French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on November 4 evening wrapped up his three-day official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc. 


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PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) shakes hands with French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe

During his stay in Vietnam, PM Edouard Philippe held talks with PM Phuc and paid a courtesy visit to General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President Nguyen Phu Trong.

He also met with Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, Secretary of the Party Committee of Ho Chi Minh City Nguyen Thien Nhan and Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung. 

The French leader visited the Presidential Palace relic site and attended a ceremony to inaugurate a new facility of France's International School Alexandre Yersin in Hanoi. 

He also visited the A1 Hill relic site and laid a wreath at the Dien Bien Phu martyrs’ cemetery in the northern mountainous province of Dien Bien, and attended ceremonies to inaugurate the French medical centre and open the France-Vietnam technological business forum in HCM City. 

In the spirit of mutual understanding and trust, both sides discussed measures to bolster their bilateral ties and international and regional issues of mutual interests. They affirmed their determination to boost ties after five years of signing the Vietnam-France Strategic Partnership (2013-2018) and 45 years of diplomatic relations.

They reached consensus on promoting collaboration in developing e-government and modernising state administrative management - a new cooperation field full of prospects. Also, they were concurred to deepen cooperation in culture, and join hands to ensure the successful organisation of the 11th conference on cooperation between Vietnamese and French localities slated for April 2019 in Toulouse. 

In addition, they agreed to enhance coordination at multilateral forums like the United Nations (UN) and the Francophonie, while continuing to support each other in developing relations between France and Asia-Pacific countries as well as between Vietnam and the EU. 

The two sides agreed to increase meetings at all levels, while upholding the role of bilateral coordination and cooperation mechanisms in the fields of politics, economy, defence, science-technology, culture, and education-training. 

They also underlined the need to encourage their enterprises to foster business and investment connection in fields of French strength and Vietnam’s demand such as infrastructure development, energy, aerospace, health, science-technology, communication, climate change adaptation and smart city development. 

They affirmed that economic cooperation would continue to be a priority pillar in their bilateral relations, stressing that it is necessary to foster cooperation and accelerate the implementation of key cooperation projects as well as work together to step up the Vietnam-European Union ties. 

On the occasion, the two PMs witnessed the signing of cooperation agreements between the nations across fields, including those in training, e-Government development, health care, climate change adaptation, and environmental protection, provision of Airbus aircraft, urban management and energy.-

HCM City Party Secretary welcomes French Prime Minister

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Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan (R) and French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe at the meeting 


Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan had a meeting with visiting French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on November 4.

The municipal leader spoke highly of the French Government’s priorities in development cooperation with the city over the past time, saying that HCM City boasts a long history of cultural exchange with France, with works bearing French architecture such as the Opera House and the Notre Dame Cathedral, is also one of the Vietnamese localities with a large number of French speaking people.

He underlined that HCM City has carried out the highest number of projects with France, including the French University Centre (PUF) under the Vietnam National University-HCM City, the Vietnamese-French Training Programme of Excellent Engineers (PFIEV) under the HCM City University of Technology, Marguerite Duras International School, and the Vietnam-France medical centre, among others.

In addition, HCM City and France’s Lyon city inked a cooperation agreement for 2018-2020, focusing on urban development, lighting, human resources training in urban management for HCM City, he added.

Nhan said that the city welcomes French investment in construction of smart city, innovative startup, high technology, human resources training for the fourth Industry Revolution, climate change and waste treatment.

HCM City wants to bolster cooperation with French experts to carry out plans to preserve local standout cultural and historic relic sites and architectures, he stressed.

PM Edouard Philippe highly valued effective cooperation between HCM City and France in various realms like economy, health care, culture and education. 

The guest noted his hope that the city’s leaders will continue to support France in implementing the French house project and another project on expanding the Marguerite Duras International School.

The French Government wants to expand and develop cooperation between HCM City and French localities, he said.

While in HCM City, the French PM attended ceremonies to inaugurate the French medical centre and open the France-Vietnam technological business forum


HCM City willing to promote cooperation with French firms


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At the working session (Photo: hcmcpv.org.vn)


Ho Chi Minh City’s authorities want to enhance cooperation with France in the fields of the country’s priority and strength such as smart city development, urban management, finance-banking, logistics, trade and tourism, said Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong. 

During a reception for a delegation of leaders from French enterprises led by Francois Corrbin from Michelin Group on November 4, Phong said HCM City hopes to have more specific projects and investment cooperation programmes of the French government and enterprises for local start-up community, especially in technology. 

He briefed the French guest on HCM City’s socio-economic development, and highlighted the fruitful development of the Vietnam-France strategic partnership. 

Mutual visits made by the two countries’ high-ranking officials in 2018 have contributed to lifting the bilateral relations to a higher level, he affirmed. 

Phong also asserted the municipal authorities’ commitment to working with foreign enterprises and investors operating in the city.

He expressed his hope that the French side will promote the completion of necessary procedures for the official signing of the free trade agreement (FTA) between the European Union (EU) and Vietnam (EVFTA) and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) in late 2018, and ratification of them in early 2019, thus realising great opportunities brought by the EVFTA, towards benefiting the two countries’ business communities. 

For his part, Francois Corrbin affirmed the French government always respects the close relations with Vietnam, especially HCM City. 

In recent year, the two sides have made great achievements in their cooperation in culture and education; however, their bonds in investment and trade are yet to match potential, he noted. 

The guest said the French PM’s visit to Vietnam, with the participation of representatives from French government agencies and leading groups, shows France’s appreciation of its relations with the Southeast Asian nation, especially in the fields of economy, trade, and development cooperation. 

French businesses wish to explore investment and cooperation opportunities, and are willing to support and join HCM City’s development, particularly in hi-tech application in maritime economic development, infrastructure development and water treatment, he said.

French PM attends France-Vietnam technological business forum

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French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe (second, from left) at the HCM City French Tech


“Adaptation to the world’s changes should be regarded as opportunities for brave innovators", French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe told the Vietnam-France startup community at the France-Vietnam technological business forum (HCM City French Tech) in Ho Chi Minh City on November 4.

He said in the future, not only big French enterprises and corporations but also small French businesses will contribute positively to Vietnam’s economic growth because small enterprises have advantages of creativity and innovation.

He expressed his belief in the success of Vietnamese French Tech community with the help of the Vietnamese who have been trained in France and are working there.

The PM highlighted the significance of the Government support for small startups. However, he stressed that startups should not rely completely on the Government support but need to overcome challenges through innovation and patience. 

At the forum, the French leader was introduced to Saigon Innovation Hub – SIHUB – a Vietnamese innovative startup ecosystem consisting of about 3,000 startups. Over the past five years, the hub has connected startup ecosystems of Asia-Pacific with major systems in the world.

The French Tech community in Vietnam, a bridge for tech entrepreneurs and startups between Vietnam and France, has nearly 3,000 members and was recognised as France’s new technology hub in Vietnam in 2016. It is also France’s first technological hub in Southeast Asia.

During the French PM’s November 2-4 visit, Vietnam and France signed an agreement on cooperation in developing technical research capacity and artificial intelligence development serving scientific purposes as well as social aspects.


VNA