Vietnam’s Reputation Increasingly Consolidated and Enhanced

Vietnam has had an impressive year of diplomacy with State-level visits and participation in high-level international forums by Party and State leaders in 2022. Vietnam Business Forum would like to introduce some of the outstanding events.

Party General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping (R) presents China's Friendship Order to Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, China, Oct 31, 2022

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's visit to China is of special significance

The official visit to China by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong was a particularly important event for Vietnam and China, and attracted much attention from both countries and the world. The visit was a great success in all respects.

This was the first direct official diplomatic activity of the two top leaders of the two parties and countries since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the first foreign visit by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong after the 13th Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

At the end of the visit, the two sides issued a joint statement on further promoting and deepening the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. The two sides believed that Vietnam and China are both good neighbors, good friends that share mountains and rivers, good comrades, good partners who share the same purpose and a common mission and work together for happy peoples, prosperous and strong countries and the noble causes of peace and development of mankind.

At the same time, the two sides also reached an agreement on many substantive cooperation contents, such as strengthening the connectivity between the "Two Corridors, One Belt" Framework and the "Belt and Road" Initiative to accelerate the progress of opening the market for agricultural, forest and aquatic products of Vietnam and opening Vietnamese commercial offices in China.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (second from left) and other leaders at the ASEAN-U.S. Summit, Washington, U.S., May 2022

Vietnam's new position at ASEAN-U.S. Special Summit

The Vietnam-U.S. bilateral relationship and the ASEAN-U.S. multilateral relationship are both gaining momentum to have a new vision and further promote cooperation, including the ASEAN-U.S. Special Summit that took place in May 2022 in the United States, on the occasion of ASEAN and the U.S.'s 45th anniversary of relations, and reaffirmed their political commitments on the importance of strengthening the ASEAN-U.S. relationship.

Attending the ASEAN-U.S. Summit, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh demonstrated that foreign policy. Vietnam seeks to contribute to a better ASEAN--U.S. relationship, which is, in essence, to contribute to ASEAN's role in building peace, stability, cooperation and development in the Asia-Pacific. This is the goal as well as the common interest of the parties.

The opening ceremony of the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits and related summits, Cambodia, Nov 2022

Vietnam actively, positively contributes to 40th and 41st ASEAN

At the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits and related high-level meetings, the Vietnamese delegation led by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended meetings with a sense of responsibility and many substantive contributions to ASEAN cooperation and to partners, as well as to the overall success of these summits.

The Prime Minister affirmed Vietnam's position on maintaining solidarity and promoting internal strength, a sense of responsibility, and a balanced, objective and persistent approach to ASEAN’s principles. At the same time, he suggested reinforcing coordination with partners in joint efforts for peace, security and development, strengthening intra-regional strategic cohesion so that partners truly respect and support ASEAN’s centrality and realize commitments to long-term cooperation with ASEAN through ASEAN-led mechanisms; and jointly responding to global challenges such as post-pandemic economic recovery, trade promotion, supply and production chain stabilization, digital transformation, energy transformation, climate change response, information security, green growth and sustainable development.

Prime Minister Samdech Techno Hun Sen (R) welcomes Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Cambodia, Nov 2022

PM Pham Minh Chinh and NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue visit Cambodia

On their attendance at high-level ASEAN meetings in Cambodia, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue paid official visits to Cambodia.

During the Prime Minister's visit, the two sides released a joint statement and pledged to step up defense cooperation. It is also a vital factor to ensure that the two countries can work together to maintain peace and stability for future development.

The two sides signed 11 cooperation documents in many fields such as trade, finance-banking, transportation, agriculture, labor, information and communication, ethnicity and religion. Companies of the two countries also inked many contracts and business agreements, which enriched the fruition of the visit and deepened bilateral cooperation.

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and President of the National Assembly of Cambodia Samdech Heng Samrin review a guard of honour, Cambodia, Nov 2022

During the official visit to Cambodia by National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, the two sides highlighted macro and specific issues of the two countries such as the protection of Vietnamese people in Cambodia, relocation of Vietnamese Cambodians from the lakebed area and other activities to support Vietnamese citizens abroad. This visit also suggested new cooperation models in agriculture to help stabilize livelihoods for people and especially connecting Vietnamese and Cambodian seafood markets.

These are very meaningful activities on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of Vietnam-Cambodia diplomatic relations, and the year of Vietnam-Cambodia solidarity and friendship.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) meets with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore, Feb 2022

Consolidating Vietnam-Singapore Strategic Partnership

The state visit of President Nguyen Xuan Phuc to Singapore in early 2022 was of multifaceted significance for both sides. The visit took place as the two countries were preparing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of the Strategic Partnership in 2023. The visit helped implement the foreign policy of the 13th National Party Congress: Giving priority to the comprehensive development of relations with neighboring countries and ASEAN, including Singapore.

The two sides highly agreed on major directions to further deepen all-field cooperation, released a joint press statement on "Strengthening the Strategic Partnership and cooperation in post-pandemic recovery”, signed five bilateral cooperation documents on defense, economy-trade, intellectual property, digital economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, and agreed on measures to strengthen and promote traditional friendship and enhance bilateral strategic cooperation.

 National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and his Hungarian counterpart László Kövér sign a new cooperation agreement between the two parliaments in Budapest 

NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue visits Hungary and the UK

The visit of a high-ranking delegation of the National Assembly of Vietnam led by Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue to Hungary and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the end of June 2022 was to continue implementing the foreign policy adopted by the 13th National Party Congress. The visit aimed to maintain and deepen the Vietnam-Hungary Comprehensive Partnership and Vietnam-UK Strategic Partnership.

The visit also demonstrated the Party and State's concerns in the overseas Vietnamese community and executed the Politburo's Conclusion 12 on overseas Vietnamese in the new context.

With nearly 50 activities in the two countries, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue held talks with top legislature leaders of Hungary and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Invited to deliver keynote speeches to many sessions of the APEC 2022, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc actively proposed many recommendations and emphasized an effort for a peaceful, stable, prosperous and sustainable Asia-Pacific

Vietnam always responsibly, actively and positively promotes comprehensive APEC connectivity

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc attended the APEC 2022 with the theme “Open. Connect and Balance” in Thailand in November 2022. President Phuc proposed many initiatives and emphasized that a peaceful, stable, prosperous and sustainable Asia-Pacific is the goal. He said APEC members need to act for the common good of the community and to protect APEC’s achievements and values over the past three decades. As Asia-Pacific enters a new stage of development, APEC needs to take the lead in promoting balanced, inclusive and sustainable growth, supporting successful, green, digitally transformed economies. Accordingly, it is necessary to ensure an open, transparent and non-discriminatory trade and investment environment; link trade and investment with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals; train and retrain human resources, especially high-quality workers.

In particular, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and APEC members also agreed to create more communication channels to narrow differences in order to maintain a high consensus within APEC. This is considered an important contribution to the success of the summit.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc (L) and his Korean counterpart Yoon Suk Yeol pose for a photo during their talks at the presidential office in Seoul, Dec 2022

Vietnam, Korea sign comprehensive strategic partnership

During his state visit to the Republic of Korea from December 4-6, 2022, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and President Yoon Suk Yeol released a joint statement on upgrading the relationship to a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership”.

President Phuc was the first head of state to visit Korea right after the country announced the Indo-Pacific Strategy and the Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative when Vietnam was the coordinator of ASEAN-Korea relations to 2024. Therefore, his visit was of great significance at both bilateral and multilateral aspects, both national and international levels.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and President Yoon Suk Yeol highly appreciated the rapid and effective development of Vietnam-Korea cooperation in the past 30 years, especially after the relationship was upgraded to a strategic partnership in 2009. Based on important achievements, with a strong belief in the future of bilateral cooperation, the two presidents agreed to issue a joint statement on elevating the bilateral relationship to the comprehensive strategic partnership.

European Council President Charles Michel (first from left) and European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen (first from right)) welcome Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to the ASEAN-EU commemorative summit

Further deepening ASEAN-EU Strategic Partnership

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit to Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium, and attendance at the Summit celebrating the 45th anniversary of ASEAN-EU relations from December 9 to 15, 2022 was successful in all aspects, marking an important milestone with increased political trust and comprehensive bilateral cooperation in the new period of development.

The high-ranking Vietnamese delegation led by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended and made important and responsible contributions to the overall success of the Summit celebrating the 45th anniversary of ASEAN-EU relations in all preparing, organizing and debating processes at the summit, as well as in document drafting.

At the summit, he spoke highly of the special significance of this commemorative summit and shared some approaches. For instance, the two sides need to be persistent with their goals, change their mindset, act resolutely, and promote the strategic partnership, balanced, equitable, benefit-harmonized and risk-shared cooperation. He affirmed that Vietnam always accompanies EU companies that invest and do business in Vietnam, while urging the EU to promptly remove the "yellow card" for Vietnamese seafood and soon ratify the Vietnam-EU Investment Protection Agreement. Emphasizing the global approach to responding to challenges, PM Chinh reiterated Vietnam's strong commitments to combating climate change and delivering green and sustainable development.

National Assembly Chairman (R) meets with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue (L) and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

Vietnam’s strategic trust with Australia and New Zealand strengthened

The official visit to Australia and New Zealand by National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and the high-ranking NA delegation wrapped up with more than 40 activities, opening up many new cooperation opportunities on all channels of Party, Government, National Assembly, and people-to-people exchanges, as well as economic pillars.

The visit is a practical step to carry out the important foreign policy of the 13th Party Congress, which advocates strengthening in-depth, effective and substantive relations with neighboring countries and strategic partners, including Australia and New Zealand, which are key and important partners in many aspects for Vietnam in the South Pacific region.

Further developing great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos

On July 18, in Hanoi, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the National Assembly, the President, the Government and the Vietnam Fatherland Front held a solemn meeting to celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Laos (September 5, 1962 - September 5, 2022) and the 45th anniversary of signing the Vietnam-Laos Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation (July 18, 1977 - July 18, 2022).

Vietnamese and Lao leaders at the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Laos

In his speech at the ceremony, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong emphasized that the foundation of the special relationship between Vietnam and Laos was directly laid by great leaders such as President Ho Chi Minh, President Kaysone Phomvihane and President Souphanouvong, and laboriously built, maintained and nurtured with the sweat, effort and blood of warriors and people of the two countries, to truly become an invaluable treasure, a unique relationship in world history. He affirmed that solidarity, cooperation and mutual assistance between Vietnam and Laos is an objective rule, a vital factor of each Party and country, as well as an invaluable common asset and foundation for the two countries to bring into full play together in the next historical periods. Vietnam and Laos are not only neighbors but also brothers and comrades.

On the same day, in the Lao capital of Vientiane, a commemorative ceremony was also solemnly held. Attending the meeting were General Secretary and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith, Member of the Politburo of Vietnam and Standing Secretary of the Party Secretariat Vo Van Thuong, and leaders of the Lao Government and National Assembly.

In his speech to the ceremony, General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisoulith affirmed that, in all circumstances, the Lao Party, State and people always preserve, cultivate and develop the great friendship and special solidarity of Vietnam and Laos into depth, practicality and effectiveness in all fields, and bring benefits to the people of each country. 

Source: Vietnam Business Forum