On the afternoon of March 21, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Minister Philippe Tabarot, who was on an official visit to Vietnam. 

During the meeting, both leaders praised the fruitful outcomes achieved in the field of transportation cooperation, an area with a long history of collaboration between the two countries, including the North-South railway line and several airports in Vietnam that are still operational. 

The railway cooperation, including projects like the Nhon - Hanoi Railway Station urban railway line, continues to reflect the strong partnership between Vietnam and France.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh highly appreciated France's strength in transportation and expressed that Vietnam always welcomes French enterprises to increase cooperation and investment in the transportation sector, particularly in major infrastructure projects.

Among the key areas of cooperation discussed were promoting Airbus collaborations and technology transfer to Vietnamese airlines, establishing aircraft maintenance facilities at airports, and developing aviation economics, aerospace exploration, underground and marine spaces, railway and seaport projects, as well as expanding direct shipping routes to Vietnam. Public-private partnerships for road development were also highlighted.

France is actively promoting cooperation in human resource training, technology transfer, management capacity enhancement, and providing concessional loans to Vietnam within the transportation sector.

Minister Philippe Tabarot conveyed greetings from French President Emmanuel Macron and expressed the President’s high regard for Vietnam-France relations, emphasizing the readiness of France and French enterprises to support and collaborate with Vietnam on strategic transportation infrastructure projects, human resource training, and experience sharing.

Later in the day, the French Embassy in Vietnam, in collaboration with the Ministry of Construction, organized the Vietnam-France high-speed railway workshop. Minister Tabarot highlighted France's expertise, experience, and technical capability in building and operating high-speed rail systems, citing over 50 years of successful development in this field.

French Minister of Transport Philippe Tabarot has affirmed that France is ready to partner with Vietnam in the North-South high-speed railway project.

Since inaugurating the Paris metro system in 1900 and the first high-speed train lines (TGV) in Europe more than 40 years ago, France has consistently pushed technical boundaries, amassing a network of 2,500 kilometers of high-speed railway and transporting 130 million passengers in 2024 - more than twice the population of France.

Discussing Vietnam's North-South high-speed railway project, Minister Tabarot emphasized that it is not merely an infrastructure project but a transformative endeavor aligned with Vietnam's sustainable growth goals for 2030 and 2045.

Despite financial, technical, and institutional challenges, he reiterated France's commitment to support Vietnam throughout this complex project.

Minister Tabarot also mentioned the visit of General Secretary To Lam to France in October 2024, during which both sides prioritized railway transportation cooperation.

Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Danh Huy remarked that France was the first European Union nation to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership with Vietnam.

He noted that Vietnam’s railway system, with over 100 years of history, continues to operate, and France is recognized as a leading nation in railway technology, including locomotives, carriages, and construction.

He expressed Vietnam’s desire to learn from the expertise of French professionals to modernize its railway infrastructure.

Tran Thuong