Innovative, Proactive Diplomacy Lays Foundation for Vietnam’s Entry into New Era

2:11:53 PM | 1/22/2025

Leading Vietnam into a new, rising era aligns with global trends and draws on the practices and experiences of other countries. Proactive and effective foreign affairs over the past year have delivered substantial outcomes, elevating Vietnam's diplomacy to a new level and driving the country into this rising era. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son shared insights on this topic.

In 2024, foreign affairs saw very vibrant activity. Could you please tell us about the outstanding achievements that elevated the role and position of Vietnam in the international arena?

In 2024, the world continued to develop complicatedly with many uncertainties and conflicts. Urgent global issues such as climate change, natural disasters, epidemics, food security and water security brought about multidimensional impacts and seriously threatened the stable and sustainable development of countries. However, we can be proud that, in such a context, Vietnam has maintained peace, stability and steady development, earning recognition as one of the "bright spots" in the region from international public opinion. Proactive and effective foreign affairs have produced many substantial results, created a new stature of foreign policy and inspired the country to enter the ascending era of the nation. We can mention the following outstanding marks:

First, based on an independent, self-reliant, multilateral and diversified foreign policy, Vietnam's foreign affairs and diplomacy have grown increasingly dynamic, innovative and proactive. In 2024, foreign affairs, particularly high-level engagements, were conducted actively and extensively across continents, as well as at key multilateral forums and mechanisms. Our key leaders conducted a total of 60 foreign affairs, including 21 visits to countries and attendance to multilateral conferences; and welcomed 25 delegations of foreign leaders to Vietnam. We also actively implemented international agreements and commitments, concretized upgraded relationship frameworks, and signed over 170 new cooperation agreements across various fields especially in areas of our priority and interest.

Second, international friends increasingly valued and appreciated Vietnam, expressing a growing desire to strengthen relations. In 2024, we upgraded relations to comprehensive strategic partnerships with major partners like Australia, France and Malaysia; elevated relations to strategic partnership with Brazil; and established comprehensive partnerships with Mongolia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), thus creating a framework for relations with 32 leading partners, including neighboring countries, major countries, important partners and traditional friends. With the establishment of diplomatic relations with Malawi, Vietnam has officially established ties with all African countries, bringing the total number of countries with diplomatic relations to 194, deepening Vietnam's effective, strategic, stable and long-term cooperation with countries worldwide.

Third, economic diplomacy continued to play a positive role in Vietnam's overall economic achievements, despite ongoing challenges in the global economy. The economy increasingly plays a major role in foreign affairs at all levels, particularly at the high levels, facilitating the engagement of partners such as China, the US, Japan, South Korea and India in areas like digital transformation, green transformation, the semiconductor industry and artificial intelligence. Vietnam actively engaged in new supply chains and expanded export markets through 17 signed FTAs. The country capitalized on the regional investment shift, attracting high-quality FDI and new-generation ODA. It also broadened markets for tourism and labor, while promptly advising on policy adjustments, emerging technologies and standards to implement effective countermeasures, ensuring economic, financial and monetary security. In 2024, the value of imports and exports reached a record US$786.29 billion. Vietnam remained one of the largest recipients of FDI globally and welcomed over 17.5 million international tourists, marking a year-on-year growth of 39.5%. This signaled that Vietnam continued to be an increasingly attractive destination for foreign partners, investors and tourists.

Fourth, given major evolutions in the world, national defense, security and diplomacy truly formed a trivet that helped firmly safeguard sovereignty, territorial integrity and the homeland from the outset and from a distance. Diplomacy worked with other forces to maintain peaceful and stable borders, seas and islands, and national security, achieved many important advances in negotiations with other countries, harmoniously resolved existing issues, promoted the construction of the Code of Conduct in the East Sea built on international laws, including the 1982 UNCLOS.

Fifth, at the multilateral level, Vietnam consistently affirmed its role, position, and prestige, making positive contributions to the international community. In international forums such as ASEAN, AIPA, the United Nations, APEC, the Mekong Subregion, G20, G7, BRICS, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Francophone and OECD, Vietnam continued to strengthen its role as an active and responsible contributor to ideas and initiatives, which were welcomed by many countries. In organizations where we undertook important responsibilities such as the United Nations Human Rights Council and six out of seven important executive mechanisms of UNESCO, Vietnam promoted its image and responsible voice with a comprehensive, holistic and harmonious approach. Along with that is Vietnam's responsible contribution to common global issues such as climate change response, peacekeeping, food security, water security and cyber security.

Sixth, the country's position and strength were consistently enhanced through the effective synergy of foreign aspects, including foreign information, cultural diplomacy, overseas Vietnamese, and citizen protection. Diplomacy contributed to successfully lobbying UNESCO to add six more titles/heritages to bring UNESCO’s total titles to 71 and create a new resource for economic, cultural and social development in localities. Overseas Vietnamese affairs effectively reflected the Party and State's care for nearly 6 million compatriots, mobilizing development resources for thousands of investment projects and generating tens of billions of US dollars in remittances. Citizen protection actively defended the security, safety, legitimate and legal rights and interests of Vietnamese citizens and businesses, especially in warring, catastrophic and turmoil areas. Foreign information strongly promoted the image of the country, its people, culture, and socioeconomic development achievements, hence creating consensus and support from local people as well as the international community.


General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and President of China Xi Jinping and his Vietnamese counterpart To Lam to review the guards of honor, Beijing, August 19, 2024

What aspects of multilateral diplomacy should be further promoted to elevate Vietnam's position in the international arena and create an enabling environment for national development?

Promoting and advancing multilateral diplomacy is a consistent policy and an important strategic approach for Vietnam. Multilateral institutions and forums have an important voice and role in many regional and global security and development issues related to Vietnam. In the rapidly and profoundly changing security and development landscape today, All countries, regardless of size, are facing the need to strengthen cooperation and collaboration to collectively address urgent global challenges. In that spirit, Vietnam has shifted from the “participation” policy to “active and responsible membership” policy, initiating and leading many initiatives and cooperation ideas and actively participating in building and shaping global governance, frameworks and rules in many fields.

With many new approaches, multilateral diplomacy in 2024 made a significant impact at important regional and global forums such as ASEAN, the United Nations, the Mekong Subregion, APEC, G20, G7, BRICS, AIPA, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Francophonie and OECD. In the region, we successfully organized the first Future Forum (ASEAN), becoming an important factor in strengthening ASEAN’s solidarity and centrality and shaping the strategy for the ASEAN Community Vision 2045. We created a common voice, improved the effectiveness of Mekong cooperation mechanisms, and worked with partners to foster sustainability and prosperity in the subregion. At the global level, Vietnam continued to successfully assume the membership of the United Nations Human Rights Council and six out of seven key executive mechanisms of UNESCO. In addition, Vietnam actively built and shaped important global processes such as the Summit of the Future, the Global Treaty on Plastic Waste, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals; and responsibly contributed to common issues such as combating climate change, maintaining peace in Africa and fighting cybercrime.

The international community highly values Vietnam's capabilities, role, practical contributions, and sense of responsibility in common issues as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres stated in a meeting with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Brazil as “a model of peace and sustainable development”. With the country's new position and strength, Vietnam can contribute more as a member of the international community. In the new period, the country's new position and strength allows us to not only participate in building and shaping multilateral institutions and joining initiatives of other countries but also to promote our core and leading role in important issues and mechanisms of strategic significance that match our interests.

2025 is an important year, marking many major milestones in multilateral diplomacy, including Vietnam’s 30-year ASEAN membership and the 80th anniversary of the UN. Building on Vietnam's ongoing contributions to global issues, multilateral diplomacy will focus on preparing and organizing events that the country will host, including the ASEAN Future Forum, the 4th Summit of the Partnership for Green Growth and the Global Goals (P4G), and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Vietnam will also continue to successfully fulfill important responsibilities and tasks in multilateral institutions and forums such as ASEAN, the Mekong Subregion, APEC, and UN mechanisms, including those of UNESCO and the UN Women Executive Board (2025-2027). At the same time, Vietnam will continue to be an active and responsible member of multilateral institutions and agencies, pursuing positions consistent with our priorities and interests. This includes running for the UN Human Rights Council for the 2026-2028 term and its first candidacy for a Judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) for the 2026-2035 term. Vietnam will also contribute more actively and responsibly to common issues, especially in responding to global challenges such as climate change, net zero emission and sustainable development goals (SDGs); and participate more deeply in UN peacekeeping, search and rescue and humanitarian aid.


State President Luong Cuong congratulates and urges newly-promoted ambassadors to advance foreign policy goals and enhance Vietnam's international standing at a title-granting ceremony in Hanoi, January 2, 2025

Economic diplomacy has been implemented vigorously and comprehensively, bringing profound changes in both quality and quantity. Could you please share what economic diplomacy must focus on to achieve the goals by 2030, when the 100th anniversary of the Party is celebrated, and by 2045, when Vietnam aims to become a developed, high-income country on the occasion of its 100th anniversary?

Economic diplomacy has become a fundamental and central diplomatic task and the economy has been the core in foreign affairs at all levels and in all sectors, placing people, businesses and localities at the center of service. Economic diplomacy and foreign economic activities have truly created momentum for post-COVID-19 economic recovery and growth.

Reflecting on the lessons learned from other countries and the Asian "dragons and tigers," the focus of economic diplomacy in the ascending era is to position the country optimally in the main global development trends and movements, thus expanding the development space and creating new opportunities for the country's strategic breakthroughs.

The world is confronting various complicated and unpredictable developments, but it also opens up many opportunities for countries to embrace new growth drivers such as green economy, digital economy, science and technology to make breakthroughs. Domestically, with the new position and strength gained after nearly 40 years of Doi Moi (Renovation) and in response to the urgent demands of the times, this is a moment of "convergence" to propel the country into a new era, as recently stated by General Secretary To Lam. To make the most of these opportunities, we need to deeply realize that, to enter the new era, economic diplomacy needs to further promote its role in serving businesses, people and localities in a more effective, deeper, more substantial, more agile and creative manner.

To achieve this, economic diplomacy must continue to leverage traditional growth drivers such as exports, investment and tourism. Accordingly, it is necessary to fully utilize existing trade and investment agreements, especially in markets and industries yet to be tapped; to open up new investment and financial sources, especially resources from big companies and large investment funds; to resolve major backlog projects to leverage and attract new projects; to continue to review and urge the implementation of international agreement commitments; to concretize the relationship frameworks that have just been upgraded into practical and effective economic cooperation programs and projects.

To achieve breakthroughs, it is essential to promote new growth drivers and advance emerging sectors, as consistently emphasized and directed by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. Therefore, the focus of economic diplomacy in the past and in the future will be to identify and capture opportunities from new trends that shape the world economy such as digital transformation, green transformation and energy transformation; establish extensive cooperation with the world's innovation centers, including countries and businesses, in disruptive fields such as high technology, semiconductors, artificial intelligence and quantum (Recent cooperation agreements with Nvidia and other digital technology corporations serve as clear examples); establish its position in the shaping supply chain and production chain, turning Vietnam into a sustainable link with an increasingly growing position; boost sector-specific diplomatic affairs like technology diplomacy, climate diplomacy, agricultural diplomacy, infrastructure diplomacy and digital economic diplomacy.


Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone welcomes Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Vientiane, Laos, January 11, 2025

Would you tell us about your perspectives on Vietnamese diplomacy in the new era?

As General Secretary To Lam said, Vietnam is at a new historical starting point. Leading the country into a new era, an ascending era, is consistent with the popular megatrends and practices and experiences of foregoing countries. Human history has proven that, to rise in the world's politics, economy and civilization, a country requires strong breakthroughs and fundamental substantive changes.

The new era demands the involvement of all sectors, fields, forces, the entire political system, and the nation as a whole. Lessons from other countries demonstrate that, in this process, foreign affairs play an important role in positioning Vietnam favorably within the flow of time, aligning national strength with the momentum of the era to drive the country's development.

One, in today's interdependent world, the stability and development of countries cannot be separated from the external regional and international environment. The factor that warrants the rise of the nation is a strategic environment of peace, friendship and cooperation that is favorable for development. Therefore, the task of foreign affairs is how to consolidate and maintain this situation firmly in a volatile context and facilitate the country to enter a new stage of development.

Two, foreign affairs can play a constructive, dynamic role and unlock new opportunities for national progress. Particularly, foreign affairs connect internal strength with external strength, with the former being fundamental and lasting and the latter being important and disruptive. They include trade, investment, ODA resources; economic development and connection trends; the multipolar, multi-center world order, based on international law; and the strength of the scientific and technological revolution era, knowledge economy and globalization.

Third, the country’s new position and strength in terms of economy, security, national defense and diplomacy in the new period requires its new mindset and position in the international arena. Vietnam can participate more and contribute more to peace, development and settlement of common matters of humanity, thus helping build and protect a fair and equal international order based on international law.

Fourth, the historical and cultural stature, political and economic position of the country help promote the "soft power" of the nation, strongly spreading the image of an independent, self-reliant, peaceful, cooperative, friendly and developing Vietnam. That is the combined strength of a culture imbued with national identity, great historical achievements of the Doi Moi process, the peaceful foreign policy, the harmonious, reasonable settlement of international issues, respect to international laws, and the consensus and support of the world people.

Finally, to enter a new era, a country must develop an increasingly comprehensive, modern, and professional foreign affairs and diplomacy to meet the requirements of this new phase. As such, foreign affairs must be streamlined and operate effectively and efficiently. Foreign and diplomatic officers should be not only qualified, capable and politically astute, but also have the courage to think creatively, innovate and pioneer new paths, all while being equipped with the expertise required to operate at an international level.

Thank you very much!

By Nguyen Mai, Vietnam Business Forum