011. In particular, the value of French exports to Vietnam reached EUR 613.5 million, up 7 percent, excluding the aviation sector. The value of Vietnam's exports to France reached EUR 2.69 billion, an increase of 37.7 percent compared to 2011. This is a sharp increase in export value since the early 2000s (up 34 percent from 2010 to 2011). In particular, for the first time, computer products, electronics and optics are the major imports from Vietnam due to increased imports of communication equipment.

 

On investment, according to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA), France is still one of the biggest EU investors in Vietnam. By the 1^st quarter of 2013, France ranks 16th in the list of foreign investors in Vietnam, with 383 projects with total registered investment capital of US$3.1 billion. Accordingly, the areas that France has interests and investment in Vietnam include: information and communications (22 percent), production and distribution of electricity, gas and water (17 percent), processing industry (13 percent) , agriculture (6 percent), hotels and restaurants (6 percent), construction (5 percent) and other services (19 percent).

According to Minister Bui Quang Vinh, in this dialogue, the French have made many specific projects such as Deo Ca underground tunnel, Hanoi-Lao Cai railway, issues of intellectual property and the legal framework of Vietnam. In addition, the French government and the French Development Agency (AFD) has approved to grant EUR 8 million loan and grant aid of EUR 600,000 for Vietnam to support PPP projects. However, according to Minister Vinh, Vietnam has the preferred orientation for the next phase of the project to attract high-tech investment, particularly technology resources. These technologies have to produce products that are highly competitive in the international market and environmentally friendly, this is the strength of France and Vietnam is penetrating the EU market. In addition, in the future, Vietnam should also take advantage of the French especially products with high intellectual content in urban planning - an area that Vietnam is facing many problems, in the field of art, French tourism, and large scale agricultural development projects with scientific and technological content.