Vietnam and France will clinched a number of important agreements during French President Francois Hollande’s State visit to Vietnam from September 5 to 7.

The French embassy in Hanoi said in a statement on August 25 that Hollande would meet Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, State President Tran Dai Quang, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.

Hollande will deliver a speech on orientations of cooperation between Vietnam and France at the Vietnam National University in Hanoi, and meet Vietnamese and French businesses in HCMC. He is expected to attend the groundbreaking ceremony of a new French school called Alexandre Yersin in the capital city and visit the Heart Institute in HCMC.

Major agreements to be signed during Hollande’s Vietnam visit will cover judiciary, healthcare, scientific and educational cooperation and technical assistance for adaptation to climate change.

Hollande will be the third French president to visit Vietnam after Francois Mitterrand in 1993 and Jacques Chirac in 1997 and 2004.

In an interview with the French news agency AFP ahead of Hollande’s visit to Vietnam, Vietnam’s State President Tran Dai Quang said defense cooperation has become one of the pillars in the strategic partnership between Vietnam and France and will be strengthened in the coming time.

Quang underscored the need for the two countries to build a common vision on defense cooperation to make it more effective, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

Quang said Vietnam and France can support each other for United Nations peacekeeping missions; ensuring security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight; and solving issues relating to cyber security and non-conventional security issues.

He affirmed Vietnam’s backing for France to play an active and constructive role in protecting the common interests of the international community, and that Vietnam is willing to cooperate with France in numerous fields for peace, stability and cooperation.
He said the historic Vietnam visit by President Francois Mitterrand in 1993 set an important milestone in bilateral ties.

In 2013, Vietnam and France issued a joint statement on establishing a strategic partnership, paving the way for the two countries to make many achievements in politics, diplomacy, economics, trade, investment, science, technology, culture and education.
France is Vietnam’s fifth biggest European Union (EU) trade partner and one of the key official development assistance (ODA) donors for this Southeast Asian country.

France’s exports to France rose to 1.4 billion euros last year from 764 million euros in 2014. The European country spent 4.1 billion euros on imports from Vietnam last year, up 32.8% year-on-year.

France is Vietnam’s third biggest EU investor with registered capital of US$3.4 billion after the Netherlands and the UK. Nearly 300 French firms are active in Vietnam.

Vietnam and France have inked many necessary legal documents to expand cooperation, including those on economic cooperation, investment encouragement and protection, and double avoidance of taxation.

SGT