Prime Minister: Accelerate and make breakthroughs to promote economic diplomacy
- 23 thg 7, 2025
- 8 phút đọc
Đã cập nhật: 24 thg 7, 2025
(Chinhphu.vn) - On the evening of July 22, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính chaired a conference with the Heads of Vietnamese Representative Missions abroad to promote economic diplomacy, contributing to achieving the economic growth target for the second half of 2025 and creating momentum for double-digit growth in the following period.
Also attending the Conference were Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn; Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyễn Hồng Diên; leaders of various ministries and sectors; Vietnamese Ambassadors and Heads of Overseas Representative Missions; as well as leaders of localities, associations, and businesses.
At the Conference, delegates reviewed the results of economic diplomacy in the first half of 2025, assessed both the advantages and challenges, and drew lessons to strive for greater efforts, more effective implementation, and further positive outcomes in the second half of the year.
Negotiating a series of new FTAs
In the early months of 2025, delegates noted that foreign affairs in general — and economic diplomacy in particular — had been actively, decisively, and comprehensively carried out, making substantive contributions to the country’s growth and development goals. Economic diplomacy continues to be institutionalized and systematically organized; it has gained the consensus and engagement of the entire political system, along with close coordination among ministries, sectors, and local authorities.
The vibrant high-level diplomatic activities have further helped build, consolidate, and strengthen Vietnam’s good relations with partners, based on trust, sincerity, and harmonized interests. These efforts have deepened economic cooperation and interwoven interests, thereby maintaining and reinforcing a peaceful and favorable environment for development.
The number of foreign delegations in the first half of 2025 nearly equaled the total for the entire year of 2024. Over 200 commitments and agreements were signed—double the number in 2024. Diplomatic relations were upgraded with 10 countries; since the beginning of the current term, Vietnam has upgraded 10 out of 13 comprehensive strategic partnerships.
At the same time, traditional growth drivers have been renewed and further enhanced through the promotion of trade, investment, tourism, and labor cooperation with major markets and key, strategic investors, particularly in Northeast Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
Vietnam is also exploring and expanding into many new and high-potential markets, particularly in Latin America such as Chile, Argentina, and Peru; and in the Middle East–Africa region including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Ethiopia, Burundi, Tanzania, and the Halal market.
Vietnam is actively promoting negotiations for new Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the African Union (AU), the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), as well as with individual countries such as Qatar and Egypt. Ethiopia has officially opened the first direct flight route from Hanoi to Africa. Regarding the Halal market, Vietnam has signed Memoranda of Understanding with the Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries and with the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Brunei, paving the way for Halal cooperation with these nations.
At the same time, breakthroughs have been made to vigorously promote new growth drivers such as innovation, digital transformation, digital economy, and green economy — especially through the implementation of science-technology diplomacy and green diplomacy. Strategic cooperation frameworks in science and technology have been established and deepened with leading partners. Efforts have been made to proactively connect and promote meetings and working sessions with many of the world's top technology corporations.
International integration has been proactively and deeply advanced, with Vietnam playing an active, substantive role and making meaningful contributions at international and regional multilateral forums. This has helped attract resources for national development while also enhancing the country’s reputation and global standing. Vietnam has successfully hosted the 2nd Asia Future Forum (AFF) and the 4th P4G Summit — the largest-scale and highest-level event of its kind to date.
Vietnamese representative missions abroad have also actively promoted the resolution of obstacles and bottlenecks in economic relations with major and strategic partners, ensuring that such issues do not hinder or slow down cooperation momentum.
These missions have carried out nearly 300 trade, investment, and tourism promotion activities; supported localities in organizing over 150 promotion events both at home and abroad; and assisted many enterprises in connecting with partners, accessing, establishing, and expanding their presence in foreign markets.
Immediately implement high-level agreements, maximize opportunities
In his concluding remarks, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính conveyed the greetings, regards, and best wishes of General Secretary Tô Lâm and other senior leaders of the Party and State to the Ambassadors, Heads of Vietnamese Representative Missions abroad, and all delegates attending the conference.
The Prime Minister emphasized the crucial importance of economic diplomacy in contributing to the implementation of Resolution No. 59 of the Politburo on international integration, as well as other key resolutions.
Agreeing in principle with the reports and opinions presented, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính welcomed the positive and important results achieved by Vietnam's overseas representative missions, which have contributed significantly to the country’s overall achievements in recent times.
Acknowledging the rapidly evolving, complex, and unpredictable global landscape, the Prime Minister emphasized the need for swift, timely, and effective responses. He instructed ambassadors and heads of Vietnamese representative missions abroad to stay firmly updated on the situation, accurately assess partners and stakeholders, and proactively provide recommendations and solutions — ensuring that the Party and State leadership are not caught off guard in foreign affairs.
The Prime Minister reaffirmed Vietnam’s consistent foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification, and multilateralization — being a good friend, a trustworthy partner, and a responsible member of the international community, all for the goals of peace, cooperation, and development. He also stressed building an independent and self-reliant economy closely linked with proactive, extensive, and effective international integration.
He called on ministers, heads of representative missions, local authorities, industry associations, and relevant agencies to work closely and effectively under the spirit that “economic diplomacy is one of the key pillars of modern diplomacy,” as directed by General Secretary Tô Lâm. He urged acceleration, breakthroughs, concretization, and immediate implementation of high-level agreements to fully seize opportunities and favorable conditions.
This will help connect Vietnam’s economy with the global economy, link domestic and international businesses, integrate into supply chains, promote negotiations and signing of free trade agreements, tap into traditional markets, and open new ones. It will also attract top talent, experts, and scientists to support the country’s development and modernization.
Ultimately, these efforts will contribute to economic restructuring, diversification of markets, products, and supply chains, and help drive economic growth to 8.3–8.5% in 2025, while advancing the strategic goals set for the entire term — aiming toward achieving the two centennial development goals.
Regarding key tasks and specific solutions, the Prime Minister urged the promotion of dialogue and policy consultation on Vietnam’s economic development issues, with a focus on long-term research into strategic matters, guided by the spirit of “thinking ahead, seeing far, delving deep, and acting boldly.”
At the same time, efforts must continue to deepen, stabilize, and substantively and sustainably strengthen relations with neighboring countries, major powers, and key partners on the basis of trust, sincerity, and harmonized interests. These relationships should create new breakthroughs and effectively resolve major arising issues and existing obstacles.
The Prime Minister emphasized the need to promote and effectively organize high-level diplomatic activities from now until the end of the year. Diverse and flexible forms of exchanges and engagements across all levels, sectors, and channels should be encouraged to create a favorable environment for enhancing cooperation in all fields.
Priority should continue to be placed on promoting economic growth. This includes revitalizing traditional growth drivers (investment, exports, consumption) while strongly fostering new engines of growth such as digital transformation, green growth, circular economy, and knowledge-based economy.
Focus is also needed on attracting and promptly addressing challenges related to high-quality, high-tech, large-scale FDI projects with strong spillover effects, especially in infrastructure and transportation with high added value and strategic importance.
Comprehensive implementation of solutions to diversify markets, products, and supply chains is essential. Trade promotion activities should be enhanced to fully utilize the 17 signed free trade agreements (FTAs) and accelerate negotiations for new FTAs with promising markets such as the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Central Asia, India, and Brazil.
The Prime Minister highlighted the importance of concluding FTA negotiations with MERCOSUR and Brazil soon; promoting the signing of a rice trade agreement with five countries—Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, and Brazil; and making efforts to launch FTA negotiations with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Bangladesh, and a preferential trade agreement with Pakistan. He also called for the advancement of railway connectivity projects with China and Central Asia.
In addition, support should be given to businesses in key processing and manufacturing industries (technology, electronics, automobiles, machinery, textiles, footwear, etc.) to expand exports, invest effectively abroad, and participate in global supply chains.
To accelerate the implementation of Resolution 222/2025/QH15 on establishing an international financial center in Vietnam, the Prime Minister directed the promotion of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Abu Dhabi (UAE) and Ho Chi Minh City International Financial Center. He also urged learning from the experience of Kazakhstan’s Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), and moving forward with the MOU on developing the Da Nang International Financial Center signed between Da Nang and the joint venture of Terne Holdings and The One Destination, Singapore.
The Prime Minister called for proactive and active implementation of the Politburo’s resolutions within the “four strategic pillars,” particularly Resolution No. 57 on breakthroughs in the development of science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation. He emphasized the need to strongly promote cooperation with major partners and comprehensive strategic partners that have strengths in science, technology, and digital transformation—especially in high-tech fields such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things.
The Prime Minister also urged continued proactive and flexible adaptation to the new global landscape in trade and international investment, stressing the importance of remaining neither complacent nor panicked, but instead being ready to face difficulties and challenges head-on.
To further accelerate the implementation of Resolution No. 59 on international integration in the new context, as well as the Politburo's conclusions on global and regional developments, the Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to urgently lead the drafting of a National Assembly resolution on a special mechanism for implementing Resolution 59.
He also called for continued promotion of the spirit:"Discipline and responsibility, proactiveness and timeliness, acceleration through innovation, sustainable effectiveness";"Say no to saying no, don’t say it’s difficult, don’t promise without action";"If you say it, do it; if you commit, you must deliver; if you do it, it must be effective";"Discuss action, not retreat."
With that spirit, the Prime Minister urged everyone to strive together and overcome difficulties and challenges to achieve the 2025 GDP growth target of 8.3–8.5%, thereby laying a strong foundation, momentum, and strength for Vietnam to confidently advance into a new era.
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