In an exclusive interview with Euractiv, His Excellency Lê Hoài Trung, Foreign Minister of Vietnam, reflects on the country’s diplomatic achievements, its comprehensive partnership with the European Union, and its growing role within ASEAN and beyond.
He says Vietnam has evolved from a post-war nation to a confident global actor, a symbol of openness and pragmatic diplomacy, committed to dialogue and multilateral cooperation.
EV: In 2025, Vietnam and the EU celebrate 35 years of diplomatic relations. What’s your assessment of the Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation between Vietnam and the EU?
LHT: After 35 years since establishing diplomatic relations, our partnership has achieved remarkable progress, particularly since the upgrade to the Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation in 2012. Viet Nam is the ASEAN country with the highest number of cooperation mechanisms with the EU.
The two sides have signed or adopted six agreements and established eight cooperation mechanisms, serving as a catalyst for a closer, more effective, and comprehensive relationship based on political trust, open dialogue, shared interests, and joint efforts to overcome differences. Delegation exchanges at all levels have been promoted, most notably through high-level visits.
Economic, investment, and sustainable development cooperation stand out as bright spots.
After five years of effective implementation of the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), two-way trade has grown 10-20 per cent annually, despite the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2024, bilateral trade grew over 10 per cent, reaching $68.4 billion, and 7.7 per cent ($48.4 billion) in the first eight months of 2025. The EU is Viet Nam’s sixth-largest investor, fifth-largest trading partner, and leading provider of official development assistance (ODA).
The EU has supported Viet Nam in judicial reform, education development, forestry improvement, business environment enhancement, and various climate and environmental change projects under the Global Gateway framework, including the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) with the International Partners Group (IPG). Notably, Viet Nam is one of three key JETP partners of the EU, alongside Indonesia and South Africa.
Defence and security cooperation has been strengthened.
In 2024, Viet Nam opened a Defence Attaché Office in Belgium, concurrently accredited to the EU, and since 2022 has sent officers annually to participate in the EU Training Mission in the Central African Republic (EUTM RCA).
Cooperation in education, science and technology, innovation, energy, culture, tourism, sports, and people-to-people exchanges has also expanded.
EV: What are the prospects and opportunities for bilateral relations in the coming years?
LHT: I believe there remains vast potential for cooperation. Politically, both sides should continue delegation exchanges, especially at high levels, and prepare for the upcoming visit to Viet Nam by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen later this year, aiming to elevate relations.
In the economy, trade, and investment, I hope the remaining eight EU Member States will soon ratify the EU-Viet Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA). Maintaining and implementing existing cooperation mechanisms, including the “Task Force” between the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security in 2025, will help address mutual concerns effectively.
I also propose that the EU facilitate smoother travel for Vietnamese enterprises and citizens, including through more flexible visa policies and preferential entry conditions. Recently, Viet Nam extended its unilateral visa exemption (up to 45 days) to 12 additional Member States from August 2025 for five years.
Just energy transition and sustainable development are key areas where the EU’s strengths align with Viet Nam’s priorities.
Access to concessional finance, technology, capital, and expertise will help implement the JETP with the IPG, co-chaired by the EU and the UK.
Simultaneously, Viet Nam is promoting science, technology, and innovation nationally. I hope the EU will support emerging industries such as AI, semiconductors, satellite development, cloud computing, and high-value research projects at leading European universities, particularly in Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
One remaining issue is the EU’s “yellow card” on illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, which has persisted for eight years. Fully aware of this matter, Viet Nam has strengthened its legal framework and taken measures to prevent IUU activities, including stopping Vietnamese vessels from illegal fishing abroad.
We believe the Commission will soon lift the IUU “yellow card”, safeguarding fishermen’s livelihoods while supporting coastal communities in transitioning to sustainable fisheries and advancing cooperation in marine economy, offshore wind energy, ports, and cold storage.
Finally, I hope the EU will continue supporting Viet Nam on the South China Sea issue, maintaining maritime and aviation security based on international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982. Mutual exchanges and support within ASEAN-EU mechanisms, ASEM, AIPA, ARF, EAS, the United Nations, and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) will remain crucial.
EV: People-to-people exchanges, particularly in education and culture, are often described as a bridge of trust. How do you see their role in Vietnam-EU relations?
LHT: Indeed, they are a ‘bridge of trust’ and a ‘bridge of friendship’ that keeps relations close and enduring. Such exchanges foster strong ties between Viet Nam and the EU as a whole, and with each Member State individually.
Educational cooperation has trained many generations of Vietnamese intellectuals, workers, and skilled labourers in Europe, especially from the 1970s to the 1990s, who returned to play key roles in national development.
Many of Viet Nam’s leaders studied in Europe before assuming responsibilities from central to local levels. Diplomats trained in Europe have significantly contributed to strengthening multifaceted cooperation between Viet Nam and EU Member States. The Vietnamese community and alumni networks in Europe also play an essential role in connecting and consolidating relations.
I firmly believe that cooperation in education, culture, and people-to-people exchanges will continue to enhance mutual trust, understanding, and empathy, strengthening our partnership further.
EV: Vietnam is playing an increasingly important role within ASEAN. How do you assess its position in promoting ASEAN-EU relations and cooperation potentials in sustainable development, innovation, and digital infrastructure?
LHT: 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of Viet Nam’s accession to ASEAN, a crucial platform for Viet Nam’s security, development, and overall foreign policy. Viet Nam has actively contributed to peace, security, stability, and development in the region.
ASEAN-EU dialogue, established in 1977, has developed substantially. Viet Nam served as ASEAN-EU Coordinator from 2012-2015, helping advance the partnership, culminating in the upgrade to a Strategic Partnership in 2020 when Viet Nam chaired ASEAN.
With strong Viet Nam-EU relations, Viet Nam is well-positioned to serve as a bridge in advancing ASEAN-EU cooperation. The ASEAN Community Vision 2045 opens new potential with the EU in sustainable development, innovation, and digital infrastructure – an inevitable trend in today’s era.
We appreciate the EU’s commitment of €10 billion to ASEAN connectivity projects through the Global Gateway by 2027, supporting economic restructuring, clean energy transition, digital infrastructure, academic exchange, and health system strengthening.
To unlock this potential, the EU can work with ASEAN countries, including Viet Nam, to improve frameworks for renewable energy, a just transition, and balancing growth with environmental protection, while promoting research, technology transfer, and resource mobilisation for green and digital infrastructure.
Flagship ASEAN projects such as the ASEAN Power Grid (APG) and the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) offer major opportunities for the EU to enhance cooperation. Sustainable development, however, must ensure long-term livelihoods, particularly through marine resource management and addressing IUU fishing.
Beyond sustainable development and innovation, ASEAN-EU cooperation holds great promise in trade and investment. A region-to-region Free Trade Agreement (FTA) should be a goal to pursue, leveraging the EU-Viet Nam FTA as a foundation.
Trilateral frameworks, such as Viet Nam-EU-Lao PDR or Viet Nam-EU-Cambodia, could implement digital infrastructure, modern railways, or expressway projects.
To strengthen the ASEAN-EU Strategic Partnership, we need to seek common ground, minimise differences, and harness each side’s strengths to seize new opportunities amid the evolving international context and organisational capacities.
EV: What’s your assessment of Vietnam’s diplomatic achievements over the past 80 years, and its orientation in the new context?
LHT: Viet Nam’s diplomacy, founded by President Hồ Chí Minh, our great leader and an outstanding diplomat, has left profound imprints across every stage of our history – from the struggle for independence, wars of resistance, to today’s national construction and defence.
From early independence, Viet Nam expressed to the UN its desire to be friends with all countries and to pursue “openness and cooperation in all fields”. The Đổi Mới (Renovation) process has opened the country, normalised and expanded relations, supported development, and enabled Viet Nam to play an active international role. Guided by multilateralisation and diversification, Viet Nam now has diplomatic relations with 195 countries and Comprehensive Partnerships or higher with 38 countries.
Diplomacy facilitated economic openness, transforming Viet Nam into a dynamic market economy integrated into international trade.
Defence, security, and diplomacy have together built peaceful borders, strengthened friendships, safeguarded sovereignty, promoted cooperation in resolving border issues, creating a favourable environment for socio-economic development.
Viet Nam’s international image is respected for its broad diplomatic outreach and its contributions to regional and global issues. Many world leaders and organisations recognise Viet Nam as a “model of peace and sustainable development”, elevating the voice of developing countries.
Going forward, Viet Nam’s foreign policy will continue to prioritise independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation, diversification, multilateralisation, and comprehensive integration.
Maintaining peace and stability remains the foundation for national development. Viet Nam also seeks to contribute more actively to a fair and equitable international order, upholding traditional values of equality, mutual respect, and mutually beneficial cooperation.
Viet Nam engages proactively in international integration, addressing disputes through dialogue, upholding international law and the UN Charter, and contributing to peace and stability globally. We hope countries, partners, and friends will continue to support Viet Nam in this new era of development.
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