Vietnam is ready to intensify economic cooperation with Francophone countries and share experience in socio-economic development with them, especially African nations, President Tran Dai Quang has said.
![]() |
| President Tran Dai Quang (front, centre) at the opening session of the 16th Francophonie Summit |
He made the remark while addressing the opening session of the 16th Francophonie Summit in Madagascar’s capital city of Antananarivo on November 26 morning (local time).
He said members of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) have worked closely with other international and regional organisations, especially the United Nations and the African Alliance, to step up preventing and resolving many conflicts, crises, political unrests and terrorism in some member nations, thereby actively contributing to maintaining peace, security and stability in the Francophone community and around the world.
They have also obtained important outcomes in realising the Millennium Development Goals, especially in poverty eradication, educational and healthcare service quality improvement, environmental protection, gender equality promotion, and child care and protection.
President Quang said Vietnam welcomes the Francophone community’s efforts to enhance the language and culture diversification, the protection of each country’s cultural identities amid globalisation, and the increase of economic partnerships between OIF members and other countries around the world. It is pleased with the OIF countries’ contributions to global joint efforts to reach important agreements, particularly the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development.
As an active and responsible member of the Francophone community, Vietnam has proactively implemented the community’s strategies and cooperation programmes, thus helping to solidify the solidarity, unity and cooperation among OIF members, he noted.
Vietnam welcomes the summit’s theme, “Shared growth and responsible development: conditions for stability around the world and within La Francophonie”, he said, asking the member countries to enhance cooperation and solidarity for peace, stability and sustainable development.
The Vietnamese leader called on the Francophone community to promote the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, while helping its member nations to include the Sustainable Development Goals and the commitments in the Paris Agreement in their national development strategies and programmes.
The OIF countries also need to actively join global and regional efforts to promote peace, security and stability in the member nations and the world at large.
President Quang asked the Francophone community to continue an objective voice in the East Sea issue and call on relevant parties to not use force or threaten to use force, settle disputes by peaceful means on the basis of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, respect diplomatic and legal processes, adhere to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea, and work to soon finalise a Code of Conduct in the East Sea.
He stressed that in a fluid world today, no countries, regardless of big or small, rich or poor, can unilaterally deal with traditional and non-traditional security challenges effectively.
To tackle those challenges, OIF countries and the entire international community must unite and closely cooperate with one another, he noted.
Vietnam is ready to be a bridge linking the OIF and ASEAN, as well as the Asia-Pacific, so as to join hands for peace, stability and sustainable development, the leader added.
In his speech, on behalf of the Vietnamese State and people, he also sent the deepest condolences to the State and people of Cuba on the passing-away of leader Fidel Castro.
The 16th Francophonie Summit attracted presidents, prime ministers and senior leaders of 80 OIF member countries, along with representatives of many international and regional organisations.
Vietnam highly evaluates India’s role and contributions to regional peace, stability and development, and always regards India as one of its most important partners, the top leader said.
The Party and State leaders expressed their profound respect and boundless gratitude to President Ho Chi Minh, who founded and trained the Communist Party of Vietnam and made immense contributions to the Party and nation’s glorious revolutionary cause.
The NA's Committee for Cultural and Social Affairs has moved fast to reshuffle its organisation after the 14th National Party Congress and the election of deputies to the 16th NA, updating its work agenda to match new directives set out in the resolutions of the 14th National Party Congress and the first Congress of the NA Party Organisation for the 2025–2030 term.
Vietnam and Croatia should strive to double bilateral trade turnover from the current level of 161 million USD; study the establishment of a Joint Committee on Economic Cooperation to create a long-term, stable, and effective framework for collaboration, said Prime Minister Le Minh Hung.
Vice President of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) Jesús Faria expressed deep admiration for President Ho Chi Minh and Vietnam’s indomitable struggle for national independence. He described President Ho Chi Minh as an immortal symbol of 20th-century national liberation movements, whose legacy continues to inspire leftist parties, progressive movements, and peoples across Latin America, including Venezuela.
Vietnam National University, Hanoi must rise even further, becoming a leading academic pillar, a major hub of innovation, and a pioneering force in Vietnam’s higher education system; while also serving as a distinguished and reputable representative of Vietnamese intellect on the international stage.
Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Minh Hang shared Vietnam’s approach to building an independent and self-reliant economy linked to deep international integration, while proposing several key areas for enhanced cooperation between BRICS and partner countries at the Expanded BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting that opened on May 14 in India.
The Central Steering Committee for reviewing the one-year operation of the political system’s apparatus and the two-tier local administration model convened its first session in Hanoi on May 14.
PSNews - The spokesperson stated that the dispatch of personnel by relevant parties to features belonging to Truong Sa without Vietnam’s permission constitutes a violation of Vietnam’s sovereignty under international law. She stressed that such actions run counter to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) as well as ongoing efforts by countries to negotiate a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).
PSNews - Vietnam’s proposals placed the highest priority on ensuring a peaceful and stable environment conducive for continued sustainable development and improving the well-being and happiness of the ASEAN people. They were praised by member states and incorporated into the core contents of the ASEAN Leaders’ Statement on the response to the Middle East crisis.
Both sides emphasised that advancing bilateral relations is a shared strategic choice, and pledged to steadfastly pursue the socialist path and jointly safeguard the socialist regimes and the leadership role of their Communist Parties as their most fundamental common strategic interest, Ambassador He Wei said.
At the meetings, the senior Vietnamese Party official affirmed that Vietnam would continue to work closely with Cambodia to strengthen and deepen bilateral ties, while consistently supporting Cambodia’s peaceful, stable and prosperous development.
Vietnam highly values the support of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in strengthening national capacity in crime prevention and criminal justice, drug control, and addressing emerging challenges, particularly cybercrime, said Ambassador Vu Le Thai Hoang.
NA Chairman Tran Thanh Man underlined that digital transformation must go beyond investing in software or platforms and instead create substantive changes in working methods, advisory quality and operational efficiency.
Consolidating the central steering committees for institutional and legal reform and for judicial reform is necessary in order to streamline organisational structures without reducing responsibilities, while ensuring clear accountability, measurable outputs and concrete results. Following the restructuring, the body will be renamed the central steering committee for institutional improvement and law enforcement, with the Party General Secretary and State President serving as its head.
Bui Thi Minh Hoai was re-elected President of the the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee for the 2026-2031 tenure at the first conference of the 11th-term VFF Central Committee, held before the closing session of its 11th National Congress on May 13 morning in Hanoi.
At the meeting this week, Ambassador Viet briefed the UNGA President on developments during the first two weeks of the conference. He stressed that the current international geopolitical landscape poses numerous complex challenges, while reaffirming Vietnam’s determination, together with other member states, to promote substantive and balanced outcomes at the conference.
The host leader stressed that cooperation between localities, particularly between the capitals of Hanoi and Vientiane, plays an especially important role as a pioneering force in effectively implementing the foreign polices of the two Parties and States, while also serving as a bridge between politics and development, as well as between strategy and concrete action.
More than 1,300 delegates are attending the 11th National Congress of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) for the 2026–2031 tenure, including 1,138 official delegates.
Prime Minister Le Minh Hung praised ministries and agencies for their proactive steps since the beginning of this year and especially from early April to follow the Politburo’s Resolution 57 and Conclusion 18, with clear, positive progress.