Decentralised cooperation between French local authorities with Vietnamese local authorities has become one of the most effective cooperation forms between the two countries, and helped localities of both sides to more actively develop international cooperation, promote people-to-people exchanges, and strengthen the fine relations between the two countries.
At present, France is one of EU-leading trade and investment partners of Vietnam. On development assistance, France is always a leading bilateral donor for Vietnam. France-supported projects have positively contributed to hunger eradication, poverty reduction and socioeconomic development in Vietnamese localities in the past decades.
Remarking on decentralised cooperation, Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son said locality - to - locality cooperation originated in the early 1990s. After more than 20 years of construction and development, this collaborative relationship has been enriched and diversified. Decentralised cooperation meetings are typical of bilateral cooperation framework between the two countries, as well as Francophone multilateral cooperation framework. Especially in recent years, decentralised cooperation between the two countries has been strengthened and effectively expanded to many fields. After more than 20 years of construction and development, France takes the lead in localised cooperation projects in Vietnam, with more than 230 projects. These projects have been effectively implemented in many Vietnamese provinces and cities. Specifically, 20 French localities have established cooperation with 15 Vietnamese provinces and cities with 73 projects in 12 fields. Despite their small and medium scales, these projects are producing high efficiency, focusing on urbanisation, education, environmental protection, and preservation of historical relics. Some Vietnamese and French localities have witnessed high effectiveness from this partnership model, like Brest City with Hai Phong City, Brest City with Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, Hue City with Poitou or Choisy-le-Roi with Dong Da district (Hanoi).
The 9th Vietnam - France Decentralised Cooperation Conference took place in Brest City, France from June 9 to 12, 2013. At the conference, localities of the two countries signed seven cooperation agreements, including the cooperation agreement between Tran Phu Gifted School, Haiphong City with La Croix Rouge School, Brest City; cooperation agreement between Haiphong Medical University with the Institute of Brest; cooperation agreement between the Institute of Marine Environment and Resources with the French Development Agency; cooperation agreement between the Vietnam National Institute of Marine Medicine with the Vietnam - France Emergency Medicine Society (AFRAVIETMUR); cooperation agreement between the Vietnam National Institute of Marine Medicine with the University of Western Brittany and the Institute of Brest (re-signed); memorandum of understanding on cooperation discussion results between Hai Duong province and Sein Saint Denis province in 2013 and subsequent years; memorandum of understanding between the French Development Agency and the Brest Community on development grants to Vietnam’s bays. On the sidelines of the conference, many localities and businesses also met and exchanged views on strengthening and connecting cooperation based on peculiar strengths and needs (Ba Ria - Vung Tau with Bretagne; Dien Bien, Lam Dong and Kon Tum with Brest, Dong Nai with Rhone Alpes, Dien Bien with Midi Pyrenees).
Deputy Minister Son said that decentralised cooperation is the only localised partnership model that Vietnam has with foreign partners. Although cooperation projects between Vietnamese and French localities are of small and medium scale, they are practical and flexible. They help localities to be more active to build international partnerships, promote people-to-people exchange development, reinforce and strengthen fine friendship relations between the two countries. This collaborative model supplements national cooperative programmes on the one hand and meets local development requirements on the other. It also provides a good opportunity for both sides to exchange experiences, management knowledge and technologies with the ultimate goal of benefiting people. The key to achieve positive outcomes of this collaborative relationship is the strong support of the leaders of the two countries, the understanding of specific needs and mutual trust of Vietnamese and French localities, and the initiative of the two sides in project implementation.
Vietnamese Ambassador to France, Mr Duong Chi Dung, said Vietnam-France decentralised cooperation development is one of the important goals and contributors to bilateral comprehensive cooperation. This partnership will be considered a "new cooperation model" that needs to be institutionalised in order to be applied on a wider scale, between Vietnam and other countries in the world.
According to Mayor Mr Francois Cuillandre, Brest City has good cooperation with Haiphong City. Further development of decentralised cooperation projects between Brest and Vietnamese localities will certainly be a major priority of Brest in the future.
He added that after a long period of cooperation, Vietnam and France need to formulate a decentralised cooperation model with new standards. This stems from the absence of big economic cooperation projects. Currently, 56 percent of projects are focused on culture, tourism, education, healthcare and clean water and concentrated in some localities like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Haiphong. No projects have reached remote areas. This is a "major shortcoming" in decentralised cooperation that needs to be removed.
Thanh Tan
Vietnamese
